A 9/11 Widower's Ride of Remembrance

He established a Web site, http://www.airlineride.org , to solicit donations. Within 48 hours of putting up the site, he began to hear from families of the 33 crew members. One person donated $10,000, he said, and other contributions from $5 to $1,000 have come in through the Internet.

He does not want to limit the ride to the five core riders. Others have told him they want to join the trip for a segment or a day and get sponsors to support their rides. In addition, rallies are planned with U.S. Airways employees in Phoenix, near the airline's headquarters, and with American Airlines employees in Dallas, that airline's home base; other rallies might be added along the route.

Each of the 33 days of the ride will be dedicated to one of the crew members. Each week of the four-week cross-country journey will be dedicated to one of the four flights.

Sitting on the sofa in his living room, decorated with family pictures of him, his wife and their daughter, Alison, 24, and son, Thomas II, 18, he talked about the outpouring of support he has encountered.

"I don't start at the bottom; I start at the top," he said of his organizing efforts. "I contacted the governors of the states we will go through, asking both for support and for information . . . as far as making this happen. Then I went to the departments of transportations and the state police. To show you how supportive everyone has been, within 48 hours of first contacting them, I got permits to ride through Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol is going to pick us up at Dockweiler Beach, and they are going all the way to the Arizona border with us."

He said he has commitments from the state police in every state except Tennessee. "They said they never do anything like this and they are afraid to set a precedent."

James Laychak, president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, said he was excited about the bike ride and hopes to saddle up for the final leg of the journey. "I think it is outstanding, not only as a way to raise money but to raise awareness, not only for the Pentagon Memorial but for all the memorials," he said. "This will just catch everyone's attention."

Laychak said about $9.8 million has been raised for the Pentagon memorial. He said $20 million is needed for construction and an additional $10 million for an endowment to maintain the memorial. He said the goal is for construction to begin this year and for the site to be dedicated in 2008.