Some Fundraising

During October and November, my main focus was on school, although I was still riding and going to the gym. Along with all of this, I spent four successive weekends attending fundraiser rides. The fund raising season began with the Tour of Marin half century. This ride was on Sunday, Oct. 21st, and came the day after I had done a full century in Davis with my dad and his UC Davis cycling team friends. This ride supports a private school in Marin, and was well attended by local pros, and local riders. Coach Laura was able to get the school to make a contribution to Team Swift, as well as get free entry to the event for the elite team swift riders. The ride went from Corte Madera through Fairfax and around Lake Nicasio (which is a training ride I do weekly).

Levi was gracious enough to take a pic with all of us

The next weekend was the Team Swift ‘Ride with Champions in Santa Rosa. This year the event was attended by several member of the BMC pro cycling team (including Scott Nydam, Mike Sayers, Nathan Miller and team director Gavin Chilocot) as well as former Team Swift rider Steven Cozza (now a Team Slipstream pro). Following us on the fifty mile ride were the BMC team cars, each with a team mechanic and doctor. It was definitely the best supported fall training ride that I’ve ever done. Along all these great pros, were maybe forty swifties, many parents, and a variety of sponsors, community members and team supporters. Team Swift’s national champion, Ashlyn Gerber came all the way from Florida to attend the ride.
After the ride we had some great lunch, socialized and had the team raffle. Everyone was able to walk away with something from the raffle, thanks to many generous contributions from our sponsors.

Steve Cozza and I

Coach Laura Charameda and National Champ Ashlyn Gerber

Ryan and I tearing it up on the front

Getting some advice from BMC director Gavin Chilcott

The first weekend of November was the first annual Tamaranch 1000, a fundraiser for my Drake HS mt. bike team. Our goal was to ride a combined 1000 miles around our local trails. Parents made and brought food and riders rode from 8am-4pm. Some riders had to leave for soccer games, and other commitments. I was taking the SAT’s in the morning, but still came in the afternoon and rode four laps of the course. We were very successful and raised a total of $13,000. Thanks to some very generous friends and family, I was able to bring in $700 for the team.

Finally, on November 10th, was the NorCal High School Mt. Bike Leagues annual fundraiser dinner and auction. We got to socialize for a while, have a nice dinner, and listen to Bob Roll tell some stories. Bob Roll is the man.

Thanks to everyone for their support of me and my programs in 2007. I am hoping and training for an even better '08.

tb