The Outspoken Cyclist – 5/30/2015

Every once in a while, we just HAVE to do a “feel good” show and this week is IT!

Our first guest is Sam Fox. He currently works for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Now, Michael J. Fox has a son named Sam – this isn’t him! However, THIS Sam Fox is one pretty outstanding guy.

He’s a graduate of Yale. He’s an endurance athlete – mostly running, and running, and running, and … you get the picture.  How much running? We’re talking 2650 miles covering the entire Pacific Crest Trail – and, he raised $300,000.00 for Parkinson’s research. He ran 100 miles – in one day – from Manhattan to the tip of Long Island.   He raised $100,000.00 for Parkinson’s research.

Now, Sam is about to embark on a 48 state “Tour de Fox” event and we are all invited to come along. The goal this time is a cool $1,000,000.00. But wait, there’s more! There are $500,000.00 in matching funds for the first 1/2 million dollars raised so – we’re talking a LOT of money that is going to go cutting edge research to help find not only a cure, but to develop better drugs and a better way to manage the disease.

So, why would a young man choose this as his work – besides the fun of being outdoors AND raising boatloads of money? His Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2005. Nuf said!

After our break and some news, we head on down to Jacksonville, Florida to catch up with Jamie Bianchini. His new book, “A Bicycle Built for Two Billion” is the culmination of 8 years, 80 countries, and the best stories he collected as he, his best friend Garryck, and hundreds of tandem rides they offered people along the way. Jamie recounts how he went from riches to rags – gobs of money to bankruptcy – and came out the other side with this idea of committing himself to being the conduit for good things to happen.
See – IT’S ALL “FEEL GOOD”…