Telluride Watch Interview

Check it out, my interview with the Telluride Watch:
http://www.telluridewatch.com/articles/2007/07/23/sports/doc46a52de1cccab715618221.txt

Local Cyclist Embarks on Journey to Fight Cancer

By Martinique Davis
Monday, July 23, 2007 4:46 PM MDT


TELLURIDE, July 23, 4:38 p.m. – Local cyclist Matt Eisenberg will start pedaling his road bike on Aug. 1, and won’t really stop for the next month to month-and-a-half.

Eisenberg is embarking on a nearly 2,300-mile, cross-country road trip – on his bicycle. And while he’ll get off his bike to sleep and eat, Eisenberg will spend the large majority of the next 30 to 40 days in the bike saddle, making his way from Telluride to New York. The trip is not, as Eisenberg says, “just a pleasure cruise.” He is tackling the extensive, long distance bicycle journey to raise money in support of cancer research for Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

“I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been touched by cancer at some time in their life,” he says of his decision to do the cross-country ride in support of cancer research. “This is a cause people can relate to, and really rally behind.”

The LAF was established in 1997, after professional road cyclist Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with, and subsequently survived, advanced testicular cancer. In one of the greatest comeback stories of all time, Armstrong went on to win cycling’s most grueling races, the Tour de France, less than three years after he was diagnosed with cancer. He went on to win the event six more times.

Since its inception, the LAF has raised $181 million to support cancer survivorship programs and initiatives to make cancer a national priority. Eisenberg’s challenge, to ride from Telluride to New York, while raising money for LAF, falls under the organization’s Grassroots Fundraising Initiative. The program invites people from around the country to create their own unique fundraisers to support LAF’s programs.

Eisenberg, and his Ride to the Coast fundraiser, has a page on the LAF website where people can pledge their support. He is also bringing the cause closer to home, organizing a Ride to the Coast Night at Tommy's bar in Telluride this Friday night.

“It’s all about trying to get the Telluride community more involved,” Eisenberg says of this Friday’s Ride to the Coast Night, which will include live local music, drink specials, Livestrong bracelets, and a silent auction to help raise funds for LAF.

After Eisenberg launched his website in late May, he quickly raised more than $1,400, all of which will go directly to LAF. His ultimate goal is to reach $5,000, and he’s hoping that this weekend’s silent auction will put him in spitting distance of that target.

“This is the type of community that could really get behind a cause like this,” he says.

The concept of raising money for national cancer research and survivorship programs through a grassroots fundraiser such as Ride to the Coast was not Eisenberg’s initial objective. He simply felt the urge to ride his bike across the country.

“There is something about being on a bike – it’s just a wonderful experience, traveling to other places and seeing things from an entirely different perspective,” he says. “You can see and feel things that you just can’t from a car or a motorcycle. It’s a beautiful experience to be out on the road… I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience than riding up to my parent’s house in New York and saying ‘Hey, I made it.’”

Eisenberg started cycling only two years ago, and was quickly hooked. Even while skiing this winter, the though of being out on the road on his bike wouldn’t leave his mind. Somewhere in all that daydreaming about cycling Eisenberg came up with the idea of riding his bike from here to New York. When he started sharing his plans, a friend suggested he do the ride in support of a charitable cause. It didn’t take long for Eisenberg to choose the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

In preparation for the ride, Eisenberg has been training nearly every day this spring and summer. The ride will be completely self-supported; Eisenberg will be pulling a trailer with camping gear and supplies, following an easterly route that roughly follows I-80 (he won’t be riding on the interstate, but on secondary roads.)

From Telluride, he will ride northwards to Fort Collins, where he will meet a friend who will join him for the remainder of the ride East. They will ride across Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, dropping north briefly to stay with friends in Cincinnati before heading back north into Pennsylvania and finally New York. He anticipates the ride will take between 30-40 days, depending on weather conditions and barring any mechanical problems. That equates to more than 50 miles each day, with a rest day every ten or so days.

He says that the idea seems daunting now, but come Aug. 1, he’ll be more than ready for the challenge. And he does have another reason to get riding; he has to be in New York no later than Oct. 5, the date of his best friend’s wedding.

Eisenberg says that he has already solicited a number of great items for this Friday night’s silent auction; to donate an item for the silent auction, contact Matt at 970/729-1554 or Bridgette at 773/316-0217 or email matteisenberg@gmail.com.

The Ride to the Coast Night at Tommy's will begin at 9 p.m. on Friday. If you can’t make it to the Friday fundraiser, you can always donate online; visit

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots/ridingforareason2007. For more information on Eisenberg’s ride, or to see a map of his route, visit his website www.ridetothecoast.blogspot.com.

Original "Help Me Out" Email Text

This is the original email I sent out to everyone explaining what was going on.

Dear Friends and Family,

Apologies for the mass email (especially if this is the second time you've gotten it; I don't believe it went through the first time). This is actually the most massive email I've ever sent, and for those of you who haven't heard from me in a while I'm sorry I'm so bad at keeping in touch, but this is very important to me. As some of you already know, this August I intend to embark on a bicycle ride from my current home in Telluride, Colorado to my childhood home in Larchmont, New York. I haven't found anyone to ride with yet, so at this point it looks like it'll be just me, my bike, my trailer, and my sleeping bag.

Needless to say, this will be the most difficult task I've ever undertaken, physically and psychologically. Now, there's not much anyone can do to help with the former, but you might be surprised how much each and every one of you can help with the latter.

With the advice of some friends and family, I've chosen to ride not just for myself but for a truly worthy cause. Through their Grassroots Fundraising program I've gotten the support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. There's a link at the bottom of this email to a simple webpage, from which you can make a donation that will help this foundation in its efforts to fight cancer. If you don't know, the LAF has already raised millions of dollars towards fighting cancer, and I would love to do my part. I know I don't need to beat anyone over the head with this, so I'll leave it at that.

The money you donate will do more than help these people with their important work. Every dollar you give toward the monetary goal will push me a little bit closer to my physical goal. Whenever the going gets rough for me out there I'll remember the support that I've got from all of you and I'll push on.

Some of the email addresses I have may be out of date and I'm sure there are others who should be on the list that aren't, so I would definitely appreciate you forwarding this to those who might be interested in making a donation. Thank you so much for reading this, and I'll be thinking about you all as the miles tick away behind me.

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots/ridingforareason2007

With love,
--Matt Eisenberg