Hello You Ojai Cyclists!   I am proud to tell you that beginning on Sept 25 of this year I, will be participating in the 10th anniversary of The California Coast Classic, a 525 mile 8-day bicycle ride from San Francisco to Santa Monica to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation's efforts to find a cure for Arthritis, a crippling disease which strikes both young and old.   Completing this ride will be a major challenge for me. I began cycling only this past year and, although I have done some training, I have never attempted a ride of anything like this magnitude. As you can imagine, the prospect of riding over 500 miles of extremely hilly terrain on consecutive days (as much as 90 miles in a single day) separated by nights sleeping on the ground in a tent is a daunting one. I have no doubt that more than once I'll be asking myself what the hell I could possibly have been thinking. But, hopefully I'll make it and, by doing so, will achieve a personal milestone and make a difference in the ongoing battle against a disease whose victims are expected to double by 2020 and which has been called by researchers the "epidemic of the future."  I am writing you personally to ask that you support the fight against joint disease by sponsoring my ride with a donation to the Arthritis Foundation.   As you read this, over 46 million - nearly 1 out of every 5 - Americans are victimized by the pain and debilitation of arthritis. In all likelihood, sufferers include members of your own family and friends. There are over 120 known forms of arthritis and related maladies such as lupus, scleroderma and fibromyalgia. All are chronic, physically and emotionally debilitating and, in some instances, life threatening.  When I was a kid I thought it was funny that my Grandmother's joints enabled her to predict wet weather. Now that I'm no longer so young, it turns out it wasn't so funny at all. People's lives are destroyed by this disease and more than a few die as a result of it. And, arthritis victims are not just the elderly or middle age folks like me or my wife, Pati, who this year underwent wrist replacement surgery. Remarkably, over 300,000 American children, and countless more worldwide, are afflicted with juvenile arthritis. Heart-breakingly, many of those suffer from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) and have been wheelchair-bound since they were toddlers.   But it's not all bleak. Spearheaded by the Arthritis Foundation, great strides in developing treatments and medications have been made over the last decade. With the help of people like you and me, those efforts will continue and lead to even greater future successes. In addition to medical research, the Arthritis Foundation raises millions of dollars to help arthritis sufferers and their families cope with the daily impact of the illness and to provide summer camp and similar recreational experiences for young JRA and other victims of juvenile joint disease who would otherwise never know a life beyond wheelchairs and pain relieving injections and IV transfusions. A portion of the money raised by the Coast Classic will go to support Camp Esperanza, a summer camp located in the San Bernardino Mountains, where children from 8 to 17 can engage in swimming, canoeing, rock climbing and similar physical activities normally denied them under controlled and safe environment.   I have personally committed to raise $3,000 in order to participate in the ride. I am hoping to raise even more. Because I anticipated being on a (now delayed) film this fall and was thus uncertain of my ability to ride, I delayed fund raising until I was certain I could participate. Consequently, I have a bunch of money to raise in a short period of time. I am asking you to make a tax-deductible donation in any amount to the Arthritis Foundation in sponsorship of my efforts and hope that you will find yourself able to do so. The simplest way to contribute is to do it online. Just log on to my fund-raising web page at www.californiacoastclassic.org, click on the blue "Make an online donation to a rider"  and follow the easy instructions (I'm in the LA County...Santa Barbara area). Please make sure you click on the "Sponsor Participant" and not the "General Donation" button when that choice presents itself. The process should be quick and relatively painless and you will receive an emailed thank you letter from the Foundation that will serve as your tax receipt. The site will also tell you more about the Foundation and the ride. Alternatively, feel free to send your check payable to the Arthritis Foundation to me at 7099 Gobernador Canyon Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013 and I'll see that it get forwarded to the Foundation (click here to open a donation form for U.S. mail use). If you have any questions please contact me or Amy Robertson at the Foundation (arobertson@arthritis.org or 1-800-954-CURE).   Please know that your sponsorship in any amount contributes meaningfully to the important work of the Arthritis Foundation and will be very much personally appreciated by me.   With thanks,   Andrew   Update, 9/7/2010. By way of update, I am pleased to report that with a bit more than 2 weeks to go, I've raised over $5,300 for the Arthritis Foundation, a material portion of which reflects the generous donations made by members of Ojai Cyclists, for which I am extremely grateful. I believe I've thanked each donor personally, but to each and all of you I once again would like to express my sincere thanks. Andrew   Final update, November, 2010. Hello all you Ojai Cyclists -   At this point it's pretty old news, but nevertheless (with some urging on the part of Fawzi) I thought I'd write to wrap up my earlier Arthritis Ride posts.   First, on a personal level, the tour was a pretty fabulous experience. A grueling one to be sure. 525 miles is a hell of a long way to ride a bicycle (at least it was for me) and it was often hot as blazes - over 100 degrees as we crawled over hills in Big Sur which were aggressively steep not to mention (at least to me) seemingly interminable. Early on there were more than a few moments when I questioned my sanity (as, for example, when I had to change two flat tires in 95 degree heat in the space of 30 minutes on day one). But the downhills, fleeting as they seemed to be, were exhilarating, the scenery was spectacular, and the sense of freedom and personal accomplishment I experienced was extraordinary. I found that I actually got stronger as the week progressed and came to understand what I guess I already i knew - that bicycle riding, like most things in life, is more than 50% mental determination. Net result, I rode EFI (every f'n inch) and my (now fully recovered) butt was one of the bunch that never touched the inside of a SAG van. OK, maybe I'm bragging a bit, but by the same token I wouldn't want you to think for a moment that I might have embarrassed Cyclists of Ojai. BTW, I proudly wore our jersey on day #7 as we rode from Buellton to Ventura certain that thousands of cheering home town fans would undoubtedly flood the streets of Carpinteria. They didn't, but Pati (my ever supportive wife) assured me that the jersey looked very smart nonetheless.   Second, and more important, the collective generosity of family and friends, including many members of our riding group, enabled me to raise in excess of $7,700 - well over two & one-half times the amount I committed -  to assist joint disease victims and help find a cure so that future generations might be spared the agonies of this very crippling illness. A large number of ride participants are either themselves or immediately related to rheumatoid arthritis sufferers and, over the course of 8 days, I learned first hand just how devastatingly life changing arthritis often is. I got to enjoy a bicycle ride; all of those who sponsored me helped make a difference and for that I am grateful.    Finally, I camped out each night (save only the final night when I opted for my own bed - hard to pass up a down comforter when it's only 20 miles away) and that proved to be one of the highlights of the ride.  Pati camped with me 3 of the nights and we had a marvellous time - it was like going back more years than I care to think about. One night it rained and to be snuggled together dry and warm in a tent was indescribably delicious. So much so (now that I've become a pro at manipulating tent poles) that we are talking about occasionally camping out - in our back yard if nowhere else. Hopefully, we'll be able to sweet talk our grand kids into joining us.   Riding with with you all in our Ojai group and otherwise in and around Santa Barbara actually prepared me a lot better for the ride than I would have anticipated. By the same token, 525 miles over 8 days made me a stronger rider upon arriving in Santa Monica than I was when we headed out of San Francisco. Since the ride I have been sporadically doing some more challenging rides around town, including 150 from Carp to Ojai and back and, this past week, under cover of riding alone, 3 miles up Gibralter (which Brian graciously made sure I understood was not the top but which, together with the round- trip from carp, I nevertheless thought was a respectable day's work). Gibralter's not something I'd want to make a steady diet of, but I don't think it would have been in the cards at all prior to the Arthritis Ride. And I really found that I enjoy bicycle touring (at least the supported variety); it's definitely something I want to do more of, hopefully both here and abroad. Cruising into a new town on a bicycle is a very pleasurable experience and touring is really a great way to meet new people (I met lots of interesting folks both on the ride and just on the road and came away with a small handful of new friends) and experience the world around us - I was was amazed at how much more I noticed, for example, riding thru Big Sur or peddling the 17 mile drive than I have in the past driving or even motorcycling it. And, as corny as it may sound, traveling by bicycle really does clear the mind and enlighten the soul. Oh, yeah, and the food wasn't half bad either!   So, there you have it. I'd heartily recommend the ride for anyone who feels the urge in 2011. Here's a link to a picasa web album with a bunch of fotos which might tempt you (or not): Go here for the album.   Cheers, Andrew