Cross country journey to finish in Ocean City this week
Jack Owens, 20, began his journey of biking more than 3,600 miles across the country on May 20 after dipping his bike’s back pedal in the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco. His ride is in honor of his late grandmother while raising funds and awareness for lung cancer patients.
On Sunday, July 6, he is expected to conclude his cross-country journey at 34th Street Beach in Ocean City — just blocks from where his grandparents once lived and where he spent many childhood summers.
Owens’ grandmother, Kathleen Matthews, passed away from lung cancer in December 2011 after a 9-month fight with lung cancer. Her death became the catalyst for his uncle, John Matthews, to launch a movement dedicated to supporting patients facing this disease.
In 2017, Matthews cycled across the country, raising money for the GO2 Foundation.
Two years later, that movement became a nonprofit called Ride Hard Breathe Easy (RHBE), which was officially established in 2019. Matthews’ single cross-country ride evolved into a mission-driven organization supporting cancer patients facing not only medical challenges but financial and logistical ones as well.
The nonprofit partners with seven cancer centers — four in the Philadelphia region and three national institutions: Dartmouth, Duke and Johns Hopkins. These partnerships allow social workers to identify patients struggling with transportation to treatment, food insecurity or difficulty paying basic utility bills.
Funds raised by RHBE go directly toward helping them, offering support such as Uber rides to appointments or financial assistance for essential living expenses.
Inspired by the experience of when the then-middle schooler joined his uncle in Utah for a short segment of his ride, Owens’ ride is the latest chapter in the RHBE story. Now a rising junior at the University of Notre Dame, Owens has taken on the physical and mental demands of this ride.
“Watching his work up close has deepened my passion and commitment to this cause. Throughout my life, I’ve been lucky to belong to strong, supportive communities. I want to build the same kind of support for lung cancer patients and families who may not have it,” Owens wrote on the RHBE website. “With the encouragement of those around me, I ride to make a real difference for everyone impacted by lung cancer.”
Averaging 85 miles a day, he’s traversed the mountainous terrain of California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado, including Monarch Pass, which tops out at over 11,000 feet of elevation.
By the time he reaches Ocean City, he will have climbed approximately 130,000 feet in elevation across the country.
“He’s a remarkable, very organized young man,” Matthews said. “What I admire is how hard he had to work right from the beginning.”
Support vehicles accompany Owens daily to ensure he has food, water, spare gear and lodging. Family and friends rotate in and out every few days, taking on roles as navigators, mechanics or simply emotional support.
As part of his final stretch, Owens plans to stop at two of the hospitals the nonprofit supports: Fox Chase Cancer Center and Jefferson Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, where his grandmother received treatment.
“That’ll be a pretty emotional stop for all of us to see him up there,” Matthews said.
The ride will end with a symbolic moment: Owens will dip his front tire in the Atlantic Ocean — just as he did with his back tire in the Pacific.
