# Freddie Hoffman - the man who biked to the moon and back (twice)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 2, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423 "2010-01-02T19:44:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423/1 "2010-01-02T19:44:19Z")
> **[The Man Who Rode to the Moon (and back) (twice)](https://miles4melanoma.com/freddiehoffman/)**
>
> I read the story of Freddie Hoffman in the July 2001 issue of Bicycling Magazine. Before I originally posted this page, I did a search on the web to try to find more information about him, and foun…
Wow, absolutely incredible and fascinating character piece I did not expect to find at all. At seven, this socially rejected kid with disabilities decides he’s going to ride his bike 500,000 miles, the distance to the moon and back. So he does this, for years and years, until he meets it, alone, with no one to celebrate with. So he does the logical next step…he does it again, alone. Now he uses his bike riding to raise money for medical research.
Check out what he has to say about Lance Armstrong’s fund-raising for cancer, it’s surprisingly cynical and harsh:
> [@](#):
>
> “I should have been on the Wheaties box instead of Lance Armstrong,” he says. "Lance Armstrong owes the fact that they fixed him up in part to people that do work like I do. I’m out there riding and doing all the door-to-door fund-raising. Before Armstrong had that [cancer] I didn’t hear about him going out and pounding the pavement, raising money for research, but after he was cured, then it was a big deal, then he used his big name and his notoriety. I do it the old-fashioned way, by myself, pedaling my butt off. I do a hell of a lot more work when it comes to raising the money.
A good read.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423/2 "2010-01-02T19:58:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “I should have been on the Wheaties box instead of Lance Armstrong,” he says. "Lance Armstrong owes the fact that they fixed him up in part to people that do work like I do. I’m out there riding and doing all the door-to-door fund-raising. Before Armstrong had that [cancer] I didn’t hear about him going out and pounding the pavement, raising money for research, but after he was cured, then it was a big deal, then he used his big name and his notoriety. I do it the old-fashioned way, by myself, pedaling my butt off. I do a hell of a lot more work when it comes to raising the money.
I’m sure this guy is a great person, but this is just sour grapes. Lance Armstrong can (and has, I’m sure) raised more money for medical research in a week than this guy has in his whole life. Asking Armstrong to go door to door is dumb, he uses his celebrity to raise money, which is the smart and efficient way to do it.
BTW, Armstrong won all of his Tours after he got cured, and thats why he became so famous, so I don’t think it is true that this guy works harder that Armstrong.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423/3 "2010-01-02T20:43:22Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#):
>
> I’m sure this guy is a great person, but this is just sour grapes. Lance Armstrong can (and has, I’m sure) raised more money for medical research in a week than this guy has in his whole life. Asking Armstrong to go door to door is dumb, he uses his celebrity to raise money, which is the smart and efficient way to do it.
>
> BTW, Armstrong won all of his Tours after he got cured, and that’s why he became so famous, so I don’t think it is true that this guy works harder that Armstrong.
If you read the whole article you’ll see he has some moderate mental issues due to oxygen deprivation at birth. I think you need to take his attitude in stride relative to the good he has done.
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### Author:  [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freddie-hoffman-the-man-who-biked-to-the-moon-and-back-twice/523423/4 "2010-01-04T07:05:41Z")
Incredible. I love how old-school his gear is, too. Completely amazing.
Also in his defense, the previously posted paragraph omitted the last sentence, which softens it a bit. “I should have been on the Wheaties box instead of Lance Armstrong,” he says. "Lance Armstrong owes the fact that they fixed him up in part to people that do work like I do. I’m out there riding and doing all the door-to-door fund-raising. Before Armstrong had that [cancer] I didn’t hear about him going out and pounding the pavement, raising money for research, but after he was cured, then it was a big deal, then he used his big name and his notoriety. I do it the old-fashioned way, by myself, pedaling my butt off. I do a hell of a lot more work when it comes to raising the money. **But," he concludes in a shot a diplomacy, “I do admire Lance’s fund-raising efforts, accomplishments and Tour de France victories.”** Bolding mine.