QUALCOMM Million Dollar Challenge

Last week along with my teammate Danny and Garmin team staff Tom and Matt, I spent a few days on the central coast of California participating in the QUALCOMM Million Dollar Challange, a week long charity ride to raise a million dollars for the Challenged Athlete Foundation, supporting amputees and other challenged athletes in obtaining the equipment and opportunities they need to participate and compete in sport.  This event was really amazing, run just like a stage race.  We would ride hotel to hotel, with event staff taking our luggage, supporting the ride, providing mid-ride lunch, and post ride happy hour!  The routes were great, cruising down coastal highway one, meandering through vineyards, and riding along beaches.  I met some amazing and inspiring people, like Ben, who continues to cycle after losing a leg in Iraq, and Gilberto (below in photo), who dropped the other 20 people in a group we were riding with when he threw it down up a big hill! I think he was doing 300 Watts with one leg!The money raised for the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge will help seed a capital campaign for the construction of a Challenged Athletes Foundation headquarters facility, unless otherwise directed by the donor, in which event, such donations will be applied towards the payment of additional handcycles, racing chairs, sports chairs and sports prosthetics for challenged athletes, as well as help subsidize their competition and training expenses.To find out more visit the Challenged Athlete Foundation.                                                                                                                                                      Thanks for checking in!