Recalling his 11,000-mile, two-wheeled odyssey, the tears in Keith Frick's eyes weren't from memories of desert pneumonia or his first DNF.

"We wheeled into McDonald's in Cheyenne and the Central (High School) cheerleaders were having a four-hour car wash next door, and in four hours, they raised $3,300 for those kids," Frick, 50, of Casper, remembered.

Cycling partner Bob Thunselle, 49, struggled to concisely explain the myriad fundraisers - and myriad miles - the two have been part of since deciding in early 2007 to raise $100,000 for a "Wyoming" room at the renovated Ronald McDonald House in Denver, where Wyoming children who are patients in Denver-area hospitals and their families can stay.

"I can't put into words how the summer transformed," Thunselle said.

They have ridden across the state of South Dakota, where Frick fell ill and was unable to breathe. He did not finish (DNF) for the first time.

They rode from Red Lodge, Mont., to Cody over Beartooth Pass, elevation approaching 11,000 feet.

They've ridden from Buffalo to Ten Sleep and back to Buffalo, elevation 9,666 feet.

They rode from Casper to Denver.

And then, in October, while Wyomingites were hunting and watching the Cowboys defeat TCU in Laramie, they rode 508 miles from Santa Clarita to Twentynine Palms, Calif., through the Mojave Desert and Death Valley in something known as the "Furnace Creek 508."

Both finished.

"The camaraderie is what comes to mind first," Frick said. "This is a world class event, not a ride."

In California, 72 solo men began the race and 35 finished. Seven women started and five finished.

Thunselle says they were told there is a 90 to 94 percent attrition rate of the event's rookies. Wyoming's two beat those odds.

Thunselle "under-ate," however, and at one time had a heart rate of 83. Two rests off the bike made him well enough to finish, in 40 hours, 5 minutes, 25 seconds.

Frick finished in 46:41:14.

"There was never a point where I thought I wasn't finishing, (but) the crew certainly had some questions," Thunselle laughed. "My legs would run 20 miles per hour on the flat, but then I'd have to stop and breathe."

Each rider credited his support crew with his finish.

Thunselle's crew was Todd Hathaway, Vicki Rubis and Gale Long.

"It's solely because of those folks I was able to finish," he said.

Frick's crew was Jim Hirz, John Bouzis, Julie Hathaway and his wife, Charlene Frick.

"It takes other people to do what we did. It's not a one-person deal," Frick said.

In 2006, 37 percent of families staying at Ronald McDonald House in Denver were from Wyoming. Their average length of stay was 22 days and they were from 34 towns in Wyoming.

Among those who have stayed there repeatedly are the Harold and Sally Berg family of Casper and their double-liver transplant daughter, Melissa.

While the city of Casper rallied around Melissa in a number of fundraising events in late 2006 and 2007, Melissa herself determined this fall that one of those fundraisers would go to toward the cyclists' Ronald McDonald House fund.

The dedication of the new facility is set for February or March, Thunselle said, and he and Frick wouldn't miss it for the world.

When the kitchen is named the "Wyoming Kitchen," they'll remember the desert - but they'll also remember support from large foundations, as well as the car washes and high school raffles and jam sessions.

Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520; sallyann.shurmur@trib.com or see her profile and blog at my.trib.com/Sal/blog