Friday, February 19, 2010

The University Daily Kansan

The University Daily Kansan (UDK) is writing a story about Riding for ROMP 2010. I had an interview this morning with Jinny, the alumni relations reporter, and she sounded enthusiastic about the event and its cause. There might be a possiblity for a multi-feature story outlining the training process and the ride itself!

ROMP is no stranger to the UDK. In 2008, they ran a story about Greg's ride from Lawrence to Madison, which you can find here (http://www.kansan.com/news/2008/sep/02/charity/).

The UDK is one of the most accreditted student-run newspapers in the country, and the William Allen White School of Jounralism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas is consistently ranked as one of the top journalism schools nationwide. Shameless plugs for the alma mater aside, I can't wait to see what this program will put out!

Patrick

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Kevin Saunders joins Riding for ROMP 2010

Exciting news straight from Lawrence, Kansas! Renowned American paralympian, author, and motivational speaker Kevin Saunders will be joining Riding for ROMP 2010 in late June as the team travels through the Sacramento area. Mr. Saunders will be kicking off his tour of all 50 states to promote physical fitness and well-being around the same time, and is excited to join the ROMPsters as they journey south.

Mr. Saunders brings considerable experience to Riding for ROMP 2010. He successfully completed a wheelchair ride from Canada to Mexico in 2004, a distance of 2,500 miles on arm strength alone. He followed this incredible feat of endurance with a four-country hand-cycle tour of Europe, where he served as an ambassador for health and fitness on an international scale.

Mr. Saunders was the first person with a disability appointed to the President's Council on Physical Fitness in 1991, under then President George H.W. Bush. President Clinton reappointed Mr. Saunders to the PCPF during both of his terms in office, making Mr. Saunders the only individual to serve on the council under two separate administrations.

Information on Kevin Saunders and his amazing story of success through extreme adversity can be found at http://www.kevinsaunders.com/.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Snowball Effect

As promised earlier, things are starting to snowball. Sponsors are coming on board, donors are lining up, ROMP riders are being recruited, and our cyclists are persistently training. We are also excited to share some pretty great news about the send-off. Congressman Peter Defazio ans State Senator Floyd Prozanski will be coming out to support our ride on June 19th at the send off event at Alton Baker Park. Our goal is to have more than 100 riders and 500 supporters come out that morning. Hopefully, we'll see you there!

More great news to come. Also, as sponsors sign on we will start to link their info to the ROMP website.

As for me... Back to bike more hills.