NEWPORT BEACH : Alzheimer’s Benefit Bike Ride to Begin

To much fanfare, Alan Galletly will pedal his bicycle out of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club parking lot this morning to kick off a 4,300-mile journey to Washington.

He is making the cross-country ride to raise $1 million for research on Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicts thousands of senior citizens each year in America. He hopes to arrive in the nation’s capital in early August after 85 days in the saddle.

But before leaving, Galletly, 56, will pause for a brief ceremony at 8 a.m. at 900 Newport Center Drive, which will be attended by City Councilwoman Evelyn R. Hart and about 200 members of the national Independent Telephone Pioneer Assn.

For good measure, the City Council last week designated Saturday as “Pioneers Across America for Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day.”

“I know there will be a huge adrenaline rush,” Galletly, a retired GTE executive who lives in Connecticut, said of his impending departure. “I am not built for speed. I enjoy the . . . quiet of the road.”

The ITPA is sponsoring the bike trip and will donate the proceeds to the American Health Assistance Foundation. Galletly, who is active in both organizations, plans to stop frequently along the way to seek donations and sponsors. By the time he reaches the steps of the Capitol in Washington, he hopes to have raised $1 million.

Saturday’s ride will take him through South County, ending 50 miles south in Carlsbad.