Information Page

The Joyride4Life

Title sponsor: Joyride Bicycles - Lincoln, NE

Benefiting: Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Friday, April 23rd 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Knickerbockers 9th &"O" Streets - Lincoln
Benefit Concert to include local media.

Saturday, April 24th
The Joyride4Life begins
Large group of riders depart Joyride Bicycles for Fairbury, NE. Local media opportunity.

A network of riders from clubs, bike shops and LiveStrong organizations along the route will organize riders to ride with me day to day, collect donations for The Lance Armstrong Foundation and provide media opportunities to help raise awareness and support.

I will have a number of cycling jerseys for The Joyride4Life. As people donate to the cause they are able to sign the name of a loved one or friend on a jersey and together we will carry our stories over the 21 days and 1,500 miles to California - collecting more donations, signatures and stories along the way.

The Joyride4Life will be followed daily on social media networks Facebook, Twitter, Google Wave, blogs and MySpace. They will be updated several times a day with information about the ride and links to videos posted on YouTube. These videos will help tell the stories of the people we meet along the way. A good example is the 21 year old here in Lincoln recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Print and television news organizations will receive a daily press release as I progress along the route and at least one TV news program in Lincoln will air weekly or biweekly news segments detailing the human interest stories and ways to support The Joyride4Life.

I will arrive in Southern California on Friday, May 14th, 2010.

In addition to the stories of those battling cancer there is my own story of training for, organizing and then riding the Joyride4Life. I am 46 years old, formerly 55 pounds overweight and until August 1st, 2009 had been a smoker of 27 years. It is through cycling that my life has changed dramatically and I hope others will be inspired much in the same way.

Having said that, I only wish to have my personal experience become part of the story in the context that it may give strength or hope to those who can identify with it. I really want this to be about everyone BUT me. About the REAL heroes who fight for their lives each day - facing yet another round of chemo or radiation treatment. I want them to know there are many of us out here pulling for them and that together, one day, one way or another, we will beat this thing called cancer.