The night before the challenge

It's now 10:30 the night before the challenge and I'm still trying to get things packed into the SAG vehicle and get things organized. I should have been in bed 3 hours ago...and even if I get to bed now I probably still won't be able to sleep. How do you prepare for such a ride? Do you put in monster miles during the week? Cross train? I can't tell you because I've never done such a ride. My guess is that much of the battle will be psychological. As soreness and fatigue sets in I'm sure I'll want nothing more than to get off the bike, get out of the clothes and just be prone.

I would like to thank every one of the radio contestants for their support and hard work to make this happen. I know I'll have support vehicles into the evening and expect to be joined by a number of riders throughout the day. Thank you Brian for putting in an incredible effort on the blog! The blog is truly fantastic! Thanks Danielle for taking on the daunting task of being the SAG during the early morning hours. Hats off to Brian for signing up to ride with me at 2am to provide a little company and to my beautiful wife for being the leapfrog SAG during the day. Joe...you're the man for stepping up to ride during the day even though there's nothing in it for you. Everyone is truly fantastic!

I know Chris, David and Mark will provide support when they can...and of course while I'm cycling the globe much work will be done by the radio group to make sure future fundraisers go off without a hitch. A special thanks to Mari Holden for providing all the PowerBars, gels and fluid mix a rider could ever need for such an adventure. Thanks to Tim Gill at Bike Empire for the use of the Pro600 Niterider to light my way. I certainly can't thank Scott and Billy Ray enough for their continued support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the radio contest itself. This has been a life changing journey for all of the contestants and a time in our lives in which none of us will soon forget.

Last but not least...I'd like to thank the challenged athletes that have inspired the radio contestants to think outside the box. All of you are truly an inspiration to us! I'm hopeful this will be a huge success and that many athletes will benefit from our effort.

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