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Kelly Griffith
Sentinel Staff Writer
March 22, 2006
Five hundred miles in five days on a bike is tough for most anyone. For a 13-year-old boy, it's nearly wild ambition.
Last year, Garrett Robinson fell 56 miles short of his 500-mile goal in the Friends Together -- Ride for a Cause. This year, the 14-year-old Polk County boy swears he'll finish the whole five-day Tallahassee-to-Naples fundraiser for AIDS education and prevention, pedaling today from Ocala to Lakeland in the fifth annual event.
"This time I will finish," he said before the ride. "You can count on it. I have to do it, not only for Friends Together, but my family -- and for Steve."
Steve Pickett, Garrett's stepfather, was killed in a head-on car crash nearly a year ago west of Fort Meade when he overcorrected into the path of a tractor-trailer after going off the edge of the road.
Pickett, 50, helped found Friends Together, a Polk County-based charity devoted to AIDS education and prevention with Garrett's mother, Cathy Pickett.
The bike ride is the group's main fundraiser and helps pay not only for educational programs but also for away-from-home camps for children and families who have been affected by HIV or AIDS. The camps allow them to meet others who struggle with the same issues and participate in camping activities in Central Florida.
Cathy Pickett said donations to the organization dropped by almost 25 percent after the 2004 hurricanes, causing the group to the cancel the last family camp, so money raised from this year's bike ride is vital to future efforts.
Riders are expected to roll into Lakeland on U.S. Highway 98 between 3 and 5 p.m. today.
Kelly Griffith can be reached at kgriffith@orlandosentinel .com or 863-422-5908.