John Hall is a health nut.

That's according to his younger brother, Jim.

Jim, a long-time Lompoc attorney, makes his case by pointing out that John used to have a climbing rope in his house in Anchorage, Alaska, which had a very high ceiling. He also kept a stationary bicycle upstairs, and everyone in the house could tell when he was working out.

“He used to ride that thing so hard we could hear the house rumbling, and the china cabinet - ching, ching, ching, ching,” Jim said.

“They're 10 of us, and he's the only one who's kind of thin. The rest of us are kind of thick.”

John Hall, 62, an emergency room doctor at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, does know something about staying in shape. He's been riding that stationary bike for about 10 years and used to run marathons until his back started acting up.

And he's no stranger to long-distance bike rides. Three years ago he bicycled 2,300 miles in 23 days, from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Anchorage, and he raised upwards of $15,000 for charity.

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But John and the rest of the Hall clan - eight boys and two girls born to George and Anne Hall - also know something about the flip side of good health.

George Hall died of heart problems in 1971; he was 53. Anne Hall died of pancreatic cancer in 1996. Last May, Jim's wife, Ketrenia - his high school sweetheart at Lompoc High - had a lung transplant. She is doing extremely well, Jim said.

And in March last year, John's wife, Jane, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The diagnosis interrupted the couple's plans for taking a bicycle ride around the perimeter of the continental United States and maybe even raise some money for cancer research. But after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, Jane is feeling well and is ready again for the adventure.

So the trip is back on. John has taken a yearlong sabbatical, and there's more emphasis now on the cancer angle. In fact, they're going all out. They hope to raise awareness about cancer and maybe even set a speed record for circling the states on a bicycle.

The bike ride will take four months, and John intends to travel about 12,000 miles - 100 miles per day for 120 days. The record is 180 days, set in 1970 by Richard DeBernardis of Tucson, Ariz.

John and Jane have even hired their daughter, Tiffany, in Austin, Texas, as a fund-raiser for the venture they are calling “The Bike Ride Around America.”

Tiffany said her father has already raised more than $30,000 - mostly from family, friends and co-workers. They set up a Web site (bikeridearoundamerica.org) in January, where people can donate.

Although there is no official goal, Tiffany said they hope to surpass $100,000. If they raise that much, then they'll shoot for more, she said.

John will leave on the bike ride between 6 and 7 a.m. Tuesday from the gravesite of his parents at Evergreen Cemetery in Lompoc.

And what about Jim?

Well, he'll be having knee-replacement surgery that day.

With Jane trailing in a support vehicle, John will head south, trying to hit the Southern states before the heat settles in, then conquer the Northern states during the summer months.

From Lompoc, they will head toward San Diego, staying mostly on Highway 1 and city roads, then swing toward Phoenix and down into Texas. When he reaches Florida, Hall will ride down the state's west coast and cross to the east coast above Miami, then head north to Bar Harbor, Maine. For the most part, he will be following routes mapped by Adventure Cycling Association.

He said he will ride five to seven hours every day, beginning between 7 and 9 a.m., breaking for lunch or to replenish his water or Gatorade supplies, and finishing between 2 and 4 p.m.

“I'm trying to do 100 miles a day,” Hall said. “I don't think physically it's impossible to do. A lot of people do 50 to 80 miles a day. I think it's realistic. My goal is to finish it.”

But setting a record would be icing on the “health nut's” cake.

Hall said he might also stop at some places to talk to people about cancer. Jane will take time to see some sights along the way, keeping in touch with John by cell phone or walkie-talkie, he said.

In the Northeast, Hall added, he will be challenged by steep hills and big-city traffic, but the toughest stretch on the route will be the winds of the Midwest.

“Going across Minnesota, North Dakota, the winds can be real bad. The winds there are going to be the biggest issue,” he said.

He expects to return to Lompoc between July 31 and Aug. 2.

Hall said he expects the ride to cost as much as $30,000, but he is paying all of his expenses so that the money he raises goes entirely to two cancer foundations - the Susan Butcher Family Center in Anchorage, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation in Austin, Texas.

Butcher, Alaska's legendary Iditarod dog-sled racer, died of leukemia in August 2006. She had placed in the top five in the Iditarod 12 times and won the grueling race four times.

Her family established the cancer center in her memory as a supportive place for children to go while a parent or sibling is being treated for cancer. It is in the hospital where John Hall works.

Armstrong, a cancer survivor, seven-time Tour de France champion and frequent visitor to the Central Coast, started his foundation in 1997 to inspire and empower people affected by cancer.

Hall's motivation, of course, is to fight cancer, in his own family and for everyone else.

“Every two days in the United States, we lose the same number of people to cancer who died in the 9-11 attacks,” he said.

Bo Poertner can be reached at 737-1053 or

bpoertner@lompocrecord.com.

March 26, 2008