This article appeared in Friday’s Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era:
For 14-year-old Maria DeNunzio, her biggest dream was a nightmare.
She was the youngest and only female among 60 participants in the 15th annual Nightmare Bicycle Tour held on Aug. 8.
The bike ride covered some 177 miles and earned its name because it includes rolling hills, steep hills, very steep hills and extremely steep hills.
Sponsored by Dream Ride Projects of Lancaster County and sanctioned by the Ultracycling Club of America, she said it was something she was driven to do.
“I never give up,” Maria said.
She will be entering Manheim Township High School as a freshman this month, and she plans to compete in field hockey, track and soccer. She is an “A” student and aspires for a career as an athletic trainer or chef.
Riding a bike for Maria, however, is her truest calling.
“I learned to ride a bike when I was 3,” she said, adding that the training wheels were off by the time she turned 4.
At that time, Maria, sisters Tia, now 13, and Catherine, now 11, and their parents, Susan and Tony DeNunzio, lived in Denver, Colo., an area known for its network of some 200 miles of bike trails.
Both parents are avid cyclists, and it wasn’t long before the couple’s oldest child was out on the trails. They were amazed by Maria’s natural abilities.
“It was like she was born to ride a bike. We saw that immediately,” Susan said.
Accompanied by her dad, the 4-year-old rode two miles to her preschool, and she loved every minute of it.
“When you ride a bike, you see so much,” Maria said, adding that the most beautiful bike ride she ever took was 62 miles through the Shenandoah Mountains on a family vacation.
After the family moved to Lancaster County, Maria became involved with the Cycle Smart youth safety program with the Dream Ride Projects. The organization sponsors bicycle rides throughout Lancaster County, some for charities.
The best known ride is the Dream Ride held in July.
That wasn’t quite challenging enough for the ambitious teen. She wanted to do the “nightmare.”
All through the spring and early summer, she trained. Then, on Aug. 8, she joined about 59 other bicyclists — all males from teenagers to over-60-year-olds. She started bright and early at 5 a.m. in Marietta, with her orange Trek road bike. Her parents and sisters followed behind in the family van, providing food, water and occasional rests along the way.
The ride took more than 16 hours, with Maria completing the circle around Lancaster County in the darkness at 9:20 p.m. She estimated that about 14 hours of that was “bike time.” She took a half hour for lunch and a few pit stops to use restrooms. Her sisters passed the time watching videos in the van.
The route from Marietta took her to Safe Harbor, Holtwood, Christiana, Honey Brook, Adamstown, Brickerville, Manheim, Mount Joy and back to Marietta.
“The hills were intense,” she said, but there was no stopping Maria. She refused to give up, even when faced with a “wall” of a hill on Swamp Church Road near Adamstown.
At times she was exhausted, but she reached deep down to carry on.
At one point, she saw the young man who had participated in the ride when he was 14. Now 16, Matt Lowe was gaining on her, so she pushed even harder.
“That really spurred me on,” Maria said.
Mike Ridgeway of the Dream Ride Project was impressed with her determination. Of the 60 riders, she came in 45th and was the only female.
“We are just hugely proud of Maria,” her mother said.
Tia and Catherine, who are also athletes and enjoy riding bikes, said “no way” would they ever take on the “nightmare.” They prefer to ride their bikes around the neighborhood.
