By Walter Schlect Contributing writer A small gathering celebrated the arrival of cyclist Bill Johnson as he finished his day-long ride at 9 p.m. Monday from Cle Elum to the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Monday.

Johnson made the 207-mile trek across Washington to raise money for the Sonny Angel’s Gift of Hope Endowment, named after Johnson’s late golden retriever. This endowment will go toward the Good Samaritan Fund at the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, or CVM. The fund helps sick stray animals and those whose owners do not have the financial means to pay for medical treatment at the veterinary hospital. Although Johnson had planned to arrive in Pullman at about 4 p.m., Monday’s heat threw him off schedule. His pace began to decrease in Othello due to the more-than-100-degree weather, making it unsafe for him to keep going at his normal rate.

“Why couldn’t I have just done a bake sale?” Johnson said jokingly in the hospital lobby. “I’m nuts.” CVM staff members were there to congratulate him and present him with a CVM T-shirt and bottle of Perrier water.

Johnson’s wife, Jane, met him at different locations during his journey to supply him with food and water. “I’ve always supported him in everything he does,” she said. “He’s kind of a dynamic kind of guy.” The Cle Elum resident originally planned to cycle home Tuesday, but decided to wait for cooler weather in September to complete the round trip of 414 miles, he said.

“My heart and legs say go for it; my brain says, ‘You’re not moving,’ ” Johnson said.

Though Johnson has been a cyclist all his adult life, this was the longest journey he had ever undertaken. He said cycling is “more or less a mental focus.” His goal is to raise $25,000, the minimum amount needed for an endowment through WSU. If the endowment reaches that amount, $1,000 dollars in interest will go to the Good Samaritan Fund every year.

Johnson’s dog, Sonny, was diagnosed in November with lymphoma, with a 40-percent survival rate. Although Sonny went through chemotherapy, he died less than a month later.

Johnson began cycling more frequently while Sonny underwent treatment, using the activity as a coping mechanism, he said.

While waiting for Sonny to finish a treatment session at WSU, Johnson saw many others at the veterinary hospital waiting for their pets, he said. He realized some owners did not have the means to pay for the expenses. In January, Johnson decided to cycle to raise money for an endowment fund in memory of Sonny.

“It was heartbreaking to watch the faces on these people, especially the ones with children,” Johnson said. It was also heartbreaking for him to see Sonny sick. Before cancer, Sonny was “kind and gentle,” Johnson said.

“With that kind of personality, what better way to honor him than with a fund that is kind and generous and helpful?” he said.

After he got the idea for the journey, Johnson started training for his fundraiser. He hired a coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs, Colo. – the same company cyclist Lance Armstrong trained with. The training took place over the phone and by computer. “The training was extremely successful,” Johnson said. “I cannot believe the increased power and endurance.” Training included cycling indoors using a computer system, he said. Johnson would download the data afterward and discuss the results the next day with his coach over the phone.

However, the training didn’t prepare him for everything. “You don’t think of the flats, of the stops, of the excuses,” Johnson said.

Johnson didn’t know how to set up the endowment, but he knew he wanted to involve WSU, and looked at the veterinary hospital. “I was really impressed with the service,” Johnson said. “You walk in the door and everybody cares.” Johnson contacted Lynne Haley, director of development at the CVM, to help him. He thanked her after his ride, but she told him, “It was all you.” Darin Watkins, communications officer with the CVM, said an endowment set up in memory of a dead pet is “unusual.” Endowments are usually set up in the CVM for a specific research area or professor, he said.

“When you lose a pet, there is a surprising amount of emotion,” Watkins said. “[The Endowment] is sort of a way for [Johnson] to have closure.” Donations to the endowment can be made online at http://wsufoundation.wsu.edu/giving/specify.asp. More information about Johnson’s fundraiser can be found at www.johnsontiinc.com/sonny.html.