A Connecticut man used to huff and puff while bike riding. Now he’s competing and riding hundreds of miles. Here’s why.

Drew Laird was 18 when a fit stranger on a bicycle who appeared to be in his 60s changed Laird’s mindset forever.

The encounter happened in April 2020 when out of pandemic boredom Laird decided to take a ride on his rarely used bicycle, setting out on the Farmington Canal trail, an easy, safe ride.

He was “huffing and puffing” and surprised his baseline fitness wasn’t better at his age, when a white-haired man in bicycle shorts buzzed right by him. The man would ring the bell every time he passed a cyclist.

“I started to chase after him. Then, oh my God, I was huffing and puffing but he kept going,” Laird said. “It was a wake-up moment for me.”

Laird tried to find the stranger for weeks, to no avail.

But Laird found something else: a sport in which he’s become so accomplished that in August he’s going to ride 186 miles in the Pan-Mass Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon that raises to money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

He’s working hard to raise the $6,000 needed to participate in the Aug. 6-7 ride in honor of his dear aunt, Rosemary Mulligan, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was a child. So far he’s raised about $1,300. Mulligan has been in remission for 12 years.

“All I have to do is do something I love to raise money for a good cause,” he said. “I really can’t think of a better cause. The more I talk to people, cancer has affected so many people’s lives.”

After the encounter with the older cyclist, Laird immersed himself in hours of podcasts on technique and rode to build up his cycling distance and speed.

“He has no idea how that one moment changed my mindset,” Laird said.

To his own surprise, Laird even started to wear bicycle shorts because they’re more aerodynamic.

“I never imagined I would do these things, but then I wanted to get faster,” Laird said. “Biking for me was a breath of fresh air.”

At the start of that summer he was cycling at about 14.9 mph and by end of summer he was averaging 18 mph.

His 15-20-mile rides near home evolved into 200-plus-mile training weeks and far away adventures such as racing up Mount Washington and in the Netherlands, a 113-mile ride from Avon to Manhattan, a 146-mile cycling trip from Brussels to Amsterdam and more. Most recently Laird biked from Florence, Italy, to the Amalfi coast, a trip of 377 miles over four days.

Laird is a student at College of William and Mary in Virginia, where he majors in computational and applied mathematics and statistics.

He is also now student leader of the school’s Bike Alliance, for which he gets paid.

Laird said Mulligan is a “ray of positivity,” a “kind soul” and smart.

He called the upcoming ride to benefit cancer research, “super cool.”

“I get to do this with safe roads, beautiful country, being cheered on and doing good for the world,” Laird said.” Biking for me just gave me a new perspective on life.”

Laird said that two years ago, “I was not a natural athlete.”

“Things are possible. It comes down to whether you believe you can do it,” Laird said.

As for that stranger who inspired him, Laird said the man will probably never know of the influence he had on his life, but he would still like to meet the older cyclist.