S eventy-nine   days.   Four   thou- sand,   two   hundred   and   fifty miles.   Four   time   zones.   Ten states. More than $10,000 raised for the   Waukesha   Memorial   Hospital Regional   Cancer   Center.   And   not one flat tire along the way. It’s   easy   to   evaluate   “Heals   on Wheels,” Elizabeth McGowan’s recent   coast-to-coast   solo   bicycle journey, in statistical terms. It was an impressive  accomplishment  for  the 39-year-old  woman  from  the  Town of  Troy  near  Eagle.  But  her  cross- country  trek  was  about  more  than numbers. When  McGowan  ceremoniously dipped  her  bike  tire  into  the  salty waters of the York River on Nov. 2, it was  the  completion  of  sorts  of  a cycle  that  began  for  her  at  age  15, when her father died of melanoma. She was diagnosed with an advanced case of the disease herself at age 24. The  cancer  had  already  spread  to her internal organs, and she under- went   treatment   for   the   next   ten years. When she passed what is con- sidered a landmark five-year cancer- free  period,  she  decided  to  plan  a trip that would both raise awareness about skin cancer and money for the Waukesha Cancer Center. Originally   from   Massachusetts, McGowan moved to Milwaukee for a journalism job. She now works at The Nature Conservancy, a 600-acre wildlife preserve at Lulu Lake, in the Kettle   Moraine   area   near   Eagle. McGowan   had   already   completed several   long-distance   backpacking and  bicycling  trips,  but  this  would be the longest of her life. She spent several   months   planning   the   trip, and  used  the  “TransAmerica”  route from the Adventure Cycling Associa- tion in Missoula, Mont. “It’s  sort  of  the  granddaddy  of bicycle routes,” McGowan says. The Missoula cycling group first used it in 1976, so this year marks the 25th anniversary of the trail. It starts on the  Pacific  Coast  in  Astoria,  Ore., winds through mostly smaller high- ways in the northern United States to its final destination at the meet- ing  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the York  River  in  Yorktown,  Va.  Other states on the way were Idaho, Mon- tana,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Vir- ginia. “I  selected  this  route  because  I thought  it  would  give  me  the  best taste   of   small-town   America,”   she FEATURE  STORY 60 • LifeStyle West • March 2001 Story by Mike Starling Cancer survivor pedals coast to coast Cruisin’  for a CURE Elizabeth McGowan spent several months last year biking from coast to coast to raise money for the Waukesha Memorial Hospital Regional Cancer Center.