Michael working hard during the Tour L'Etape on Mt. Baldy
Studio owner Michael Stadvec joins me to discuss his upcoming event - The Tour de Pier on the Manhattan Beach pier. You can hear more by listening to the Podcast below.
John and Jennifer,
Thanks for the opportunity to promote the Tour de Pier!
Several months ago a student and friend (they all become friends!), Jon Hirshberg, approached Fit On Studios with a goal of getting "hundred's of bikes" for a one-of-a-kind charity event here in Manhattan Beach on May 19th called the Tour de Pier ( www.tourdepier.com). Jon lost his father to pancreatic cancer over 15 years ago and he started the annual 5k/10k LA Cancer Challenge, which has helped the Hirshberg Foundation become the largest Pancreatic Cancer non-profit in the country. We immediately said "yes" and then quickly began wondering how the heck we were going to get "hundreds" of bikes (we have 40). Our first call was to our buddy, over at Studio Cycles, Jeff Wimmer. Jeff has supplied us all of our bikes and not only is he a master bike mechanic, he has a knack for filling his warehouse with new and used bikes that he ships all over the world. He quickly committed 100 and then we pressed and he upped it to 200 bikes! That gave us 240 and we pooled some resources and Spectrum Clubs committed to another 150 or more bikes from local clubs and the total has kept growing to over 400 bikes!
Personally, I love anything to do with cycling - indoors, outdoors, going around a track in circles, so that was an easy selling point, but what hits home is that during all of this, my mom was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma brain tumor. We had not been strangers to the devastation of this disease as my wife's father has been battling liver cancer for over 6 years. My mom fought hard, but passed away earlier this year. The Tour de Pier has become even more personal for me and bringing awareness and money for research that is critical to beat this unforgiving disease.
All of the fundraising dollars will go directly to four worthy charities: Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer, Cancer Support Community of Redondo Beach, Livestrong and the Friendship Circle. We will also have a Kids Zone and a Health Expo with sponsors focused on promoting healthy living in kids and adults.
We have a quote on the wall in our studio that one of our favorite (ok, they are all favorites) students masterfully phrased that sums up not only what we strive for in our studio, but for this event and all others like it... "The Power of Shared Energy." That is such a powerful statement, but even more powerful when put into practice. It is hard to describe to someone if they haven't experienced it first hand, but it is so true...it keeps us going when we want to quit, it fuels us when we are down, and it inspires us to give that energy back.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Originally posted 2013-03-29 08:45:34.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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