Death Race For Life Project Sponsored By Long Trail Brewing

Survived the Death Race

2010-07-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

The day before I left Denver for the Death Race I received my third and final pre-race email. In Greek. The email was about a half page of Greek. I think they expected me to use the mandatory Greek text book – I opted for Google Translate. This was the result:

“Less is more

Light is better than Black

Make sure you time

Appropriate to make what you

Registration - 6-8 amee farm Friday evening. Tour Trail - 8 m m Pre race ( top MTN) - midnight or when it will end. Race starts - 4 PM Saturday . amee holding

We decided not to ban things from this years event. Do what you think you need. You may want a projector , AX, layer, gloves, broadcasting, computer , etc. . depends on what you have set. 1 . Less is more 2 . Light is better than darkness. 3 . Make sure you promptly. 4. make appropriate with your words . 5. The mind is terrible waste. Good luck to you. We look forward to seeing you. We have a great event planned . Less is more.”

I took this cryptic and poorly translated message and added a few last-minute items to my packing – work gloves, base layers, a hatchet, and a waterproof case for my blackberry. Frazier, my younger brother, decided to take all my athletic shorts out of my duffle before I left, which led to some very hilarious and uncomfortable consequences.

I arrived in Pittsfield with my support crew and new girlfriend, Emily, at 5:00 PM on Friday, expecting a quick pre-race meeting, a trail tour, and a good night of sleep. Upon discovering my shortage of shorts, the wonderful Emily Nunez loaned me a pair of hot pink women’s running booty shorts. The tight spandex liners promptly generated a swamp in my ass – so comfortable.

The organizers ordered us to assemble all our gear and get on a shuttle to the top of a mountain. The pre-race meeting started in the middle of the woods. Andy Weinberg, one of the organizers, informed us of the recent bear, moose, and violent grouse problems in the woods. Andy shouted a number of facts at us (which I wrote down as quickly as possible while other people stared, stunned), and told us to pick up some massive wooden bridges, our 32 pounds of pennies, and our 8-pound Greek text, and begin hiking over the mountain. The 100 racers worked in teams to hike the bridges 5 miles down the mountain, install them on the new public hiking trail, then hike back 5 miles to the original start.

At 2:00 AM we made it back to the starting place and were told to get a large bucket, fill it with gravel, and in another bucket, dump our 40 – 50 lbs of gear. I’d estimate over 100 lbs total. We started trudging off into the woods again, and were told to scoop a handful of gravel onto the trail at random intervals until eventually we unloaded the whole bucket. By the time we arrived at Amee Farm, it was 4:00 AM and the race officially started (not the 4:00 PM start we were promised). At this point I had not slept since Thursday night as I began hustling back up the 5-mile mountain on Saturday morning. I arrived at the summit only to find a ¼ mile barbed wire crawl leading to a checkpoint where I was told to go back to the farm for “paperwork” enabling me to get my gear. I went back down through the barbed wire, this time slicing myself badly several times, got to the farm, translated some Greek, negotiated with a woman speaking only in Mandarin, was told that I needed to buy an axe at the top of the mountain and bring my gear back down, got my paperwork, and headed back up.

Mile 20 or 25 / Hour 12 or so: I get back to the summit, work through the barbed wire again, but am told that I need to go back down the mountain to pay for my Axe because the cash register is broken. A few people dropped out at this point. I saw that someone had actually brought a nice splitting axe, so I decided to make my first of several risky decisions. I took the axe. I wrote a note saying “Dear Death Racer, I took your axe down for you, please come find me. I am wearing pink shorts, #72. I have an idea for how we can work together. Cheers, Cully Cavness”

I worked back though the barbed wire and the mountain to Amee Farm where I was ordered to chop 30 logs. I loved this part, and I made up hours with some speedy chopping. A big crowd gathered to watch as the skinny kid beat all the big marines and army guys at the chopping event. After the axe work, I had to count all my pennies into piles and go diving in a cold, muddy pond for a bag of $5.

The pennies became very important half way through the race. The organizers placed stores, charities, suppliers, and food stands throughout the course. I had the option to exchange my money for supplies or even buy my way out of challenges. After the penny diving came a GRUELING 5 mile hike up a different mountain. I had to carry my posthole digger, six logs, my 10 lbs of onions, my pennies, my book, and all the other supplies through unbroken forest. Imagine wading through pine trees and ducking under logs for five miles on the steepest terrain walkable. The hike took almost three hours. At the top I found Rodger’s Onion Shop.

Rodger wore a huge scraggily grey beard and a crown and loved onions. He lived on top of a mountain, surrounded by trees and stacked firewood. He told me to chop my onions, sort them into 1-lb bags, and eat a pound. Then he wanted me to stack ten wheel barrels of firewood for him. I noticed a bucket with a sign reading, “Donate to the environment, $25 minimum, pennies only.” I said, “so you live way out here in the middle of nature, huh?” Rodger said, “Oh yes, it’s the only way to live.” I asked “So do you appreciate people who help the environment?” He replied, “oh, quite a good question, I certainly do.” At this point, I just wanted to lighten my load, so I dumped all my pennies into his bucket. Rodger lit up and took me aside. He said, “I have a very important message for you, which will help you immensely later in the race.”

Let’s hear it. He whispered, “Remember a very important sentence. This race is ¼ completed. Later in the race you will need.” Strange. I hoped that the bit about “1/4 completed” was a lie because I’d been out there for 25 hours.

At around 9:00 PM I set off back down the mountain, feeling pretty good until Joe caught me. Joe owns Amee Farm and started Peak Racing and the Death Race. He’s definitely the most intense person I’ve ever known. He told me to follow him, then started jogging. We ran (gear in tow) back to a hut where a bunch of fratty guys seemed to be partying. He said “boys, watch Cully and make sure he eats a pound of onions. Cully, you can’t leave until they let you.”

So my task was to get the frat boys to let me leave. Their task was to keep me prisoner until my bag of onions was empty. I immediately knew that alcohol was going to save me. I got the frat star race volunteers to shotgun beers until they were too drunk to notice that most of my onions were going into the fire, not my mouth. Still, I cooked and ate a huge quantity of onions. I decided to put the onions in a can of beer to steam out the flavor over a fire. I finished after about forty-five minutes and eventually took off down the hill back to the farm.

At Amee, I used my hint from Rodger to avoid going back up the hill for a language and translation lesson. Instead I skipped straight to inflating a big inner tube with a small hand pump. I had to take that tube and all my gear for a 1.5 mile run down to a covered bridge where I was told to squat in the tube in an icy pond and translate Greek. After that, I had to do some math, fill a bag with 27 pounds of sand using a spoon, and weigh it. I miss-judged the weight by too much on my first try and had to eat an onion as punishment. I nailed my second try and was told to take my sandbag back up the first 5-mile mountain to receive a skull. I did.

With skull in hand and Haik and Spencer by my side, I went back to the pond. “Get in your tube and float back to the farm, you’re done,” said the race organizer. Unfortunately, the river was only 5” deep, so I ended up having to walk 1.5 miles through freezing water until I got back the farm. My last challenge was 100 pushups.

I finished in 4th place with a time of 32 hours. The winner was just written up in GQ magazine as “Fittest Man in the World.” He is in the Guinness Book of World Records as such. I beat last year’s winner and became the youngest person to survive the Death Race. Only 19 of the 100 entrants finished.

The event wiped me out for about two weeks. I felt concussed – I couldn’t think quickly, I had trouble tracking conversations, I was always tired, and I couldn’t stop eating. My body hurt for days after the race. Now, three weeks later, I am almost back to 100% and enjoying some small runs and short sessions in the gym. My thinking is back on track, which is good news, because I’m about to begin a very thinking intensive project.

I leave the United States for a full year on July 20th. I’ll be starting my Watson Fellowship to study energy businesses and technologies around the world. That trip will be chronicled through my original blog: www.clc3tales.blogspot.com. I hope you will visit it to read about my next adventure.

This will be my last post. Thanks to everyone who read it. Thanks especially to Long Trail for making this possible and for all my amazing friends and family who donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation through this project. I think that the thousands of dollars we sent their way could make a difference in LAF's important mission to fight cancer and help cancer patients overcome their struggles, survive, and recover.

Death Race Training Begins!

2010-06-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

So you race in a few bike races and think your tough...

I've put away the helmet and the cycling shoes, because now I need to start focusing on the upcoming Death Race in Vermont (June 26th). Check out the email I received from the race organizers a few days ago:

"Existence is a strange bargain: life owes us little; we owe life everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose....William Cowper

Mandatory Gear for 2010 DEATH RACE
1. $50.00 in Pennies
2. Post Hole Digger
3. 10 lb. Bag of Onions
4. Knife - 3 inch blade minimum
5. Book - Greek: An Intensive Course (Paperback) written by Hardy Hansen & Gerald Quinn

HINTS:
Know your competition.
You will walk the valley of darkness but fear no evil.

Please e-mail me if you aren't going to race. We have had a number of athletes drop out for various reasons. Many of the athletes have dropped because of injuries sustained while training, life (weddings, work obligations, family obligations, etc.), and a few because they were scared. I simply need to know if you won't be attending. We have just over 100 enrants thus far but I'm guessing by race day we'll be at 100 or just under.

Best of Luck with your training and I look forward to seeing you Friday, June 25th. We will have a pre race meeting at 5 p.m.

We will have two more e-mails in regards to race weekend.

Andy Weinberg"

What!? I don't want to eat 10 pounds of onions. I really don't want to know what the pennies are for either. I just got back from a 10 day trip to Greece with my girlfriend, and now it's time to buckle down. On Monday I woke up at 6:00 and ran up Lookout Mountain (45 minutes, a personal best!), descended, then picked up a big granite boulder and hauled it to the top on my shoulders - about four hours on lookout mountain that morning. People looked at me like I was nuts. Then I got in a good hour long lift at the gym and passed out at 9:00. I ate about 6,000 calories that day. I know this regiment sounds crazy, but these guys in Vermont are psycho. I think they actually want some racers to die.

I'm planning to head up to Vail next week to start chopping down dead trees at high elevation. I'll practice cutting the logs into smaller pieces and hauling them around - they always have wood chopping challenges in the Death Race. Better get good with the post hole digger too! A big piece of my training is building calluses on my shoulders, feet, and hands because the Death Race requires a lot of manual labor that would be awful with big blisters.

More to come. Enjoy the speedo photo from Greece.

Post Gila

2010-05-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, so much has happened in the last couple weeks. First and foremost I need to thank my sponsors - Dan Fulham and his team at Long Trail Brewing and Otter Creek Brewing - for an awesome racing season. Last weekend, Otter Creek supplied me and my friends with two free kegs of beer to celebrate my top ten finishes at the Tour de Gila and my racing license upgrade.

The Tour de Gila is a four-day tour in Silver City, New Mexico. The final stage has been called the hardest stage of racing in North America. My race on the fourth day was a
three and a half hour slog that crossed the continental divide twice
in the last 20 miles. Out of 81 riders, I took 9th in the first road
race (62 miles), 30th in the time trial (17 miles), 21st in the
criterium race with a second place in the sprint (17 miles), and 6th
place in the last road race (72 miles). I took 12th overall for the
general category.

I want to thank my dad who flew out to Silver City to support me. Dad snuck out one night and painted my name on the final climbs of the fourth stage. I'm immortalized in latex paint now - I'm sure the locals love this... Check out the photo above.

Lance Armstrong and much of Team Radio Shack were racing in the Pro
category as was the world time trial champion, David Zabriskie.
Everyone raced the same time trial course, so I got to compare my
results to Lance and the big boys. My time trial lasted 45 minutes,
Lance's was just over 35 (and he wasn't even the fastest...)

The Tour De Gila is most likely my last cycling race, and now I turn
my attention to the Death Race, which is slated for June 26 in
Vermont. I'll be heading up to Vail to chop down and haul beetle
killed trees through the woods at high elevation on my family's land.
Also planning to severely ratchet up the volume of running and upper
body work. Just bought some new GORE-TEX trail running shoes, which
I'm hoping to take all through the Vail Valley.

Success at the Sea Otter

2010-04-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since my last post. I've raced in five more races and had some great adventures in Colorado, Utah, and California. I'm writing now from San Francisco where I have been staying with friends from Middlebury and Denver.

The big news is my third place finish in the Category 2 mountain bike race at the Sea Otter Classic - the largest cycling event in North America. The race started in the Mazda Speedway arena. We launched onto the smooth race track, which quickly became rutted fire roads and eventually gorgeous single track. The trails climbed and descended over the hilly terrain in the Laguna Seca Recreation Area located just north of Monterey California. I got to race through forests, fields of lavender, sand washes, mud slicks, and technical climbs and descents for ninety minutes until the race ended back at the Mazda Speedway with hundreds of people watching. I ended up the proud owner of a bronze medal and a seemingly limitless supply of energy and protein powder prizes. This race result earned me an upgrade to Category 1, the highest amateur racing license category.

The Sea Otter Classic is a massive four-day biking festival held every summer in Monterey, California. Over 2,000 people attended this year. Most people camp out around the race courses, which makes for a very fun community atmosphere. In the center of the festival you can find every bike maker, sports drink producer, energy bar innovator, and clothing purveyor imaginable - probably over 100 stands offering free samples, stickers, and test rides. Heaven!

SRAM cycling components supplied an amazing after party full of shiny bikes showcasing SRAM’s new products. I got to be in a few photo shoots with some beautiful models and random backdrops like a surfing scene (in the movie above) and a cycling video on a projection.

I'll be heading back to Denver via Salt Lake City tomorrow. Books on tape have been a life saver so far, and I'm looking forward to finishing off "Outliers." I want to echo my previous accolades for Long Trail Brewery, without their support I never could have raced in the Sea Otter Classic, Tour of the Depot, or Tour de Sol. Thanks so much for the support - I've been wearing the LT jerseys with pride!

Next stop Rocky Mountain Regionals, then the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.

Glory, Crash, Flat: The Mad Cow Classic Story

2010-03-29T07:03:00.001-07:00

Just returned from a three-race series near Fruita, CO where the rocky canyons are blood red and the roads are just bloody. This was a hazardous weekend.

Note to self: when the race flyer says “Extremely technical and fast .9 mile loop,” maybe you should exercise some caution (instead of causing a big crash, shredding your clothing, destroying a shoe, and knocking two other people out of the race). This weekend’s criterium was staged on a go-kart track lined by hay bales, and eventually, bodies. I crashed on the fifth of twenty laps while leading the race. I managed to get back on my bike and finish the race in 17th position (out of 28), but not before three other guys wrecked so badly that they could not continue.

I fared much better in the uphill time trial (my specialty). I took fourth place, and if not for a few guys sandbagging the race, I would have had a place on the podium. The course was gorgeous! It was a steep climb through the Colorado National Monument outside Fruita. The course shot through two tunnels and about twenty switchbacks before finishing into a stunning view of the Grand Valley mesas and surrounding red desert.

In the third race, a twisty, sandy, 58 mile road race full of cattle guards, I got a flat tire about 1/3 of the way through the race and had to pull out. I felt unlucky until I rode up to the scene of a crash where a racer’s wheel had become lodged in a cattle guard during a high speed decent. It looked like a Great White Shark had taken a bite out of the wheel (and the man).

Thrills and spills. All-in-all it was a pretty good weekend. I maintain that the western canyon lands and deserts are the best part of the country – scenic, wide open, largely untouched, and definitely unique.

More to come soon. Next stop, Tour De Depot in Utah.

Fast is Fun Again!

2010-03-17T20:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday’s race was great! It was a quick 42 mile road race with a few quick climbs but mostly just rolling through gorgeous redrock canyons. The peloton splintered into four groups on the second steep climb, and I found myself in the first chase group. I worked in a pace line with about fifteen other racers to catch the lead pack, but that group was led by an amazing champion triathlete. The winds were hitting 40 mph, which only complicated the chase. We drew the lead down to 30 seconds, but never caught them. I ended up placing 15th after a brutal uphill sprint finish. This race was encouraging after my botched time trial on Saturday.

After the races I stayed in Salt Lake for two more days to ride the local roads and hang out with friends. I went out for a nice two hour ride on a sunny day, and for the first time since the Green Mountain Stage Race last August (an epic bonk story) I remembered why I love cycling so much. I started smiling and laughing and just loving the feeling of speed and exertion again. I’m back in Denver now for a bit more training before I head out for another weekend of racing!

The Hotel Of My Dreams...The Bad Ones

2010-03-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

I arrived in St. George, Utah on Friday evening after spending Thursday with a friend in Salt Lake. St. George is in the Southwestern corner of Utah, which is a beautiful area of redrock canyons, arroyos, and big vistas. This is my favorite part of the country, and I am looking forward to my first big weekend of racing (last weekend I did a couple time trials in Denver with pretty decent results).

Upon arriving in St. George, I picked up my race packet at the local bike shop, then loosened up my legs with a few laps around the criterium course - a 1 mile, four turn loop. As the sun set, I headed into town to find a motel. In the name of frugality, I selected the $21 per night Cliff Motel. Foolish. I walked into my room, and immediately wondered if the doorway was actually a portal to Haiti. The walls appeared to have been shelled or machine-gunned, then doused in sewage to allow for copious mold growth. I did not dare sleep in the bed, which was stained by what I can only assume was the residue of numerous instances of prostitution.

I woke up coughing at 4:30 AM. I think the mold spores in the air aggravated my bronchitis, for which I just ended a course of antibiotics. Also, may right eye was pretty swollen, perhaps the result of bed bug bites (I look hilarious right now). Drearily, I waddled to my car for the remainder of the night, gladly exchanging the freezing cold for clean air. Needless to say, I woke up rearing to go and ready to crush my early morning timetrial… Actually I got 26 out of 32. Whoops.

The promoter cancelled the afternoon race, a criterium, due to hail and blasting winds. A man-sized tumbleweed smashed me in the face while was taking a corner in my warmup! Before the hail arrived, I watched racers in the Masters field narrowly avoid crashes while swerving through the litter and ragweed balls delivered by the southern wind. The cancellation gave me enough daylight to find a non-molding hotel, proper dinner, and comfortable bed. I’m looking forward to some real rest and tomorrow’s 40 mile road race through Zion National Park. Wish me luck!

Winter Training in Vail

2010-02-27T17:05:00.001-08:00

After graduating on Middlebury’s ski slopes in the famous Feb Celebration, I drove cross-country to begin training for the upcoming racing tour. I am living in Vail with a constant flow of friends from high school and college pouring in and out of my house. I am currently housing 9 people – most are Middlebury alumni, but three are students at Columbia University who elected to skip school and turn some skis instead of pages. Good choice boys!

I’ve adapted my normal training with some new ideas from Chris Carmichael and a book on paleolithic nutrition. Yesterday I woke up at 6:30 to get in a good cross-country ski (skate) before leaving for a day of downhill skiing at Vail. At night I worked in about 45 minutes of intervals on my stationary bicycle while my friends made a Mexican feast. I ended the night watching Apolo Ohno win yet another medal – I watched TV with my legs resting up against the wall to drain acid from my abused thighs.

I’ve been hiking up to the top of Vail Mountain once a week and doing lots of telemark skiing as a substitute for lifting. My friend Dan Rosemarin has also introduced me to core workouts called “decks of cards” – take a deck of cards and do sit-ups for every red card and back bends for every black card.

Long Trail Brewery has come through for me in a huge way! They’ve put money in my pocket and clothes on my back. The company is planning to use my tour promotionally by putting my racing calendar and photos on their website. Long Trail’s funding has allowed me to register for more races than I ever thought possible. I am already registered for road and mountain bicycle races in California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. I have plans for races in Oregon, Colorado, and at least two other states. Thanks Long Trail!

Sponsorships and Cross Training

2010-01-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This has been a week of big developments for the Death Race For Life Project. Direct donations broke $2,000, pledged donations are up to 23 cents per mile, and I found a sponsor! Long Trail Brewery and I are hammering out the last details of sponsorship deal. In exchange for funding I'll be wearing their jerseys, spreading their name west, and endorsing them every step of the way (starting with this blog). Long Trail has officially made this tour possible by paying for all my race registrations, travel costs, repairs, gear, and food. That's what local brands and micro "craft" brews are all about - supporting and investing in the community! Long Trail and Otter Creek really are delicious beers, and I hope you will grab a six pack next time you have the chance.

I've been doing loads of cross training via nordic skiing, lifting, squash, and most recently, kayaking. Check out the video!

More to come soon, so check back often.

My most recent donor skiing in Dubai (largest indoor ski area in the world!)

2009-12-31T22:19:00.000-08:00

Brett Perlmutter, one of my closest friends and one of the most inspiring people I know, has just donated to my cause and launched a personal campaign to promote my mission. Brett tells everyone we meet that I am "Death Racing," and goes on to promote the project in a way that only Bretty P can. Thanks so much Brett! Your effort is making a big difference - I have raised over $2,500 (1/4 of my goal) between direct donations and mileage pledges.

Back Country Ski Trip

2009-12-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a three day hut trip in the White River National Forest near Vail, CO. I set out into the woods with sixteen friends. We found bottomless snow, hours of arduous climbing (about 6,000 feet), elevations above 11 and 12 thousand feet, and perfect powdery landing pads for the jumps we built. We spent two nights in Eisman Hut, which is maintained by the 10th Mountain Division.

On the way out, our group splintered, and half of us got lost in the woods. Terrifying. We eventually found our way out, but we had to hike through tight woods, avalanche chutes, and waist deep snow. Take a look at the full length video (9 minutes) to see all our flips, 360's, powder runs, vistas, and the path back to civilization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMV55q3K9cE

The trip totally drained me - a combination of cold, elevation, and hours of trekking with heavy packs makes for a great workout. I'm planning more backcountry trips in VT and CO for base training and conditioning before I start my racing tour. Stay tuned for more!

Full Candidacy Video Published to Death Race Site

2009-12-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to see the candidacy videos from contestants in the 2010 Death Race. Check mine out, I'm #66!

My Death Race Candidacy Video (Teaser)

2009-12-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

The race requires each contestant to submit a video detailing his or her athletic history, training, experience, etc. My video is just about done, and I’ve loaded a short clip of it here (below).

It’s worth your time to watch a few of the videos already on the site. Some are absurd, some are legit. There are a good number of guys from the Marines and Navy SEALS along with a few Iron Men and ultra-marathoners. There is also a guy whose video is just him solving a rubix cube. One guy's video shows him chugging a milk glass of maple syrup, then cuts to a clip of him winning a marathon…

Finding the Death Race

2009-12-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

The Death Race is an annual event held by Peak Races in Pittsfield, Vermont. I found the race last year when the assistant swim coach at Middlebury invited me to a “workout” at the Peak training facility. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was told to arrive at 4:30 in the morning with my bike and workout clothes.

The training facility was a huge barn that had been converted into a sixty-bed bunk room. Peak brings athletes from around the country to train at this place. Last I heard, the US national women’s wrestling team was in the middle of a two hour set of jumping jacks after two hours of rock climbing and an hour of hot yoga in the custom built yoga studio.

The “workout” consisted of chopping logs, moving boxes of dirt, building a stone wall, hauling wooden beams, running up a mountain with sledge hammers and tractor tires multiple times, a 42 mile bike ride over two passes, and an hour long circuit of Cross Fit style weight lifting. We started with about fifteen athletes ranging from body builders to cross country skiers. After eight or nine hours of exercise, there were five people left, and Andy asked me to join the 2010 Death Race.

First Dollars Raised

2009-12-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

The Lance Armstrong Foundation accepted my application to become an official grassroots fundraiser today. They gave me a personal page on their website: www.livestrong.org/grassroots2010/cullycavness_deathrace. You can click the link to donate directly to LAF.

Within hours of my website’s completion, Ilhan Kim donated $250! Ilhan is one of my closest friends. I met him at Middlebury during a Student Investment Committee club meeting – Ilhan asked me to come to a party in his recently constructed igloo. I was skeptical at first, but Ilhan’s igloo claims were immediately substantiated. I slid down an ice chute into a cavern filled with people in down jackets (above). The igloo was tall enough to stand in and included lights and speakers built into the ice.

People thought Ilhan was nuts when he started building the igloo with just a bowl after a massive snowstorm on Valentine’s Day. Nobody thought he could or would succeed. He stuck with it and ended up with something that defined a semester of college for many of his friends. That’s the spirit I’m trying to emulate with this project, my tour, and the Death Race.

Ilhan and I have since shared adventures around the United States and in the United Kingdom. I’ve posted a few photos to give thanks to my first donor and a close friend. Thanks Ilhan!

Fundraising Efforts

2009-12-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

Throughout the spring and summer I will be racing for thousands of dollars of prize money, including a $1000 first place prize for the Death Race. If I profit a single dollar, I pledge it to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Furthermore, I’ve arranged a partnership charity of sorts. I’ve applied to become an official grassroots fundraiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As an official grassroots fundraiser, my friends and family can support and encourage me by donating through my website directly to LAF.

I chose LAF for many reasons. I raised a few hundred dollars for them in high school by selling yellow Live Strong bracelets, and I’ve had the foundation in mind since. Several of my closest friends from Colorado have been diagnosed with cancer including Andrew, Jamie, and Carol. Many of my friends from college have also been diagnosed or have had family members with cancer. My mom was diagnosed with an in situ melanoma when I was in high school, but she is now cancer free.

I admire LAF because the foundation doesn’t just donate to cancer research, but it provides first-rate counseling and advice to cancer patients searching for information and support. I remember the struggle that my friend and fellow cyclist Jamie endured as he fought prostate cancer – there were so many options for treatment and nobody seemed to have definitive advice. A source of council is important for people in that situation.

Another important factor in this decision is Lance. Lance is a hero for me. I’ve read his books, watched him on TV, and last summer I had the chance to see him race live for five days in the Tour De France while I was guiding a bike trip at the Tour. I think about his duel with Jan Ulrich often www.youtube.com/watch?v=7THIhZEP4QM – it is the most impressive athletic feat I’ve seen, and it inspires me when I race.

I’ve set my goal at $10,000. Help me by donating now athttp://www.livestrong.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=325373&lis=1&kntae325373=697A4C789B5F4E6AAD01DC47352CA56A&supId=279099976, or write some words of encouragement on the comment wall. Thank you!

Welcome to the New Blog

2009-12-15T16:35:00.001-08:00

I am dedicating the next six months to my passion for endurance sports and an effort to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation fight cancer. Between March and July I will undertake a bicycle racing tour of the major multi-day stage races in the western United States. I’ll be hitting the Redlands Cycling Classic (California), Sea Otter Classic (California), Napa Valley Grand Prix (Cali), Tour De Gila (New Mexico), and Mt. Hood Classic (Oregon). I’ll also be mountain biking in Moab, Utah and Fruita, Colorado. I’ll spend the winter training in Colorado and New Mexico. My tour will serve as conditioning for a final test – the Death Race. On June 24 when I join 99 other selected athletes in Pittsfield, Vermont for the 2010 Death Race.

The Death Race, loosely defined as an “adventure race” is a grueling 24-hour slog. The race consists of an unknown number of tasks spread out over a 10-mile mountainous course with an unspecified finish line. The route and sampling of mental and physical challenges are also unknown. Previous races have included wood chopping, swimming, running, cycling, mud crawls, memorization tasks, fire building, weight caries, waterfall climbing, and more. The race boasts a 10% finishing rate. The international field of contestants includes ex-special forces, ultra-marathoners, Iron Men, and athletes from other disciplines.

After I completed my solo ride from Canada to Los Angeles in 2005, people always asked me what I was raising money for. I wasn’t. I just did it for fun. I quickly realized that I’d missed a major opportunity to do good while pursuing my passions. I’m using the time between graduation and my job’s start date in July as a second chance.

This blog will chronicle my training, traveling, racing, and adventures in the same style as my travel blog, www.clc3tales.blogspot.com. I hope you will check in often, write me with support, and donate to my LAF grassroots fund athttp://www.livestrong.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=325373&lis=1&kntae325373=697A4C789B5F4E6AAD01DC47352CA56A&supId=279099976.