Words and photos by Max Kuszaj & Angeli VanLaanen

The ski industry has seen many tragedies in the past few years, from spinal cord injuries to athlete deaths. Now is a time to give back with awareness to the general public, in our case, we are giving back as fellow athletes and friends.

A group of professional skiers and other members of the ski industry are partaking in a charity bike ride during the month of October from Seattle to San Diego on the Pacific Coast Highway/101 to benefit the Riley Poor Foundation, The Shane McConkey Fund and Billy Poole Foundation.

Links containing information about these foundations are the following:

Riley Poor
Riley’s Blog
Nike 6.0’s Riley Site
The Transplant Fund

Shane McConkey
The Shane McConkey Fund
Make a Wish Foundation

Billy Poole
The Billy Poole Ski Foundation

Through this ride we are seeking to have individuals, businesses, major corporations, etc. support our injured and fallen friends and icons in the ski industry. We will need as much support as possible.

To donate to this cause, click on the image above, or here.

This ride is open to anyone, friends, family, strangers, fans…anyone.

For further information, please email at: PacificCoastCycleforaCause@Gmail.com

Hope to see you on the road!

-Max Kuszaj

Angeli VanLaanen here. I am reporting from the beautiful Washington Coast. As the support car driver, I am en route to meet up with the crew at a check point and only have a short moment to write. Internet and space to park/turn around our big rig has been scarce, but I happened to find a wireless hot spot at a casino outside of Shelton, WA and wanted to give a quick update.

Angeli and the big rig

Max is excited to be in Seattle

Pep Fujas & Cody Barnhill

It is day two and the crew is in great spirits. Day one was full of action. With one rider getting two flat tires, both myself and the crew having some technical difficulties with our GPS and directions, we rolled into camp later then expected last night. We made it from Seattle, WA to eight miles outside of Shelton, WA. We rode through the dusk and set up camp in the dark. When we awoke, to our surprise we had camped in a rubble filled turn-off that happened to be a popular local shooting range. The adventure has begun and I anticipate more wild stories to share.

Bud's campground

At the end of day three we were huddled around a smoldering campfire of wet sticks at Bud’s campground, recently removed from Goonieville (aka Astoria) where we had an epic lunch with Riley Poor’s parents at a little cafe that served all the best food in the world (at least after 60 miles, there was nothing that could have been better…) Afterwards Max (henceforth: Gluteus) did a quick truffle shuffle and we were out, with a ton of fresh bread and a bag of cookies courtesy of Riley parents (and at Riley's request) in tow.

Lunch with Riley Poor's parents

The morning started in Raymond, Washington at the Timberland RV park. An almost strangely nice RV park right by the river, and we had by far the smoothest day in the saddle so far. The first 20, 30, 40 miles flew by like we were real road bikers. By the time 2pm rolled around we were riding across the Astoria bridge, a 4.1 mile long bridge that starts just above river level, and right in the last mile climbs up a couple hundred feet, then sneaks down on a spiral ramp into the little Oregon fishing town of Astoria.

Astoria Bridge

Of course no good road trip is ever without a little good ol’ timey car trouble, so by the time we got it dealt with and had lunch with Riley’s folks it was a quarter after five. We asked around and figured if we got another 15 miles under the wheels we’d be in a good place to bed down for the night. After cranking them out with a full belly and renewed energy here we are; Seaside, Oregon about to hit the pillow. Tomorrow it will be on down the coast, past Tillamook, and it’s famous cheese, and on to some more ocean waves.

The Pacific Ocean

The crew would like to shout out to everyone in Seattle and Squaw who helped put on fundraisers for the cause, to all the sponsors of the ride, to all the people joining the cause and donating, to Shane’s family and friends, to the memory of Billy Poole and a big hello to Riley Poor. You are all in our thoughts!

Thanks for checking in, and we’ll talk to you again soon!

Every little bit helps, so to donate to Pacific Coast Cycle For A Cause, please click here. To follow their adventures via their daily blog and for more information on their mission, check out www.cycleforacause.com, and stay tuned to NS for more updates on this wonderful cause.