Cary Freels cruises
for a cause

By Melissa Yerkov
Times Sports Editor

For Cary Freels, it’s been the ride of a lifetime.
The ambitious fan has visited 30 professional baseball stadiums by motorcycle in just 40 days in an effort to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
The unique — and somewhat bizarre —idea originated after Freels’ mother, Lynn Ann Funk, was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago.
"It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do," he said. "I’ve been toying around with the idea for a long time. I just love motorcycles and I love baseball. And I really wanted to do this for my mother. She’s been great in supporting me my whole life, and I wanted to give something back."
Funk had a benign tumor removed from her right breast in 1972; she had a lumpectomy on the same breast in 2002. After chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Funk’s cancer has been in remission for more than five years. Her experiences are an example of how technology and cancer research can save lives.
But, according to Freels, there’s still more that needs to be done.
So with little hesitation, the Houston, Texas, native decided to hop on his motorcycle and start touring the country. His stadium journey revved up May 27 in Seattle and finished on July 5 in Atlanta.
"It’s everything I thought it would be, and more," said Freels. "You meet so many people and do so many things along the way. There’s no way to prepare for this. You just come up with it and put it all together and try."
Freels is now catching his breath after hitting the various ballparks throughout America for the past 40 days. And, of course, one of his stops was in the City of Brotherly Love.
"It was great, because I’ve never been to Philadelphia before," said Freels, who attended a game at Citizens Bank Park on June 22. "It was awesome! They actually let me ride my motorcycle onto the field and park it behind home plate.
"We got to meet some of the pitchers, and Shane Victorino actually sat on the bike," he said of the Phils outfielder. "And I loved the food! Cheesesteaks are great, and those crab fries are awesome! It was a great stop. I really loved it."
His cross-country itinerary also took him to such venerable parks as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Shea Stadium and Wrigley Field.
"If I had to choose, I guess Fenway was my favorite," he said of the home of the Boston Red Sox. "I know it’s so cliché, but I like the old-school look. They’re very neat stadiums and there’s a lot of history there. I feel like you’re going back in time, with the hard seats and your knees rammed into the seats in front of you. I like to picture what it was like with people going to games back in the day in suits and ties."
The stadium tour was made possible by Freels’ "angels," as he refers to them, and they include his mother, his stepfather Charles Funk, and a camera crew that volunteered to get the entire adventure on tape.
"Right now, we’re just a group of friends and family from the community who wanted to do this," explained Freels, who, along with his entourage’s generosity, personally funded the excursion. "We’re making a documentary of the whole trip. I think it’s going to be a great video. We’re going to be pitching it to the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, things like that."
Besides the road trip and stadium visits, the footage of Freels includes interviews with kids around the nation who are dealing with cancer.
Creating awareness was part of his mission. But as a baseball fan, the stadium tour provided enough memories for a lifetime.
"I think it’s any true baseball fan’s dream to get out there and see them all," said Freels. "It’s like a pilgrimage. And I guess I’m just one of those weirdos without patience, so I wanted to do it in forty days.
"I would love to do it again with basketball, football and hockey," he added. "But we won’t be able to afford more than the baseball stadium tour. It’s not up to me anymore. It’s a matter of what sponsorship we can get. We certainly want to expand, if somebody sees what we’re doing and wants to support us."
Despite his various experiences, it wasn’t all fun and games for Freels. After all, driving more than 13,000 miles in 40 days is no day at the park.
"Some days you don’t have any choice, you have to ride six hundred-plus miles in a single day," he said. "You can’t relax. You just stop, fill up your gas tank and keep going. I sleep when I can, and I drink lots of coffee."
Freels said he still managed to get about six to seven hours of sleep a night, squeezing in naps as well when possible. He also coped with the physical consequences of riding a motorcycle day and night for more than a month.
"I guess you could say the whole thing has been a pain in my neck, a good one though, because I had a good time," he said. "But sitting in that position for a long time, your neck really starts to hurt. But I just had to compare it to someone going through chemotherapy — I had nothing to complain about. I just kept concentrating on the whole purpose of this."
The 33-year-old Freels, who has been riding motorcycles his entire life, cruised the highways on a Honda Gold Wing. Freels used to be a regular on the motocross circuit, before a horrific crash ended his career in 1999.
"I had a double compound fracture in my ankle," he explained. "Four surgeries later, and eight months in a wheelchair, I was just happy to be walking.
"That affected me going forward in motocross," Freels said. "It was a rough one, but everything happens for a reason. That sent my life into a certain direction, and maybe if that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be doing this now."
Despite the life-changing impact of that accident, Freels still has the need for speed.
"I was riding an ATV while my foot was still in a cast. Don’t tell my doctor that, though," he said with a laugh. "You just couldn’t keep me away. I rode for twentysomething years without a major crash, so one little crash wasn’t going to stop me. I always loved it and I always will."
As for his stadium tour, money raised through his adventures on the road will be donated to LIVESTRONG, the program created by the Lance Armstrong Foundation to aid cancer research.
"Through this experience, I am getting to meet people that I never would have met otherwise," said Freels. "I’m sharing stories and getting out there and seeing what a great country we live in.
"I remember, in Seattle, there was this woman who came up and introduced herself," he explained. "She let us know that she went through chemotherapy that very day. And yet she was at the ballpark! It made me realize how wonderful sports can be, and how they can help you deal with some of the more challenging parts of life." ••
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Sports editor Melissa Yerkov can be reached at 215-354-3035 or myerkov@phillynews.com