Allentown woman honors late husband with cross-country bike ride for charity

• Her company will match up to $500,000 raised by the riders.

It's all in memory of Gerry, who died last year at age 47 after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

• Foran says her husband was the generous "mayor" of their Lehigh County block.
• He'd hand out tomatoes to neighbors so they'd feel welcome. And the community rallied behind Gerry in return, tying purple ribbons and balloons on their mailboxes following his diagnosis.

Flashback: Gerry maintained hope and a sense of humor while undergoing 30 rounds of chemotherapy and two clinical trials, his wife says.

• He'd wear funny T-shirts for treatment: "Shut up, liver. You're fine," and, "A penny for your thoughts seems too expensive."

He was the type of person who saw a problem and fixed it, Foran says.

• "We couldn't fix him, but our goal is to fix this [problem] for the future."

Zoom out: Foran started a foundation, Fightin' Foran's, with Gerry while he was in hospice. Its mission: Cure pancreatic cancer.

• The foundation holds an annual fundraiser the day after Thanksgiving, Gerry's favorite holiday, and has already raised more than $30,000 for cancer research.

What's ahead: Foran kicks off the first leg of her biking journey with her team Tuesday in St. Louis.

• She plans to end three days from now in Indianapolis, where she'll be greeted by family and friends who are traveling across the country to watch her cross the finish line.

And she knows she'll feel Gerry's presence along the way — as she often does on bike rides whenever she spots a deer or a cardinal.

• "I know he's watching out for me," she says.