WATERVILLE — Sisters Joanne Mason and Diana LeRoux said it would take more than a little rain to stop them from participating in the Trek Across Maine this weekend.

LeRoux said Saturday after finishing the second leg of the 180-mile tour that she was participating in the trek for the first time in honor of a friend who died of lung cancer. The three-day bike ride raises money for the American Lung Association and LeRoux felt motivated to come to Maine from Michigan so she could be part of the cause.

Mason, of Hanover, said it was her ninth year participating and she is a little faster than her sister, but she waited for LeRoux so they could ride across the second-leg finish at Colby College with each other.

“We wanted to cross together,” she said.

The sisters were among 3,000 cyclists, volunteers and staff who came together for the 30th annual cross-Maine fundraiser.

While Friday and Saturday’s weather wasn’t good, Sunday is expected to be sunny and in the 70s for the final leg. This year’s event has had no reported accidents. Organizers redrew the route after a biker last year met his death on Route 2 in Farmington; bikers now spend less time on that busy road and more on back roads.

Volunteers and bikers who had already finished the second leg Saturday gathered around the finish line to cheer on the finishing cyclists, while festive music played in the background.

The weekend-long tour rolled from Sunday River in Newry to the University of Maine at Farmington on Friday, and to Colby on Saturday. It will go to Belfast on Sunday.


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