Cycling for a Cause
The 94th Tour de France kicked off this past Saturday, coincidentally on my birthday (07-07-07, shameless plug). I couldn’t think of a more exciting time for cycling fans around the world; while Team Discovery and CSC and others battle it out in 20 stages as they make their way through France (and often neighboring countries), across the pond, another cyclist is more than halfway through his own tour of the west coast of much of North and Central America. Michal Brichacek, a chemistry student at Wayne State University decided to spend his summer riding some 12,000km from Anchorage, Alaska to Panama. The Cycling For a Cause ride started on May 3rd and the trip is expected to take 120 days, although he was a few days ahead of schedule last time I checked. The ride is entirely self-funded and self-sufficient, meaning he has no true sponsorship nor does he have any sort of support vehicle trailing him. Though he lists skiing as his favorite pastime, he only started biking recently and actually trained by running on a treadmill! He carries forty pounds of gear in his side, rear, and front panniers, which include everything from the basics (clothing, toiletries) to a digital SLR and even a sub-compact notebook.
Being a pre-med student and having seen the effects of cancer, Michal decided the ride should benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. In fact, all donation links on the site lead directly to the LAF website. His goal is to raise $1 for every kilometer he rides and despite contributions by his legion of fans — there are plenty of people who anxiously await his funny and insightful journal entries — the jar could use a little more filling. Michal is proudly sporting his yellow LiveStrong bracelet as he rides through Guerrego Nego, Mexico and I am sure he and the Foundation would appreciate any generosity you can spare. Either way, check out his website and you’ll be rewarded with (currently) 64 journal entries with stories of Alaskan bears, giant redwoods, street-side taco stands and thousands of pictures that paint a mesmerizing portrait of the American coast.
