By Joe Anuta
A Middle Village native found a unique way to honor his late father — with an annual 30-mile bike tour and mustache competition.
Brian Davis was intent on preserving the memory of his father, and though historic tours usually explore old neighborhoods or follow in the footsteps of American heroes, Davis decided to find a creative way to honor someone who directly affected his life.
“I wanted to do something just to get together,” Davis said. “I think he really enjoyed spending time with friends and family and this is continuing that legacy.”
Dennis Davis died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. But instead of donning black every year to remember his father, Davis and a group of friends and supporters will sport bright green T-shirts bearing a black mustache on the chest as they trace his father’s life through Brooklyn and Queens.
“It’s a very casual bike ride that tours certain milestones of my dad’s life,” Davis said.
It will start at the Brooklyn Bridge, the last site his father worked at for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services after a career at the telephone company Verizon, and will weave through downtown Brooklyn, Prospect Park, Coney Island and end at Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village.
Davis’ father biked as a hobby.
The ride is not a race.
But the mustache competition is serious business.
“My dad had a very thick handlebar mustache,” Davis said. “The first year a couple of friends tried to grow mustaches in honor of him.”
The tradition stuck, and this year there will be a judge waiting at the finish line.
Davis’ mother will be waiting for the bikers at Woodhaven House, at 63-98 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park, to crown the best mustache and give out the prize: a jacket with the previous mustache winners’ names stitched on the back — with the name of Davis’ father on top, of course.
The winner will get to wear the jacket for one year, but there will be plenty of prizes for the smooth-lipped as well.
A raffle and door prizes will not only make for a good evening, but will go to a good cause.
Davis also runs the annual bike ride to raise awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research.
“I also wanted to bring awareness to this terrible disease,” Davis said.
Donations are not mandatory, but all the money raised will go toward the Lustgarten Foundation, which funnels money toward pancreatic cancer research.
The memorial get-together has been growing in recent years, Davis said.
Friends of his father’s come from as far as Chicago, and this year he got sponsorship from a mustache waxing company and a local bike store.
“I feel very blessed all the support that everyone has given to me and my family. Whether it be from riding to donating and offering services, or just coming out to celebrate,” Davis said. “It’s really a celebration.”
Anyone who wishes to donate can visit lustgarten.org/den2011.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
