A considerable drive to help

 Linda Dabbiero was struggling. 

Somewhere in the midst of her 214.3-mile ride, the Greyhawk Landing resident stopped due to the effects of the Bike Sebring 12-hour Race Across America Qualifier Feb. 14. 

She was mentally drained and her body was aching, but the U.S. Army Veteran refused to give up. She couldn’t let herself, her Rocco Race Team and Team 4 Gone teammates and, most importantly, 15-year-old Chandler Howard down. 

Pushing through, Dabbiero hopped back on her bike and pedaled on. She not only finished the race but eventually won her age group. 

She mailed her first-place medal to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where Howard is battling medulloblastomia, an aggressive form of brain cancer, which has metastasized to his spine. 

“During the ride, I was feeling a little bad, but I knew Chandler would want me to get back on the bike and keep pedaling,” Dabbiero said. “He wakes up every day and faces so much, so it was about honoring Chandler. He’s a pretty dynamic kid.” 

Dabbiero and Howard haven’t met face to face; but Dabbiero is hoping to send a few more medals Howard’s way over the next four months, as she continues preparing for the 2016 Race Across America. 

It will be Dabbiero’s first time competing in the 3,000-mile race, which draws participants from across the world. 

Joining Dabbiero on the four-person team will be team captain and Country Creek resident Dan Rocco, his brother, David Rocco of Lee Summit, Mo., and Tim Barrow of San Antonio, Texas.

All four riders are military veterans, and have united together for a common cause. In addition, team RRT4G will travel with an eight-person crew, ranging from college students to retired military officers.

Dan Rocco and Barrow, who both work for Southwest Airlines, decided to pick a charity that touched them and decided upon on the Howard family and St. Jude. 

Team RRT4G plans to incorporate both Howard and St. Jude on its cycling uniform and hopes to go to Memphis, Tenn., to present Howard with his own jersey. 

The team set up a website, rrt4g.com, and has began collecting donations for St. Jude with the goal of raising $20,000 in Howard’s honor by June. 

Team RRT4G will leave June 18 from the pier in Oceanside, Calif. and end in Annapolis. Md. Since the race never stops, the four-person team will be divided into two sub teams. Each rider will ride for 30 minutes, rain or shine, before swapping out with another rider.

Teams have nine days to finish the race, but team RRT4G has aspirations of finishing the trek in under seven days. 

“It’s a lofty goal, but I think it’s doable,” Dan Rocco said. “There are a lot of very good racers out there, but it takes a different type of person to have the drive, time and support of their families to take on something like this.” 

In preparation for the race, team RRT4G will compete in the RAAM Challenge Texas March 19, which will be a 24-hour, 400-mile race. 

Dabbiero and Dan Rocco were out riding with the Village Idiots when the two began talking about RAAM. Having participated in several Team Tony rides across Florida, Dabbiero decided she was up for the challenge. 

She hired a coach to help prepare her for elevation and climbs and has been riding 250 miles a week since October. 

“I want to make sure that I know that I’m ready,” Dabbiero said. “In some way I’m looking for validation. I’m not the fastest rider, but I’m a good rider. I want to make Chandler proud knowing we did this for him and others.”

This will be Dan Rocco’s third year involved in RAAM, having spent two years as a rider and once a crew member. 

“RAAM is all about heart and mind,” Dan Rocco said. “It gets in your blood.”