Death Race For Life Project Sponsored By Long Trail Brewing: Fast is Fun Again!

Project Summary

I am dedicating February through July 2010 to my passion for endurance sports and an effort to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation fight cancer. Between March and June I will undertake a bicycle racing tour of multi-day stage races in the western United States. I’ll be racing in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and California. I’ll spend the winter training in Colorado and New Mexico. My tour will serve as conditioning for a final test – the Death Race. On June 24 I will join 99 other selected athletes in Pittsfield, Vermont for the 2010 Death Race.

The Death Race, loosely defined as an “adventure race” is a 24-hour slog that blurs the line between challenge and absurdity. The race consists of an unknown number of tasks spread out over a mountainous course with an unspecified finish line. The route and sampling of mental and physical challenges are also unknown. Previous races have included wood chopping, swimming, running, cycling, mud crawls, memorization tasks, fire building, weight caries, waterfall climbing, and more. The race boasts a 10% finishing rate. The international field of contestants includes ex-special forces, ultra-marathoners, Iron Men, and athletes from other disciplines. You can see the New York Times video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rtMFKpOYqo

My tour will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation by raising money through direct donations and pledged donations per mile that I ride during the tour. In this blog you can find more information about the tour, my training, my connection to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, donations, and my motivation for starting this project.

Thanks for visiting the blog and supporting my project!

Cully Cavness

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Fast is Fun Again!

Sunday’s race was great! It was a quick 42 mile road race with a few quick climbs but mostly just rolling through gorgeous redrock canyons. The peloton splintered into four groups on the second steep climb, and I found myself in the first chase group. I worked in a pace line with about fifteen other racers to catch the lead pack, but that group was led by an amazing champion triathlete. The winds were hitting 40 mph, which only complicated the chase. We drew the lead down to 30 seconds, but never caught them. I ended up placing 15th after a brutal uphill sprint finish. This race was encouraging after my botched time trial on Saturday.

After the races I stayed in Salt Lake for two more days to ride the local roads and hang out with friends. I went out for a nice two hour ride on a sunny day, and for the first time since the Green Mountain Stage Race last August (an epic bonk story) I remembered why I love cycling so much. I started smiling and laughing and just loving the feeling of speed and exertion again. I’m back in Denver now for a bit more training before I head out for another weekend of racing!