Rick's Ride: 3,500 Kilometers. 23 Days.
The 2009 Tour de France.
Click Here To Join The 2009
Team!
Update: 2008 Tour de France Completed,
Czelusta Won't Stop Cycling Until
Fundraising Goal Is Met.
Join Us At The 2009 TDF!
Latest News: Want to witness Lance
Armstrong's return to the Tour de France? Ever dreamt of riding a Tour
stage? Now is your chance to do both. Support your fellow athletes while
experiencing the trip of a lifetime.
Click here to learn more.
Click here for
French Video
of Jesse Czelusta reflecting
on the Tour de
France
Additional news links can be found here.
The goal to ride the entire course of the 2008 Tour de France has been accomplished! Now, please assist us in continuing to raise five dollars per kilometer for Kinetic Kids and the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program. And visit our donation page to see a heartwarming thank you from Kinetic Kids!
California versus Texas: At the request of folks back home in Texas, we've added a San Antonio-based charity that supports challenged athletes. Who will win the Texas versus California portion of Rick's Ride? That's up to you! Donate today.
Current amounts donated:
California $2460 vs Texas $3685*
BORP $3010 vs. Kinetic Kids $3530
Want to tip the scoreboard in favor of your home state or favored
charity?
Donate to BORP or
Donate
to Kinetic Kids now!
*State totals do not include donations from London, North
Carolina, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; thanks to our donors everywhere!
Rick's Ride 2008 Wish List: Now that the ride is finished, what we really need are DONATIONS FOR THE KIDS! Special thanks to those who helped with the wish list - support that went directly to helping Jesse during the Tour - specifically: Kass and Ken Thayer, Betty and Tom Marantino, David and Becky Thayer of Gunslinger Framing, Camille and Mike Huddleston, and Rick's coworkers the Select Medical Corportation/Select Specialty Hospitals employees of San Antonio.
Rick's Ride 2009 Wish List: We want you! Click here to join the team.
AMERICAN CYCLIST
COMPLETES TOUR DE FRANCE
"Rick's Ride" Honors Friend's Memory and
Supports Challenged Athletes
Shortly before dawn on July 5, 2008, a lone cyclist set off on his bicycle from Brest, France to begin a 23-day journey of over 3,500 kilometers. He rode for a cause, to honor the memory of a dear friend, and to chase a dream--completing the entire route of cycling's most epic event, the Tour de France. Donations in honor of Czelusta's ride and the memory of his dear friend and fellow cyclist Rick Shelton, who passed away on April 9, 2008, go entirely to the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP), a Berkeley-based charity that supports disabled athletes, or Kinetic Kids, a San Antonio-based charity which helps children with disabilities participate in athletics. Over five thousand dollars have been raised so far.
Jesse Czelusta, a Palo Alto resident and recent PhD graduate of Stanford University who grew up in San Antonio, TX rode every stage of this year's Tour, with the goal of raising a substantial sum for young athletes with physical disabilities. Although Shelton was not himself disabled, he was a sports enthusiast, a healthcare professional, and always supportive of athletes, especially younger ones.
"Rick and I competed together in our first bike race, a time trial back home in Texas" says Czelusta. The timing of the race corresponded with American Greg Lemond's come-from-behind victory in the 1989 Tour de France. "The winner was a 17-year-old Lance Armstrong. I've never come close to Lance's time on that day, but ever since then, I've dreamt of riding the course of the Tour de France."
Shelton was a Texas native and long-time resident of San Antonio. He was well-known in the San Antonio healthcare community as a capable and caring nurse. His passion for cycling and charismatic personality made him a favorite on group rides through the Texas Hill Country where he lived.
Czelusta, 32, rode solo, without a support vehicle, and carrying twenty-five pounds of gear across the Tour's formidable mountain passes. He began most days at five o'clock in the morning, about seven hours before the peloton, in order to finish before the route is closed to bicycles.
"I've been told by a pro cyclist that what I'm attempting is nearly impossible," Czelusta notes. "All the more reason to try. And it will be cheaper than paying rent."
Completing the route was a logistical challenge, as well as a physical feat. "To avoid route closures, I'll have to take a head start for some of the stages, by tacking on extra kilometers the day before. I'll be riding farther than the peloton, since there won't always be trains that connect one day's finish to the next day's start. I'll need to eat beaucoup baguettes. This will be the most daunting challenge I've ever faced. But I plan to ride my bike into Paris on July 27." That he did, able to sip champagne like the professionals as they finished the course the day after he did.
Described as "climber's course," this year's Tour will tackle both the Pyrenees and the Alps. The final mountain stage finishes atop the legendary L'Alpe du Huez, where Czelusta spread his friend's ashes.
"Rick was a cycling nut. He always said that we'd ride a few stages of the Tour together one of these years. When he passed away, I realized--the only moment any of us have is now," says Czelusta. "Even if I don't make it to Paris, I hope I can help some of my fellow athletes."
In order to accomplish the goal of Rick's Ride, Czelusta relied on the support of friends, family, local businesses, even strangers he met along the route--for everything from frequent flyer miles to cycling equipment to energy bars. Strangers helped him repair his luggage rack, replace his bike's broken tires and stem, and helped him find places to sleep and eat along the route. As Frank Scioscia, an experienced cyclist, coach, and consultant to the Shaklee Professional Cycling Team, puts it, "This is a dream that can only happen if everyone dreams it."
