About

The Motivation

Thirty years ago, my son was diagnosed with leukemia, a form of cancer. I watched helplessly as he fought the disease, and, I am grateful and pleased to be able to say, ultimately beat it to go on to become a healthy father of his own two fabulous children. It is probably unsurprising that the fight against children’s cancer remains a cause close to my heart.

The Plan

In April 2010, I plan to ride my bike from Yosemite to Las Vegas through Death valley National Park: a distance of approximately 600km from start to finish. Here is an overview of the region. Death Valley is, as its name suggests , not the most hospitable of terrains. With daytime temperatures of over 50 degrees centigrade, it is, in many ways, symbolic of the sort of battle people fight when combating Cancer. The difference is, I can plan the time, and train in advance, whereas a child with cancer does not have that luxury. I hope that by taking on this challenge, I will be able to raise funds and awareness for the Child Cancer Foundation, and prove that it is never too late to do something physically gruelling.

The Concept

I am fascinated by the interconnectedness which the Internet in general, and social networking in particular, brings to the world. I would like to tap into that network, in order to spread the word as widely as possible. Almost everyone knows at least 10 people. If I asked the 10 people I know to donate $1 each, and to ask 10 people they know to do the same, we would only need six levels to get to one million people.

I am, realistically, starting with many more contacts than that – closer to 500 – many of whom have as many or more contacts of their own. By asking each of them to donate only a single dollar, we could raise well over the million dollars for which we are aiming.

We will have a central website (which is already in development), which will carry information about my training plan, diets, recipes, progress and much more. We will communicate through social networking: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on. This will mean that people will be constantly updated on how we are doing, and will hopefully generate interest and funds.

How you can help

I have initially costed the trip at an estimated $30000. I will need a support crew to monitor me, airfares to get there, accommodation and campervan rental. There are also the many costs involved in the preparation here, such as the hire of a sauna to train in to become accustomed to the intense heat through which I’ll be riding.

I am looking for corporate sponsorship from local or national companies to try to offset these costs. In return, they will have advertising rights on our website, we will display their logos, and I will be happy to talk about the experience after the fact at company meetings and training sessions.

There are already two companies interested in sponsoring me with products to help with training.

Sport Otago has shown an interest in involving schools at the time of my ride in a symbolic 600km kid ride, where 600 children will each ride a single kilometre to help with funds. The Scouting group are also interested in doing a similar venture.

The school of PE at Otago University are helping me with my training plan.

Your company could also be involved in this epic adventure, and help raise funds and awareness for this worthy cause.

- Neill Glover