| 02/25/2005 | In June of 2006, an international team of 25 cyclists will embark from Chicago on a yearlong journey across the globe to raise money for nine separate charities. The cyclists will travel the distance of circumvention, 25,000 miles, through over thirty countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
The Continental Pedal 2006 expedition is being organized by Aspire to Inspire (A2I), a new 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. A2I is dedicated to raising funds for charities by executing athletic projects that require an enormous amount of strength, endurance, and power.
The charities chosen to benefit from the ride include the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, the John David Mooney Foundation, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Field Museum, the Working Bikes Cooperative, the Wikimedia Foundation, and Aspire to Inspire.
This unique fundraising effort allows all nine charities to work together in order to maximize awareness and outreach. Individuals and organizations can visit the A2I web site, www.aspiretoinspire.org, to make donations to the charity of their choice in any legal currency. On-line donations can be made with a credit card or virtual check, and donations are also being accepted by mail.
The cyclists will stop at bike shops in every major city along the route for rest and repairs. Participating bike shops will serve as media centers, distributing information about the progress of the Continental Pedal throughout the duration of the expedition.
The Pedal can also be tracked on-line at the A2I web site, where a continuously updated log about the progress of the expedition will be posted.
Four qualifying rides will be held to determine whether a cyclist is up to the challenge of cycling 25,000 miles. The first qualifier will be a ride from Kalamazoo, MI to Chicago on March 5, 2005. The other qualifying rides will take place in July and September of 2005 and in March of 2006.
In 2004 Stephan Wagner, the founder of A2I, attempted a similar
expedition, cycling 7,700 miles of the originally planed 24,898 miles. Stephan attempted the expedition alone, without partners or support vehicles, and overcame three hurricanes, vicious dogs, and illness to raise nearly $6,000 for charity. Stephan wrote a book about this
experience, Resilience – A Never Ending Road of Struggle, which is being self-published and will be available in late spring, 2005. All proceeds from sales of the book will go to help A2I defray production costs for the Continental Pedal 2006.
A2I is currently looking for sponsors for the Continental Pedal. 2006 The sponsors to date include: KINeSYS, PeakVision, Tallac, and Arkel.
For more information about the qualifying rides, expedition route, charities benefiting from the expedition, our sponsors, and for bios of the expedition team, please visit the A2I web site,
www.aspiretoinspire.org.
www.aspiretoinspire.org
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