Redmond’s Volynsky rides 3,448 miles to support American Heart Association

Published 10:18 am Friday, June 26, 2015

After more than a month of cycling, Vlad Volynsky finally made it to Revere, Mass. on Wednesday.

On May 16, the 47-year-old Redmond resident took off from Westport, Wash. on a solo coast-to-coast bike ride to support the American Heart Association.

Volynsky, who works as an infrastructure specialist at Microsoft Corp., rode to raise money and awareness for heart disease. He said his family has a history of cardiovascular issues and he also has friends and co-workers who have dealt with similar health problems.

“It was a no-brainer for me,” Volynsky said about which cause he would support on his cross-country bike ride.

Volynsky’s goal has been to raise $10,000 for the American Heart Association. So far he has raised $3,675. He said he will continue to collect donations even though he has completed the ride.

To donate to his cause, visit www.vladvolynsky.com. To learn more about his ride, visit www.facebook.com/C2CVladVolynsky.

According to his son Eli Volynsky, it has been Vlad’s dream to ride his bike across the country for several years. Eli said his father has been preparing for about eight years, riding his bike to work, participating in local long-distance rides such as the annual Seattle to Portland and Ride from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. rides.

All of those have helped him prepare for the 3,448 miles from the West Coast to the East Coast — the longest ride Vlad has ever done.

“It really inspires me,” Eli said. “There’s no way I would be able to do anything close to what (he did).”

Vlad’s goal was to arrive in Revere by June 30, but finished almost a week early.

“Everything came together,” he said about the ride, describing it as fairly smooth.

Vlad’s ride took him through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and finally Massachusetts.

He said out of all the states he saw, his favorites were Idaho and Montana. He said both states were beautiful to ride through and “breath taking.”

“It was a wonderful experience,” Vlad said about the ride as a whole.

At night, he was able to stay in motels, which really helped him complete the ride as he was able to rest up for the following day. Vlad rode for 40 days straight with no breaks — about 100 miles a day, but up to 175 miles — and said he would not have been able to do that if he were not able to get enough sleep.

Eli said his father got hooked on cycling when Eli was 12 and invited Vlad on a bike ride with his friends.

Since then, Eli said Vlad rarely uses a car. Their car is nine years old and it only has about 60,000 miles on it — half of which are from Eli driving. Vlad rides anywhere and everywhere — no matter what the weather is like.

“He bikes when it’s freezing outside,” Eli said.

With Vlad finishing up his ride this week, Eli and his sister flew to the Old Colony State to surprise their father when he reached Revere.

“It was a major surprise,” Vlad said about seeing his family at the end of his ride. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”