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patrickautissier.org |
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SPONSORS 2006 |
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Boston, June 5th, 2006
Dear all,
Team Athletes Racing for Charity has been very busy over the last weeks, setting up, training for the big ride, and trying to get everything under control. Now that we’re just 8 days before the start, let me give you an update.
1. ISAC meeting in Quebec City:
Pr. Paul Robinson (President of ISAC), Stephen Lewis (UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa), Patrick Autissier.
I’ve been invited by Pr. Robinson, President of the International Society of Analytical Cytology, to the ISAC meeting held in Quebec City last week to present our team ARC project. I had a booth inside of the Convention Centre where I could give details of the project and fundraising to the attendees. However, the highlight of this invitation was for me the tremendous opportunity to present our project to the entire congress (more than 1,300 attendees), just before Stephen Lewis’ lecture entitled: “Science and Advocacy: The Best Hope to Defeat the Pandemic of AIDS”. Stephen Lewis, Canadian of the Year in 2003, and in 2005 one of TIME magazines 100 Most Influential People in The World, was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa in 2001. His description of the situation in Africa regarding the pandemic was so incredibly powerful and emotional that we all felt we were in Africa for an hour. The quality of life over there is very different from what we are familiar with. Access to drugs for HIV infected people, despite tremendous efforts from non-profit organizations like PIH or the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is still very limited. Stephen Lewis has urged everyone at the meeting to get involved (money, advocacy, science) to get rid of this pandemic. And this is exactly the message that Team Athletes Racing for Charity want to pass along.
2. Fundraising for PIH and NLG:
Well, let’s be honest. The fundraising is going very slow. I know that there are thousands of different great charities and many causes to fight for. So, why donating to Partners In Health (PIH) and Nashoba Learning Group (NLG)? I think the real question is why not? What I am asking for is $10 per person. Is it really too much to ask? $10 for most of us is nothing, just 3 cups of coffee, or 3 gallons of gas. So please, drink more water (in parts of Africa, they don’t even have drinkable water!), do more exercise, and make a donation to your selected charity. You’ll feel better physically and your contribution will make a huge difference to people who don’t have the luxury to live in the western countries or people who fight against autism. Again, 100% of your contribution will go to PIH and/or NLG. Go to www.team-arc.org on how to make donations.
3. Training:
We’ve done a RAAM style team training several weeks ago. Basically, it’s a relay of 4 riders where each rider does a 20 minute pull at full speed. We have had very bad weather, especially at night, but it was a very good training for both the riders and the crew members. We have ridden 400 miles at 20 mph. Usually the best team on RAAM average between 20 and 22 mph. So, this was encouraging for us. All in all, the 4 riders are in very good shape, despite a very busy schedule between work, family, and training. Nobody has been sick during the training period, and that’s a good sign. Now, we’re tapering, doing 1-2 hours of easy training every other day. This week, we need to get plenty of rest and sleep in order to have our “tank” full before the start.
4. Logistics:
Tomorrow, part of the crew and Ed Kross, one of the rider, will leave Boston and drive west to Oceanside, CA with the 3 rented vans, already loaded with all of our stuff (8 bikes, spare wheels, equipments, etc…). The 3 riders and the remaining of the crew will fly out to San Diego next weekend. Then during the 2 days prior to the start, we’ll have to finish the set up of the van, pass the vehicle/bike inspection and get used to the RAAM route and the 3,000 miles of directions to follow! Finally, the race will officially start on Tuesday, June 13th at 5:00 pm EST…
More newsletters will follow, and we’ll try to send or post on our website daily reports during the race. But for the time being, I’d like you to forward this newsletter to your family, colleagues, local media, contacts, and also post on your blog and/or website if you have one. The more people know about Athletes Racing for Charity, the more chance we have to get a successful fundraising.
Thank you very much for your help,
Patrick Autissier |
