200,000 miles for a cause: Local motorcyclist sets 4 world records, raises $125K | Allentown Area

WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Four motorcycle world records have been broken, all by someone known as the “Vroom Old Man.”

Patrick Cornell has ridden more than 200,000 miles across the country in one year, all while raising money and awareness for myotonic dystrophy.

Cornell began the journey after COVID-19 brought a Lehigh Valley walking group’s fundraising efforts for myotonic dystrophy to a halt.

The group had been started by his wife’s family to raise money and awareness for the disease, which has affected several members of her family.

“Myotonic dystrophy runs in almost my wife’s whole family. Her grandfather, her mother, her three older sisters, two of which have passed from complications of the disease already,” Cornell said.

So, Cornell found another way to keep the mission moving. He hopped on his 2025 Indian Pursuit, which he calls “Pappy,” and started riding.

The goal was to ride 125,000 miles in 125 days around the country while raising $125,000 for the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation.

He reached the mileage goal, but came up short on the fundraising goal.

So Cornell and Pappy kept going, even as the physical toll of spending so much time on a motorcycle began to add up.

“People with myotonic dystrophy don’t get to quit if they’re in pain. If something hurts, they don’t say, ‘I’m going to quit. I’m not having myotonic dystrophy today.’ So if something hurt, if something was uncomfortable, if it was a bad day, I was riding for them. I wasn’t riding for me,” Cornell said.

By the end of the journey, Cornell had traveled more than 200,000 miles and raised $125,000 for the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation.

Along the way, he also set four world records, including records for the most miles ridden on a motorcycle in a year and the most miles ridden on a motorcycle in a single country, according to Atlas World Records.

Atlas World Records presented Cornell with all four world record plaques Thursday in Whitehall Township.

For Cornell, the records are about more than recognition. He says they are another way to get people talking about myotonic dystrophy and raise awareness of the disease and the families it affects.

This year, Cornell plans to visit car shows and other events as he continues his fundraising and awareness efforts.

His new fundraising goal is $201,901, matching the number of miles he says he traveled during his journey.

And Cornell plans to keep riding.

Looking ahead to next year, he says he plans to get back on the road for another ride, with the same goal in mind: raising more money and awareness for myotonic dystrophy.