Ride to raise funds takes 2 wheelers to Oregon

Frank Mann Jr. of east Cobb County plans to ride his dirt bike down farm roads and forest lanes, all the way to Oregon.

Mann, 40, and a buddy started their monthlong journey of dirt-biking and fund-raising Wednesday from Atlanta. They planned to ride first to Tennessee, where the trail begins.

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Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com

Frank Mann Jr. makes some last minute adjustments to his motorcycle at his Marietta home. He and a friend are traveling traveling 4,741 miles through 11 states, sticking to the back roads, far from the interstates.

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Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com

Frank Mann Jr. takes a test ride on his motorcycle before embarking on his long trek to Oregon. ‘People are amazed that two idiots will ride dirt bikes to Oregon,’ he laughed.

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The Aflac salesman is an off-road racing enthusiast with a soft place in his heart for kids with cancer. His wife also is a cancer survivor.

So far he’s raised $7,000 for Aflac’s Cancer Center & Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

“There’s nothing that breaks my heart more than when you go over to that cancer center and see those kids,” Mann said. “They don’t know what’s wrong. They just know they are sick.”

His friend Elton Mile, 24, of Sandy Springs is a former Marine who served in Iraq, and he wants to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

The pair decided those were great reasons to ride across America on KTM 950 Adventure motorcycles.

They’ll follow the Trans-America Trail through 11 states, sticking to back roads far from the interstate.

“Just any kind of nasty off-road connection of trails,” Mann summed it up.

They’ll sleep on the side of the trail and get a bath every few days at a hotel.

They’ve got a GPS unit, maps and charts to navigate the 4,741-mile course.

Maybe they’ll see a bear or a cool landscape. Maybe they’ll run out of food.

Mostly, they’ll have an adventure few insurance salesmen get to have.

“People are amazed that two idiots will ride dirt bikes to Oregon,” Mann joked.

Those interested can track the pair’s journey at www.choa.kintera.org/transamerica.