A Cycling & bikes forum. CycleBanter.com

Go Back   Home » CycleBanter.com forum » rec.bicycles » General
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Building Blocks: Patrick Dempsey



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old May 17th 09, 03:45 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Ablang
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 128
Default Building Blocks: Patrick Dempsey

Building Blocks
Actor Patrick Dempsey wants to accomplish two things with his ride
this fall: help families fighting cancer and get more people on bikes.

By Loren Mooney
Click here to find out more!

Why a bike ride for your cancer center?
Well, it's full circle for me. My mother was diagnosed with ovarian
cancer and has had five bouts with cancer. I grew up in Lewiston,
Maine, so I asked my sister, who works at the Central Maine Medical
Center: What do families need for this incredibly difficult journey,
and how can we provide that? Then we established the Patrick Dempsey
Center for Cancer Hope and Healing.

The cycling happened because I was involved with the Breakaway from
Cancer initiative at the Tour of California a few years ago, and I
started riding again after years away from it. I wanted a fun and
healthy way to raise money for the Center and help build the cycling
community as well.

What is it about cycling that works so well for this sort of thing?
There's a lot of time to think on a bike. You experience a lot of
emotions, feeling euphoric and happy, or sad, angry, frustrated.
Cycling can be therapeutic. The benefits are physical, mental and
emotional.

You can draw a parallel between biking and fighting cancer. There are
good days, bad days, days you're winning and days you're losing.
Cycling is a great metaphor for whatever challenge you're facing.

Your event is called the Dempsey Challenge—what's the challenge?
I want to get people active. We organized it so everyone can take
part. My mom doesn't cycle; she walks, so we have a walk. You can ride
10, 25, 50 or all 100 miles. People who may not consider themselves
cyclists can contribute and see what the sport is about, and the hard-
core cyclists still get the event they want and deserve.

We have Medalist Sports managing the event and taking care of the
cyclists on the road, so you know they'll be safe. And Specialized
will offer prizes for top fund-raisers—all kinds of gear, including a
Roubaix Pro and maybe some other surprises.

With the Center, we want to provide a sanctuary for people going
through cancer. And we hope the ride provides that same sense of
community.

Both communities are important.
Right. I've also reached out to a lot of the cycling clubs in Maine,
who have been incredibly supportive, to give them a platform.

I remember my first exposure to cycling. I watched Breaking Away as a
kid, and it got me to go out and buy a bike, a Schwinn Le Tour with
the shifters on the handlebar. But there were very few clubs to go to
then.

It was almost a stereotype—the loner kid who took up cycling. Was that
you?
Yeah, because cycling was great dry-land training for ski racing,
which I was doing then. I met this crazy old cyclist, and he became
kind of a mentor. Every now and again I would beat him up the hills,
and the next day he would just thrash me. That was the only guy I knew
who cycled hardcore— he was this grandfather character.

When People magazine picks up on this, they'll ask: Did you shave your
legs?
Ha! I didn't have any hair on my legs to begin with. This was, like,
junior high school.

Should we expect any star sightings at the Dempsey Challenge?
Oh sure. George Hincapie was the first to say, "I'll be there." Tom
Boonen is coming. David Zabriskie, who I kept running into in
California when he was training last winter—on one ride he found me on
my route and snuck up from behind to scare me to death—I'd love for
him to come. And it'd be great to have Lance. We'll see how everybody
is doing at the end of the season.

Have any Hollywood types signed up?
No, I've reached out more to the cyclists. But I'm open to
entertainment people too. A lot of guys from the [Grey's Anatomy] crew
are coming—they're big cycling fans.

We're hoping it becomes an annual event. We'll certainly raise a lot
of money, but next year we'd love to have a race too, to help develop
young racers in New England.

So you're planting a cycling flag there.
That's the vision. You know, if you're in my position where you have a
certain visibility, there's an obligation to give back, now more than
ever.

DEMPSEY CHALLENGE October 4, 2009; Lewiston, Maine Options: Four rides
between 10 and 100 miles Cost: $75 registration fee; no fund-raising
minimum Info: dempseychallenge.org Raise $10,000 and join a private
group ride with Dempsey, plus George Hincapie and other pros. Raise
$500 to receive a Hincapie jersey, and $1,000 earns you a personalized
autographed photo of Dempsey.

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...9198-1,00.html
Ads
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
This Is How Empires End, by Patrick J. Buchanan Useful Info Racing 1 July 21st 07 12:52 PM
Patrick Lefevere Latest Dan Gregory Racing 4 January 23rd 07 07:52 PM
Saint Patrick Speaks B. Lafferty Racing 0 June 3rd 06 02:35 PM
Patrick Field on Car Nation David Martin UK 0 July 17th 05 11:58 PM
Patrick Sercu Interview [email protected] Racing 0 October 15th 04 11:10 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CycleBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.