Five area mountain bike riders say they are so dedicated to raising money for the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute that in a few weeks they plan to pedal from Acapulco to Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
They named the project MexQuest, and their goal is to raise $10,000-$20,000, while riding hundreds of miles Feb. 27-March 14.
"We want to do more than provide monetary contributions, although that is very important to us," Tampa's Jim Hartnett said. "We hope to bring more awareness to the fact that lifestyle can play an important role in the prevention of cancer."
Hartnett, an experienced cyclist and adventure racer, will be joined on MexQuest by his Tampa training partners Leon Watts, Steven Myer, Ian Ryals; and Peter Kilcullen of Belleair Bluffs; Joe Hardin of Dunedin; and Mexico's Arturo Miranda.
Like Hartnett, Kilcullen and Hardin are seasoned mountain bikers and adventure racers, while Watts, who owns Adventure Outfitters in Tampa, is an author, scuba instructor, and mountain climber. Myer is also an experienced mountain climber, who just returned from Machu Picchu, Peru.
Rounding out the group is Miranda, who is from Puebla, Mexico. He recently completed an intense, 24-hour marathon where he burned more than 17,800 calories, and lost 17 pounds.
The Tampa riders raised more than $3,950 last February for the Moffitt center on a 475-mile cycling and canoeing trek from Tampa to Key West, which they called KeyQuest.
The group began by riding about 200 miles from Tampa to Everglades City. For the next stage, Hartnett and his team took their bikes apart and loaded them into canoes. They paddled toward Everglades National Park to Flamingo, on the southern tip of Florida on the north shore of Florida Bay. At Flamingo, the riders got their tools out of their backpacks and assembled their bikes again, riding south toward the Seven-Mile Bridge to Key West. They arrived in Key West on March 28, and drove back home the next day. They raised nearly $4,000 for cancer research.
For information on the MexQuest trip, call Hartnett, 813 232-5200, or e-mail jim@MexQuest.com 6 HOURS OF CARTER ROAD PARK: Expert racer Eddie O'Dea of Tampa got his dual-suspension bike ready for the first big event of the Florida mountain bike season, planning to defend his title at the 6 Hours Of Carter Road Park in Lakeland on Feb. 8, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
O'Dea (Team Specialized/Chainwheel Drive), 27, a network engineer, has been upgraded from Sport to Expert Class by Florida's NORBA race officials.
O'Dea says no event is too long for his growing endurance, including the eight-hour and 12-hour events being held near Ocala this spring.
"Well, talk is talk, but most riders don't know how to do race management after five hours," O'Dea said. "They think they do, but wait until they get out there and see for themselves. It's a lot tougher than they think, especially if you haven't been out to Lakeland or Reddick, doing those epic, long, mountain bike rides at race pace."
The 6 Hours Of Carter Road Park features divisions for Solo and Team Relay Races, including a new Fun Division for rookies. Teams are allowed to have three members, with a LeMans-style mass start. Raceday registration closes at 9:30 a.m. Spectators are welcome.
For information call the University Bicycle Shop in Tampa at 800 881-2472 or Bent's Schwinn in Lakeland at (863) 688-2126; or visit www.redtrailracing.com
