Frank Skrzypczynski, Lemont Park District’s Building Maintenance Manager, was concerned when his friend and coworker, Jeff Toman had been out sick for a few weeks. But when Frank heard Jeff had been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer (specifically Small Cell Carcinoma) and would probably not be coming back to work any time soon, his first thought was, “What can I do to help?”

More than just a coworker, Frank says, “I’ve worked with Jeff for more than eight years, and he’s always been a real role model and inspiration to me. He has had a tremendous impact on my career and helped mold the person I am today. He’s always been willing to lend a hand whenever anyone needs help with something — so I immediately knew I wanted to help him.” But how?

“I had no idea what to do, but suddenly I thought — my unicycle!” Frank says. “People always get excited when they see me riding through the neighborhood — and it’s unique enough that I figured people would probably be interested enough to support a GoFundMe page to raise money for Jeff. So that’s what I did. And I asked people to sponsor me on a 150-mile ride.”

Frank began his four-day unicycle journey in Savanna, Ill., and made his way through Dixon, Rochelle and St. Charles to his Belmont Harbor destination in Chicago.

If Frank’s story has you interested in learning to ride a unicycle, here are some tips to get started from the Unicycling Society of America (USA). USA says you don’t need a special talent; you just have to want to learn. It takes practice and can be challenging at first, as Frank mentioned. One of the best ways to get started is to take a few lessons and/or join a local unicycling club, but here are some important tips: get the right-sized unicyle, find the right place to ride and learn to ride correctly. Here's a video that offers some great beginner tips!

How At All Began

Frank’s been riding a unicycle for 11 years, thinking it was “something unique, and pretty cool, to do.” But getting started was a bit of a challenge. “It took me a good solid day to get to the end of the driveway, but the next day I rode it all the way down the street.”

His typical ride before August was about two miles, but to complete a 150-mile ride in four days meant being able to pedal up to 13 hours in one day. While Frank has been interested in unicycling recreationally, he never thought he would be able to go 150 miles. “But I decided to push myself, just like Jeff always told me to do,” he explains.

“I trained on the unicycle almost every day for six months for this journey across the entire state of Illinois — from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan — to give Jeff’s friends and family the opportunity to support him by donating via my GoFundMe page,” Frank says. “My brother-in-law rode along with me on his bike with supplies, like a follow car, because you can’t really carry anything with you on the unicycle. For training, I began riding every day — however many hours I had left in the day after work, usually about four, and on the weekends. I started riding a couple miles at a time and worked my way up. It wasn’t easy, but knowing I was doing it to help Jeff made it a lot easier.”

On the actual ride that started July 29, 2021, and ended Aug. 1, 2021, every day was a little different, according to Frank. “We started off the first day riding 54 miles in 13 hours and then rode nine hours the second day, 10 the third and 11 on the fourth.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Frank admits, “but I would do it all over again, just to help my friend.”

And help he did. With no idea what he could expect in the way of support, he set a goal of $5,000, and reached it in three days after creating the GoFundMe page. He surpassed it the next several days, raising a grand total of $6,475. Frank arranged to give all donations directly to the Toman family to assist with medical expenses. The GoFundMe page will remain active through the end of the year for anyone who would like to contribute.

“I just thought this would be helpful for someone who hadn’t been able to work for almost nine months — and Jeff is very grateful,” Frank says. Now the two friends talk about once a week, and whenever Frank calls, he says Jeff is quick to say, “Hey — how’s my hero?”