What Are We Riding For?

Amgen has been the presenting sponsor of the California Coast Classic for over 20 years! I've been wanting to feature this incredible company and learn about how their partnership with the Arthritis Foundation works since I started this show. Super excited to share it with you all now!

Join Erin Starck, Julie Kelly and me as we talk about some alternative ways to donate money to charity that may be more tax advantagous that simply writing a check.  You may not know this about me, but aside from being a cyclist, husnabd and Dad I'm a CPA with 20+ tax seasons under my belt. I've been around the block a few times and am more than comfortable talking about tax concepts and educating...

Today we hang out with Erin Stark! Erin is a National Director of the Arthritis Foundation's Cycling Experience. She's part of the team that plans the California Coast Classic as well as the Carolina Hills Classic. Erin is awesome and is here to help us! Let's find out how!

You know Nancy Travis from the Three Men and a Baby movies, So I Married and Ax Murderer, Last Man Standing and many others! Nancy rode with us in 2018 and is itching to come back. We talk about the experiences on tour that made a lasting impression on her, and what it's like to ride in the memory of a loved one lost to complications resulting from rheumatoid arthritis. 

Buckle up! Today we're talking with NASCAR driver Natalie Decker! She was diagnosed at age 2 and had been suffering silently with arthritis for most of her life until the Arthritis Foundation stepped in and supported her sharing her story with the world!  This was a fun one! It's not every day that you get to talk with a professional athlete! You can follow Natalie on Instagram here: instagram.com...

Today we talk with Eli Campbell! Eli's company Sentio Cycling used to provide support logistics for the California Coast Classic. He was our main guy for years! Today we get some BTS (behind the scenes) on what all is envolved in planning and executing a massive event like this.  Eli shares some fun stories from behind the walkie-talkie, and some other surprising lessons he's learned along the way...

Chef Biju Thomas is one of our Celebrity Ambassadors this year! He'll be joining us on the Carolina Hills Classic as a rider and an honoree. You might know Chef Biju from his travel shows like The Road Less Eaten on Outside or YouTube or from some of the books he's written like The Feedzone Cookbook. Ever eaten anything from Scratch Labs? Biju helped start that! Chef and his team prepare meals for...

Lily! This picture of us was taken in 2018. Youth honorees get a ton of new riders mission connected. If you've been on tour before, you know Lily very well! She started as a youth honoree when she was just 2 years old. Since then she has grown to love the California Coast Classic and all of it's riders. You can often find Lily and her mom Stephanie at the Buelton and Ventura sites. Sometimes even...

I've been one of the top fundraisers for a few years now, but it wasn't always this way! This is a recording from a Zoom meeting a few weeks back that I hosted to get people fired up about their fundraising. It's never to late, and it can be fun! Hope you enjoy it!

A double episode for a double set of very special riders! Anne and Troy are CCC legends! I'm very happy to share them with you. We talk about their story, how they found the CCC and (in turn) how they found each other. Anne and Troy are one of a small handful of couples that got engaged on tour! (I say "married on tour" in the episode, but I meant "engaged".) We also talk about Day 4! They each ha...

Smile for the camera! Today we talk with Anna Droge, a new rider with a very rich Instagram account. She posts about everything from learning new aspects of her recently diagnosed RA, training for tour, issues she's faced that day, successes she's had that day... everything! Social media, at least for me, can be very tricky. Many of the accounts I see are pretty one-dimensional. I think Anna is a...

This is a more somber episode. Not the usual, lighthearted faire I've posted previously. Today I'm by myself talking about helmets in an effort to plead with you to check yours. How old is it? Should it be replaced? What's out there now that might be better than what you have? The second part get's a little touchy-feely, so I'll let you know about 10 mins from the end when the helmet part is over....

This is our second discussion with James! Today we're doing a deep dive into the campgrounds we visit on tour. The campgrounds are the hubs of tour. It's here where we have breakfast and dinner and meet our honorees at evening program. James and I discuss the key attributes of each camp and include some tips on packing logistics as well. Don't forget to check Rider Resources on the CCC google driv...

Time for bike spa day! In the ~6 weeks leading up to tour it's certainly best practice to take your bike to the local bike shop for some love. I just dropped mine off last week! You want to make sure everything is tip top and ready to go before we depart for tour. Jamaica has been our mechanic on tour for a long time and he knows his stuff! We're going to chat with him to make sure our bikes get w...

Today we talk with Madeleine Dodge! Maddy has been a massage therapist on tour since 2015. She started out as a therapist and took over Cyclist Massage, a company that follows tours like ours and help us recover at the end of our long days. Maddy is willing to help you in any way she can. She's started offering laundry service to riders to wash a few of your kits during tour, and she's started a p...

Juggling fundraising, work, training, family, and spirituality is difficult and Derek Engfelt is no stranger to it! He manages to do it all at a very high level too! What are his methods? Today we talk with Pastor Derek about juggling everything and how to stay sane an whole while you do it. Please enjoy Pastor Derek Engfelt!

James is an ~6 year tour rider and he's got some great experience and tips for getting those prized corporate match dollars! Even if your employer doesn't have a corporate match, some of your donors might. Everyone can benefit from James' advice on maximizing the employee benefit of the corporate match! You can find James' page by clicking here. We reference Rob Kuntz in the show. You can find his...

David's first tour was last year in 2022, and he's coming back with vip, vim and vigor! His passion is contageous! David has helped to create a great new fundraising incentive that is one of the many things we talk about in this episode. You can see this great duffel bag and all of the other available fundraising incentives by clicking here!

Panicing about your training for the California Coast Classic? Haven't been riding as much as you planned on riding? Don't worry! Dennis Ehling has your back! Hear Dennis's tips on last minute training for the ride of a lifetime!

Carlos Camera is a multi-year vertan rider on the California Coast Classic. Once a professional athlete, he's now a medical professional and a passionate cyclist. He knows a thing or two about training! We sit down with Carlos today to discuss how he juggles career, being a father, and training to be the beast of a rider that he is. This year, Carlos is adding the breadth of Washington, Oregon, an...

You don't have to commit to the whole week of the California Coast Classic to support the Arthritis Foundation, spread awareness, and share in our community. You can also join by signing up as an ACE (Arthritis Challenge Event) participant! Carly is jumping on her Peloton bike every Monday at 3:00pm Pacific to host a We Live Yes group ride! Sometimes it will be classes, sometimes it will be a free...

While Jay has been working with the Arthritis Foundation for over 20 years, 2022 was the first year he spent on the California Coast Classic. He was invited to come work the event as a volunteer and had such a life-changing experience that he's taken up cycling and will ride in 2023! Jay and I talk about his new passion for CCC in light of volunteering, the team he started that reflects this wild...

Pete has done almost everything on tour, including many different volunteer roles! Today we talk about them. If you're not sure you want to ride 525 miles down the beautiful California Coast on a bicycle, maybe consider volunteering. You'll have a great time!

Today with talk with Maria who completed her first CCC tour last year. Maria is Senior VP of Science Strategy at the Arthritis Foundation. We discuss how she and her team work to deploy resouces and make strategic decisions around science while keeping patients at the front of the discussion. Maria also shares her tips around adventure planning and training, not one to shy away from adventure! How...

Our honoree programs in camp are a very important part of the California Coast Classic. I first met Kendra as an honoree one year where she shared the Spoons Theory. I thought it was a great way to illustrate what it's like to have chronic illness, so I've asked her to share it with us today.