Thank you NJ.com for sharing Kevin’s adventure and Brian’s legacy!

 N.J. man, 65, biking across America to honor late son’s legacy

Updated: May. 06, 2022, 7:33 a.m. | Published: May. 06, 2022, 7:00 a.m.

Kevin McNally poses for a photo with his bike in the park named after his son, Capt. Brian J. McNally in Morris Township on April 28, 2022. Kevin will be biking from the Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean starting May 8th, the 3,396 mile-trip will take approximately 50 days to complete and will raise funds for The Capt. Brian J. McNally USMC Scholarship, his son NJSP trooper who died four years ago. Carucha L. Meuse | For NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

 

By Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Kevin McNally is about to begin the adventure of a lifetime, a 3,400-mile bicycle ride across the United States inspired by the legacy of his late son.

 

It gets underway Sunday morning in Manhattan Beach, about 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles, when the 65-year-old avid cyclist from Morristown dips his back wheel into the Pacific Ocean, a ritual repeated by 27 others on the same tour ride.

It culminates seven weeks later at Revere Beach in Massachusetts, five miles north of downtown Boston, with a front wheel dip into the Atlantic Ocean.

“I would rather finish here in New Jersey,” McNally said with a laugh.

The source of his motivation is found on his crossbar decal, a blend of the New Jersey State Police and U.S. Marine Corps logo.

McNally’s son, Brian McNally, a 2006 graduate of Morristown High School, was a state trooper and a Marine. He was also a lifeguard, Eagle Scout and volunteer firefighter.

 

Brian McNally was returning home from weekend duty with the Reserves when he was killed in a car crash in Pennsylvania four years ago. He was 30 years old.

 

His funeral in Morristown was attended by dozens of Marines and more than 300 state troopers and first responders, with remembrances of a “gentle giant” who was 6 feet, 7 inches tall.

Brian McNally Photo courtesy of the Morris Educational Foundation

 

McNally’s ride is a fundraiser for the Capt. Brian J. McNally USMC Scholarship, which was founded in 2019 and offers $5,000 to Morristown High School seniors pursuing a first responder-related college degree. It is administered by the Morris Educational Foundation.

 

“Brian was an outdoorsy kind of person,” McNally told NJ Advance Media on April 28, the day of his last outdoor training ride before flying to California.

McNally spent the prior weekend in Washington, D.C., where he biked 150 miles in two days and visited his son’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

“He was all about volunteerism, helping people, whether it be the State Police, the Marine Corps, firefighter or EMT. He was sort of everybody in our family’s hero,” McNally said.

He was wearing a bicycle shirt from The Citadel, the military college in South Carolina attended by his son. He discussed climbing Mount Rainier with Brian in the summer of 2007, following his son’s freshman year.

“It was a great bonding experience,” McNally said

Biking across the United States will be a much longer effort — 43 days of riding, with only five rest days, averaging 79 miles per day. The Pacific-to-Atlantic route misses New Jersey but passes through 15 states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

He is paying approximately $16,000 to ride with CrossRoads Cycling Adventures by Big Dream Bike Tours. Three support vehicles will be accompanying the group, so he only needs to carry water while riding. “I still need to be able to change a tire. They want you to do it within 10 minutes,” he said.

 

McNally has been in training for more than a year, including some 85-mile rides along the Jersey Shore. In addition to lengthy outdoor rides, he has a Peloton stationary bike at home and lifts weights at a local gym. He vacationed in North Carolina and northern Florida during the winter and has logged more than 3,600 miles since Jan. 1.

“I literally biked every day for 40 days,” he said.

He acknowledged, though, there is no way to fully train for biking across the United States.

“When it gets tough, I’ll ask Brian for some inspiration,” McNally said.

Paula Farmer, the bike touring company’s owner/director, said the cyclists range in age from 28 to 82, including seven others joining in along the way. Almost are are men, unlike in prior years, she added.

Farmer said she did the ride in 2008. She will be among those in the support vehicles.

“Over the miles a community is formed. Friendships are formed that last a lifetime,” she said.

McNally worked in sales for a cyber security company and retired a year ago. He emphasized he’s not a hardcore athlete.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a physical fitness nut. I’m not,” said McNally, who ran nine marathons before switching to cycling around the age of 50.

“I sort of migrated from running to biking. I’ve never really had a major injury running, but as you get older, it’s harder,” McNally said.

Yet, in training for his cross-country ride, McNally has followed a rigorous training schedule that would be beyond the grasp of many who are three or four decades younger.

Here’s an example of a typical training day, from two weeks ago: McNally went for a 60-mile ride, lifted weights for two hours at the Greater Morristown YMCA, then went for a walk with a 30-pound vest strapped to his chest.

 

Kevin McNally poses for a photo with his bike in the park named after his son, Capt. Brian J. McNally in Morris Township on April 28, 2022. Kevin will be biking from the Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean starting May 8th, the 3,396 mile-trip will take approximately 50 days to complete and will raise funds for The Capt. Brian J. McNally USMC Scholarship, his son a NJSP trooper who died four years ago. Carucha L. Meuse | For NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

 

McNally’s final outdoor training ride was April 28. He starting by Captain Brian J. McNally Field in Morris Township, located in Freelan M. Green Park.

He and his wife, Barbara, raised Brian and their daughter, Maureen, in a house near the field, McNally once coached T-ball there.

It was another unseasonably cool day, the opposite of the conditions he will be experiencing on the cross-country ride.

“The toughest part will be, possibly, the heat, because I haven’t trained in the heat whatsoever, and just the grind of doing it every day, and certainly the hills,” McNally said.

He was using his backup bike, since the bike he will be using on the ride — a Trek Domane SL 7 — had already been shipped to California.

Many in his group, he explained, are also avoiding outdoor cycling in the days leading up to the ride’s start in California.

“I got chased by a dog yesterday,” he said.

“We made it this far without an injury, so everybody pretty much has something indoors,” added McNally, referring to his Peloton.

He ended up riding about 25 miles, nothing too hard, just rolling through the neighborhood where he raised his family.

Before riding off, he spoke of his son, and his ambitions for the college scholarship fund in his name.

“It’s to keep memories of Brian alive at the high school, and to help somebody get into college,” McNally explained.