Mike and Julie's
Skinny Tire Festival Ride
   
Moab, Utah
The Skinny Tire Festival takes place every year in Moab to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which helps cancer victims and survivors deal with their ordeal.  Read all about the Festival and its origins in the article reprinted below the pictures. Congratulations to Mike and Julie for completing the ride.  Kudos to Mike for being recognized by the group for getting the most number of donations of all 750+ riders this year.  For this achievement Mike and Julie were able to meet and spend some time with Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's personal coach.  Mike has made it his goal to raise even more money for the Foundation next year!  Below are pictures taken by M & J of some of the spectacular scenery on their ride.  


Long and Winding Road Ready for a Ride?  YES!
Julie climbs a 5% grade M & J by the Colorado River
Ahhh...  Cookies! Mike & Julie with Lance Armstrong's Personal Coach
Zion National Park
Racer Mike Delicate Arch in Arches National Park
Long hike to get this picture Park Avenue in Arches N.P
Dead Horse Point State Park Temple Point in Canyonlands National Park
Island in the Sky - Canyonlands N.P  Mesa Arch in Canyonlands N.P




Skinny Tire Festival in Moab Raises Fat Check to Fight Cancer

by Lisa Church
March 5, 2006

    MOAB - Mark Griffith knows the pain and confusion that comes with a cancer diagnosis. When his brother, Duane, died of lung cancer seven years ago, Griffith's grief spurred him to take action.
    "There's a lot of emotion, a lot of energy that fills you up," the Moab resident said. "It's heartbreaking. It screams at you to do something."
    At the same time, across the globe, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France. Griffith read the now-legendary athlete's book It's Not About the Bike and learned about the Lance Armstrong Foundation - a nonprofit dedicated to helping cancer victims and survivors deal with their ordeal, and to promoting cancer research and prevention.
    Armstrong's story inspired him to organize the Moab Skinny Tire Festival as a fundraiser for the foundation, Griffith said.
    "It started with the idea of let's put some purpose to our cycling. Take some action," he said. "It's a way to help the healing, to do something for someone else."
    The first year, the event drew 12 registered participants. Griffith recruited some personal friends "so we would look like a group," he says with a laugh.
    Now in its sixth year, the Skinny Tire Festival, which started Friday and wraps up Monday, drew almost 800 street cyclists, each of whom makes a base-level contribution of $100 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
    The 2006 event raised a record of almost $200,000 for the foundation, up from $85,000 the previous year.
    But Griffith doesn't plan to stop there.
    "A few years ago we set a goal," he said. "That goal is to raise $1 million at one race."
    The Skinny Tire Festival has become one of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's strongest grassroots events, said Dennis Cavner, the foundation's board chairman.
    "It's been one of the most successful stories we've had," Cavner said Saturday. "It is just an absolutely perfect example of what people who have cancer in their lives in some way can do. An example of people using that experience to help others."
    Like almost everyone who participated in the Skinny Tire Festival, cancer has directly impactedCavner's life. At age 9, he lost his father to lung cancer. Four years ago, Cavner's mother died of lymphoma.
    The Lance Armstrong Foundation has created a "movement" - evidenced by the 60 million yellow "Live Strong" bracelets worn by people around the world. Its goal - to raise cancer awareness, push for more funding for cancer research, and ultimately to eradicate cancer, in its many forms, from the face of the Earth.  Events such as the Skinny Tire Festival are effective tools for raising awareness for the foundation, but it's the participants who provide inspiration to the foundation and to Cavner, he said.
    "It's a great way for people to take something that has a destructive effect on their lives and turn it around and make it something positive," he said.
    Every rider who takes part in one of the foundation's fundraisers becomes "an agent for change," says Barry Jackson, grassroots advocacy manager for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As the events grow in number and attendance, so does hope for raising awareness about cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and survival.
    On Saturday night, Jackson unveiled the foundation's newest advocacy program, aimed at recruiting thousands of people worldwide who want to launch cancer awareness and education programs within their communities.
    "What we're trying to build is something where we can have a conversation and also give people opportunities for leadership."
    Cuts in federal funding for cancer research and prevention programs could delay effective treatment of the disease for years to come, he said.


CLICK HERE to visit the home page of Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation