Fountain Hills resident Buzz Ponce is gearing up to go on a bike ride. Rather than simply heading down Saguaro Blvd., out to McDowell Mountain Regional Park or even down the Beeline, though, his ride is going to be a bit on the long side.

In May, Ponce is heading on a cross-country trip, racking up miles in order to fundraise for a good cause, Warriors Heart.

Ponce plans to depart from Oceanside, California, in early May and arrive in Augustine, Florida, in early July. This 3,000-mile trip will likely be the biggest challenge of his life, but it’s one Ponce said he’s excited to undertake.

For starters, Ponce’s ride will benefit Warriors Heart, a charity organization with a motto of “strength through healing.” The program focuses on active military, veterans and first responders coping with everything from PTSD to addiction and chemical dependency.

Ponce actually completed a bike ride down the California coast in recent years and, on his website, he admits that he figured that would be the last big ride he would want to tackle. When he learned about Warriors Heart, though, he said the wheels got turning in his head concerning how he might be able to support the cause.

The answer was his upcoming ride for charity, which is thoroughly detailed at buzzponc4.wixsite.com/buzz-ponce. There, you can read up on Ponce’s trip itinerary, find a link to the Warriors Heart website, peruse the blog he plans to update throughout the journey and donate to his cause. Ponce said it’s important to understand that any donation made through his website goes directly to the charity, not his bike ride. He’s covering the ride expenses himself.

“When I found out about Warriors Heart I started thinking about ways I could support that cause,” Ponce said. “At first I thought a cross-country ride would be too much but, once I did some research, I realized maybe I can do this. And once I put the idea together of doing the charity ride, I contacted Warriors Heart and they were all for it.”

Ponce said the seed of this project was planted about two years ago, with planning and training filling the time between.

“Now I’m just seven weeks away from the trip, so I’m getting excited,” he added. “Pretty religiously, every other day I get out and ride the bike 20-25 miles.”

Ponce said one of the best things about training in Fountain Hills is that the area can prepare you for just about any sort of ride.

“You’ve got the heat in the summer, which is terrific,” Ponce said. “And then some of the hills around here are tough to ride a bike up. But if you can do these hills in town, you can ride anywhere. If you can ride a bike in 110-degree weather, you can ride a bike anywhere.

“From a physical standpoint, I’m ready to go.”

One thing Ponce is looking forward to on his trip is the camaraderie he will share with longtime friend Dave Rickabaugh. Ponce said he recently purchased a “rickety, old” RV, and Rickabaugh will be driving the support vehicle for the three-month journey. Ponce pointed out that having an RV along for the ride is going to be a big help, providing shelter, storage and the like without needing to rely on hauling camping supplies on his bike or tracking down a motel.

Looking ahead, Ponce said he expects the weather will be the biggest challenge, especially since he’s not used to the type of humidity he’ll experience while cruising through the South. Texas, he said, will also be a tough ride due to a lack of scenery. Otherwise, though, he is excited to hit the road and make his way to Florida by around July 1, all for a charity he believes in.

“I’m so looking forward to this whole adventure,” Ponce said. “I wish it could start right now. I’m very excited about it.

“I’ll turn 70 during this ride. But now, for whatever reasons, this is something I can and I want to do. I want to do it before I can’t. I wanted to do something ‘different’ when I turn 70, and this is certainly different.”