Oct. 28, 2009 — LiveStrong Challenge cities announced for 2010
About 40 bike riders from across Canada are currently in the middle of a 3,100-mile relay ride to this weekend's LiveStrong Challenge in Austin.
Calling themselves Give to Live, the group crossed over to Port Angeles, Washington, from Vancouver on Oct. 12 as they began their 12-day bike tour to the heart of Texas.
[The video at left shows one of the teams tooling across the California desert from Bishop to Death Valley.]
The cyclists are split up among six teams, with each person averaging about 70 to 100 miles a day out on the road. They also take turns driving their team van and taking care of other chores.
Fund-raiser
Give to Live raised nearly $115,000 by each member gaining at least $5,000 in donations. The cyclists are living on the cheap by staying in people's homes and churches along the way and cutting other travel costs so they can meet their goal of donating 80% of the money to LiveStrong this weekend.
At the Give to Live website:
“We do not want to be an organization that provides a vacation to participants and spends half the money on luxury accommodations.For 2009, we are aiming to achieve an expense ratio of 80%, which is considered exceptional in the fundraising community.This means we get to have more fun on the ride… let’s just say you’ll get very acquainted with your team and “cozy” is a good word to describe the accommodations.”
The funds will be shared by the Canadian Cancer Society, Ovarian Cancer Canada, Craig’s Cause in support of the QE II Foundation and Lance Armstrong Foundation Canada.
At least one of the teams made it to the Grand Canyon on Monday, and they all seem to be right on schedule to arrive in Austin on Friday.
Challenge
This weekend's LiveStrong Challenge Austin is for LiveStrong's most enthusiastic supporters. It follows earlier challenges this year in Seattle, San Jose and Philadelphia.
There are five route options, ranging from 10 to 90 miles, for the rides on Sunday that start out at Dripping Springs High School, about 25 miles west of downtown Austin. The LiveStrong Village is open all weekend at the downtown Convention Center on Cesar Chavez Street.
According to the website, there are still 150 spaces open for cyclists on Sunday.
Details about the ride are available at the LiveStrong Challenge Austin website.
Custom bikes
Among the events at the LiveStrong Village is the Texas Custom Bicycle Show, which features bike makers from all over Texas, according to the Austin on Two Wheels website.
The show runs from 9 to 5 on Friday and 9 to 1 on Saturday at the Austin Convention Center, then moves out to Dripping Springs High School from 8:30 to 5 on Sunday.
Among the bike builders will be Alchemy, Crumpton Cycles, Daltex Handmade Bicycles, Dominion Bicycle Co., Gallus Cycles, Kirklee, Massengill Cycles, Southwest Frameworks, True Fabrication and Violet Crow Cycles.
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