AT A GLANCE

Race Across America:

Team Break the Cycle

When: Start riding June 15

Why: Raise funds for Northwest

Arkansas Children’s Shelter in Ben

tonville

Information: teambreakthecycle.org

or nwacs.orgAT A GLANCE Cyclists’ CommentsLori O’Connor

Occupation: Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter volunteer

and member of the shelter’s Board of Directors

City of residence: Bentonville

How long riding? 11 years

Why do you enjoy riding? “Because it doesn’t hurt my body.

It’s a great exercise to be outside. I don’t enjoy working out or do

ing anything inside anywhere. I love the outdoors. It’s a great way

to enjoy that and not feel like I’m working out.”

Why did you want to participate in this specific race?

“I wanted to participate in this race because it’s one of the most

incredible bike endurance races in the world. Nothing compares to

RAAM. It will mentally and physically challenge me to my limits,

and when I cross the finish line, I will know that I did something

extraordinary for the incredible children and the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter.”Chip Gibbons Occupation: Contract pilot City of residence: Rogers How long riding? Five years Why do you enjoy riding? “It’s just a great form of exercise. It doesn’t beat my knees up.” Why did you want to participate in this specific race?

“I’ve followed RAAM for probably five or six years. It’s just intriguing, the idea that you can race across the United States in eight or nine days.”Four cyclists will take on 3,000 miles of road to benefit the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter.

Lori O’Connor, Chip Gibbons, Mike Brady and Randy Jackson are members of Team Break the Cycle and will be participating in Race Across America. O’Connor said the ride is the “hardest single solo endurance race in the world for cycling.” The route runs across 12 states and the terrain includes desert and two mountain ranges, she added. Participants include solo racers, two-person teams, four-person teams and eight-person teams.

The teams will begin racing June 15 in Oceanside, Calif., and they have to reach the finish line in Annapolis, Md., within 10 days, O’Connor said.

O’Connor said she has been biking with Gibbons and Brady for many years, and the fourth member, Jackson, knew Gibbons when they were growing up. They decided on the name Break the Cycle because it has a kind of double meaning. They thoughtabout how it represented the shelter through “breaking the cycle of child abuse and child neglect,” and she joked that they also may want to “break our cycles at the end.”

The cyclists have been training for the last year, O’Connor said.

Crossing the country, they will be doing relay racing, and they have two vans and two RVs that will be following them. In the first 34 hours of the race, each cyclist will ride for 20 minutes and then have an hour off. She said the crew chief decided on this schedule because the bikers will be too excited to sleep. A pair of cyclistswill then do four-hour rotations, with each one biking for 30 minutes and then being off for 30 minutes. While one pair is in its rotation, the other pair will be in an RV relaxing, sleeping or eating, she explained.

Every cyclist will bike about 110 miles a day, totaling about 750 miles each by the end of the race, O’Connor said. She believes none of them will have a problem with the fitness, but they will have to adapt to the sleep deprivation and nutrition.

The Children’s Shelter is working on a way to track the cyclists on its website.

There are also at least 12 crew members along for the ride to drive and help the participants.

The fundraising goal for Team Break the Cycle is $200,000, and O’Connor said they are hoping to exceed it. The money is marked as unrestricted, so the shelter can use it wherever it is needed. Donations can be made on the Team Break the Cycle website. O’Connor added that there are 56 time stations the team will go through during the race, andthey are hoping to get people to sponsor each station.

Time station sponsorships are $500. The team also has supply requests, such as medical supplies, food, water and GoPro cameras.

The mission of the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter in Bentonville is to provide a safe haven, high quality care and hope for the future to children who have been abandoned, abused or neglected, according to the shelter’s website.

The shelter allows children to stay for 45 days, and they have access to psychologists, schooling and medical, dental, and vision care, O’Connor said. The shelter serves children from across the state, including newborn to age 17 girls and newborn to age 14 boys. The Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter receives 25 percent of its funding from the state, and 75 percent of money has tobe raised independently, she said.

O’Connor described the shelter as “a happy environment.” She added that the shelter gives children hope and she can see them change weekly when she volunteers there.

“It’s a place that genuinely saves children’s lives,” she said.

AT A GLANCE Cyclists’ CommentsMike Brady Occupation: Account manager at White Cap Construction Supply City of residence: Bentonville How long riding? For about 10-11 years Why do you enjoy riding? “Mostly so I can eat more.” He added it is also a good way to stay fit and is a good stress reliever.

Why did you want to participate in this specific race? The No. 1 reason is because the children’s shelter is a great cause, Brady said. When he and Chip Gibbons first talked about it, they thought the idea was crazy. When they decided to do it for the shelter, though, they thought that would be a great reason to challenge themselves.

Randy Jackson Occupation: Project manager for RelayHealth City of residence: Tulsa, Okla.

How long riding? Almost three years Why do you enjoy riding? “I love being outdoors. I love being fit, setting goals and attaining goals. There’s a large positive social aspect to it, just hanging out with cool people. I can eat as much as I want.” Why did you want to participate in this specific race? “I call it a BHAG: a big, hairy, audacious goal. It’s really beyond anything I thought I was really capable of. As I thought about it and began training for it it became in my mind much more doable. itwill still be very tough. Even so far along the way, I have exceeded what I really thought I was capable of, physically and mentally.”

Style, Pages 29 on 05/16/2013