FAYETTE – “Maybe I’m trying to delude myself,” said psychiatrist Richard Jennings, 79, of Fayette, “but I’m trying not to age.”

The three-year prostate cancer survivor will make his sixth trip on the American Lung Association’s Trek Across Maine this weekend. Starting at Sunday River Ski Resort in Bethel, cyclists ride to Farmington on Friday then on to Colby College in Waterville Saturday and finish at the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum in Rockland on Sunday.

Raised in Belfast, Jennings said he has always liked to bike. After moving to western Massachusetts for schooling and work, he participated in the Pan-Mass trek in the 1970s, which was a 200-mile ride in two days from Sturbridge to Providence, R.I. It was a fundraiser for the Dana Farber Cancer Center.

His longest bike trek, taking more than a couple weeks, was a pleasure trip from Bar Harbor to Buffalo, N.Y., he said.

Once he returned to Maine in 1996, Jennings, worked in Augusta and learned about the ALA’s annual trek from a colleague.

The 180-mile ride doesn’t come without a little anxiety for Jennings.

“It’s a wonderful feeling when you accomplish the ride, but from January to June I feel a little anxious and wonder why I said I’d do this,” he said.

Training begins in March when he builds from 10- to 20-mile rides up to 50 miles this week.

“Food is a great motivator,” he said as he explained how he bikes from his home on Lovejoy Pond to the Lunch Pad for lunch in Livermore Falls 11 miles away, then gradually adds on miles going to Leeds and makes a loop home.

Living where he does, he said, is like living in a tea cup. There are a lot of hills surrounding his home, which can be painful but are great for training. The trek involves approximately a 60-mile ride each day.

Of his three years of being cancer free, Jennings said, it’s as good as it can get. He attributes the successful cure to regular checkups, and the cancer being found early. Early detection reduces risks, he said.

“Just as women need to have regular breast exams,” he said, “men need regular prostate checks.”

Jennings has been in the “winners circle” most years for raising more than the suggested $450 in donations and pledges. This year, his goal was to raise $1,300. He has $1,295 in pledges and is debating whether to donate another $5 himself just to make his goal, he said.

The reason to keep biking is mostly that it’s fun, he said. But, he also appreciates that the bike is efficient.

“You get out of it what you put in it,” he said. “And you can go places that you can’t with a car.”

The trek is well organized, he said, and the support from the rest stations and intersections really helps the rider. At the Farmington stop, riders are offered baked potatoes with a variety of fixings to tide them over to the next meal. In Waterville, all the pizza one can eat is provided.