The road seemingly goes on forever and the training never ends for Sedona resident Gary Bohn, 64, as he continues to fundraise for The Tour 21. 

From Friday, June 23, through Sunday, July 16, 25 riders from across the globe will aim to raise over $1 million for Cure Leukaemia, a British nonprofit, by riding the same 2,200-mile route as the 110th Tour de France over three weeks.

Bohn can already be seen busking for the cause in Uptown, spreading awareness and taking donations for Cure Leukaemia in spite of having already exceeded his initial goal of raising $40,000.

“It feels amazing to get out here,” Bohn said, wearing his team uniform while perched atop his bicycle on a stationary mount on April 27 in Uptown. “I’ve only been out here today for about 30 minutes and have already had two people share with me how leukemia has personally impacted them and their loved ones.”

About 60,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia annually, according to the American Cancer Society. Last year, Bohn’s sister in-law was one of those people and is being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. In the last few weeks, another good friend of Bohn came forward with their own leukemia diagnosis, he said.

Bohn’s wife Janet survived lung cancer and is cancer-free today; however, the experience had a significant influence on his perspective.

“That was just over six years ago, that was a big wake-up call in life,” Bohn said. “To just how short life could be, that the marriage can end tomorrow, life can end tomorrow. You always know that but when you hear lung cancer, it’s [about] 90% fatal … It was a big shock, we were really floored.”

“We met at a party and we started dating pretty quickly after that, and we dated for three years before we got married,” Bohn said of their 42-year relationship. “Probably our faith in Jesus kept us together, because otherwise there’s many times we would have just walked away from each other.”

While Bohn described faith as the most important part of his life, he credited sports, especially cycling, skiing and running, with teaching him discipline.

The couple moved to Sedona 13 years ago primarily for mountain biking after Bohn spent his career as a manufacturer’s representative selling commercial heating and air conditioning in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

So far, Bohn has raised about $30,000 from individual donations, with a significant portion of that having been given by small donors during his busking efforts. Bohn said he has enjoyed seeing the outpouring of financial and  emotional support from people walking by, calling people’s personal stories “especially eye-opening.” Another $10,000 has been contributed by local businesses.

“There was a man and a woman in their 40s and they made a nice donation and they said, ‘Our son had leukemia, he was healed, but when he was 6 years old he battled it for two years,’’’ Bohn recalled. “They lived in Pittsburgh, and every day they would drive the same route to go for his radiation,four, five days a week. It was a 12-mile drive from their house to the hospital and they remember every place they had to stop and let their son go and throw up. “So, if I’m in pain, climbing a mountain, that’s nothing compared to what that little 6-year-old boy had to go through. I just heard lots of stories of people, having success stories and rapidly losing loved ones from leukemia in a matter of weeks. People wanted to talk about it.”

Climbing a mountain is exactly how The Tour 21 will start on Friday, June 23, in Bilbao, Spain, with the team having to take on 10,000 feet of elevation gain on the first day, making it the hardest start ever in the history of the Tour de France, Bohn said. The Tour will then move through an additional 20 grueling stages.

A typical few days of Bohn’s training involved a seven-and-a half- hour ride to Mormon Lake from Sedona on Monday. Tuesday was a five-hour ride to Lake Mary in Flagstaff. Wednesday meant driving his car to Flagstaff and then riding up Mount Humphreys twice. Bohn said he doesn’t have any training montage music suggestions because he prefers the silence and sounds of nature.

Janet Bohn said she has noticed how her husband is now hungry all the time, as well as how focused and diligent Bohn has been in his training. The couple have been long-time fans of the Tour de France and attended the event together on two separate occasions. However, Janet never expected him to follow in the footsteps of the greatest cyclists in the world.

“When he first told me about it, I thought he was nuts,” Janet said. “I thought, ‘that’s pretty out there.’ First, he had to be selected, and the first year he applied he wasn’t selected, but he kept at it. When he was selected, he told me he felt like he just got a chance to be the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl.”

Despite such a grueling schedule, Bohn says he hasn’t felt exhausted yet. He thought at first he’d immediately want to lie down and do nothing after completing a day of training; however, he said he hasn’t found that to be the case.

“Overall, I feel stronger since starting this training,” Bohn said. “I can definitely tell I’ve done something each day, so it’s not like I want to go out and mow the lawn and paint the house after typical rides like those. I also feel stronger mentally knowing that I’ve put the time in, knowing what I’m facing. I’m also blessed to have [Sedona’s] topography because a lot of the other Americans are coming from flat locations.”

After Tour 21 is over, Bohn has expressed interest in doing a cross-country bike ride, although he said he is unsure if he will be able to convince Janet on allowing that adventure to take place.

“That doesn’t sound as much fun for me,” Janet said. “I told him he needs to find some friends [to do that with] but chances are he’s going to get a chance to do that somehow.”

To contribute to Bohn’s fundraising, visit gofundme.com/f/gary-bohn.