Every year there is a bicycle race from coast-to-coast called the Race Across America (RAAM). For 26 years ultra-cyclists have been pitting themselves against the clock in an extraordinary race. In 2008 RAAM has added a new event, named Race Across the West (RAW). RAW will be a 1036 mile event that must be completed in 92 hours to qualify as an official finisher. This is the first time that a 1000+ mile race has been held in the US.

Due to a family emergency I am postponing my entry until 2009, when I will take the challenge of participating in RAW. Currently my time is spent working, eating, training, and sleeping.

I know that your first thought is skepticism. Trust me when I tell you that I've thought through this long and hard before committing. I've hired a professional coach from Wenzel Coaching to assist in developing my monthly training schedule, to assist in nutritional planning, and other strength building exercise.

You are also very curious as to why a 34 year old male, who sits at a desk all day working, could even think about sitting on a bike for 18+ hours a day for 4 days straight while covering a distance of over 1000 miles! The answer is simply this: to raise awareness about mental illness. People with mental illness are often stigmatized because people simply don't understand it. People with mental illness are your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, even your idols. Great strides have been made in the past few years to bring mental illness out of the darkness. It's my turn to help shine additional light on these diseases.

As an individual who lives daily with bipolar disorder, I want people to see that individuals with mental illness are just like them. We have jobs, we are fathers, we are experts in our fields, we are athletes, we have goals and dreams, and we make a difference.

Training for this event will challenge me to balance the effects of bipolar with training for such a large event. Bipolar can reduce the necessary sleep that one needs, it can make you more determined to complete something while neglecting other important things, and it can bring about depression. A fairly rigid schedule for eating, sleeping and training will all help alleviate the chances of any of these symptoms becoming a problem during the next 5 months of training.

There are numerous logistical concerns as well for this undertaking. I'm putting together my support crew, looking for sponsorship to help cover the costs of additional cycling equipment, getting the word out about my undertaking so that people can learn more about mental illness.

If you want to be a part to help in any way please feel free to contact me. You can help by saying an encouraging word, putting me in touch with someone or an organization that you feel might be willing to sponsor such an endeavor, or to make a monetary donation yourself.

Thanks for checking out the group page and looking forward to hearing from you!!
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Every year there is a bicycle race from coast-to-coast called the Race Across America (RAAM). For 26 years ultra-cyclists have been pitting themselves against the clock in an extraordinary race. In 2008 RAAM has added a new event, named Race Across the West (RAW). RAW will be a 1036 mile event that must be completed in 92 hours to qualify as an official finisher. This is the first time that a 1000+ mile race has been held in the US.

Due to a family emergency I am postponing my entry... (read more)