Bike for Kam, Bike for HIBM 2013! $16,807 raised of 40K goal!

Thank You! – Our Final Words and Final Video of 2012′s 500 mile ride

Wow! It’s been quite a ride and what can we say except that we are filled with gratitude.

To date, we have raised $31,473 and counting, and we owe every dollar raised to all our supporters and donators.  We truly appreciate your involvement in our grassroots project and can’t express how much it means to us.  Every dollar truly makes a difference and we are thankful for you.

To extend thanks, we wanted to share the rider’s 500 miles from pictures and footage they managed to capture along the way.  To give a sense of what 500 miles was like, here is “Bike for Kam’s” final compilation video (above).

We hope you will join us again next year for another adventure, a new route and a new location…? .    Bike for Kam is now an annual ride and we hope to annually grow our ridership and fundraising goals.  Donation lines are still open, so if you have been meaning to donate, you still can.  You can also purchase B4K inspired art prints.  All proceeds from these art prints will go towards  our ultimate fundraising goal.

100% of the proceeds has gone directly to HIBM research.  Click HERE to read our final words, testimonies or access B4K’s seven day journal from the road.

Kam’s FINAL WORDS:

What can I say, except “thank you” from the bottom of my heart.  What a long ride this project has been and what an experience to witness the generous donations and overflowing kindness from loved ones and strangers…

2011 was our very first B4K ride and we have just successfully completed our second one.  I honestly didn’t know this project was going to become an annual effort.  Last year, we were a group of seven-merely trying to get through our very first epic grassroots project.  We were new to the game and learning along the way.  After they crossed the Santa Monica Pier finish line, it was unanimous that this needed to be an annual adventure.  This year we more than doubled our ridership setting our fundraising goal to double last year’s efforts.

For the people who are in the middle of this type of project to this magnitude, it’s always an overwhelming set of emotions.  I’m so very thankful to my 15 friends, old and new, who said, “yes” to these long 500 miles.  Many of us have really good friends, but to experience a friendship during one’s time of need brings the experience to an entirely new level.  It causes the relationship to morph into something unique and personal.  You guys were amazing out there and I was proud of you during every moment.  Thank you to my friends for taking on this endeavor and thank you to their loved ones who truly supported them along the way, whether it be sharing their loved one’s efforts through social media, donating, spreading the project to their social circle and the like.  All these seemingly “small” efforts did not go unnoticed and helped create another successful year.

A special thanks to Huy and Elizabeth from Daly city for their unbelievable hospitality in hosting our crew as we prepared for the Golden Gate departure, to John from Specialized Bicycles for making and hand delivering food to the guys at the beach in Santa Cruz, to the team’s friends who dropped in on them along the road to bring drinks and water, to those who met us at the start and finish line to cheer us on, to Stephen and Scott for our promo video and t-shirts, to Jason for all the support, to all the HIBM Patients who helped share this project, to the strangers that the team met along the way and cared enough to check out our website and donate,  to my artist friends who did B4K art to garner some extra donations, to all our sponsors and the media who shared our story and to everyone in between!  Bike for Kam has been a wonderful source to see our friends and loved ones unite and help each other.

After realizing I had such a rare and serious condition in my early 20′s, during the prime of my life, I was told I was alone.  I was literally told no one would care.  Years later I met an organization dedicated to HIBM and soon realized I was NOT alone.  But, awareness was still very much needed.  My lot in life has been about talking about HIBM as much as possible and spreading awareness.  Because of my friends, B4K has been a means in expanding awareness to diverse communities. I don’t feel so alone now.

I don’t want to speak on behalf of all patients, but this is how HIBM makes me feel…

HIBM is not just a disease.  It lives and breathes in those it affects.  It transpires and grows. It permeates and relentlessly coerces itself into one’s life.  It’s lifelong and lasting.   The road feels very long.

FINAL WORDS :

Here are some final words from some of the bikers who took part in our 2012 tour.

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“Riding from the golden gate bridge to the Santa Monica pier was an incredible experience! One that will forever be logged in my memory bank. We seemed to have a great team of guys looking out for each other and checking each other’s bikes to make sure there weren’t any mechanical adjustments that were needed. From the plethora of farts (due to heavy fiber diet on the trip), to amazing sunsets, to camping at Big Sur, sleeping on a handball court in Guadalupe, hearing the Amtrak train go by as you pass a field and a couple of dogs howl at the piercing sound of the passing train’s horn. Being part of Bike for Kam was an experience I’m glad to be a part of.  I wish it didn’t have to end so that we could raise money until we had raised enough to fund the cure.”

-Ben Ragains

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“I don’t think I’ve ever taken on a challenge as big as this trip. I haven’t really ever taken much of a break from life and the typical day-to-day had made me jaded. When we left the Golden Gate Bridge I remember not feeling nervous or even really excited about this trip. I was really kind of numb about it all. I remember telling Ben Hoang that I miss that feeling of being anxious about something-like when you’re a kid and it’s the night before going to Disneyland or Christmas Eve and you cannot sleep. What I didn’t realize was that along the way I would become more in-tuned to who I really was, why I was really doing this and what Kam and everyone else with this disease goes through, and I would be truly humbled.

You’re climbing mountains, you’re battling head winds, you’re sit bones are sore, your legs are sore, your clothes smell, you’re napping in parking lots and on the shoulder of roads, you’re eating when you can, you’re sharing the road with speeding cars with little to no shoulder, a cold bathroom stall with a sink is comfort, you’re riding for an average of 8 hours a day, and you go to bed knowing you’re going to do it all again tomorrow. Knowing all this-it may seem discouraging, but I had Kam in the back of my mind most of the time and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “what do I have to complain about?”.  Kam and other people who have HIBM used to be able to do this, now this disease has taken that away from them. Knowing Kam had to live vicariously through us for this one week-it made me start to appreciate everything. Kam may not have been there physically, but nonetheless she was there amongst us all.  In the end, for as tired, worn out, and dirty as I was, I was sad that this adventure was all over. I have accomplished so many things on this trip, experienced unexpected acts of kindness from strangers, and have seen so many sights that words cannot express the beauty and majesty of.

This trip has changed me forever and I am able to see things, including my life, in a whole new light. I have also gotten to know Kam, who is an amazing person, who I admire and respect very much. I hope and pray that our trip will help fund this cure and as “Bike for Kam” grows, I hope the awareness of this disease grows. I look forward to experiencing this all over again next year.”

“Celebrate the small victories and live with no regrets”

- Andrew Gutierrez

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“Holy Shit!! I spent 8 days on a bicycle touring all the nooks and crannies of California’s central coast!!  With the help and support of some truly amazing people, we completed something that very few ever consider setting out to do. I feel very proud of this simple yet truly fulfilling fact.True exploration is a hard thing to obtain or even quantify in today’s world.Before the Journey, my experience of  Central Californian Coast had been limited to coastal pit stops and bathroom breaks linking a series of 60 MPH road trips through out Interstate 1. I was certain that I knew the coastline up and down. I had stood beside the red woods in Big Sur. I surfed my fair share of cold empty point breaks. And I’ve sketched the wind swept cypresses that crawl across the coastal landscape.  I had hit all the hot spots.. In the beginning, this trip was not about exploration for me. It was about completing something that I had set out to do….My “context” for what I had gotten myself into was set into a whirlwind by the middle of the first day! And then again on the second, and third, and so on… Each day was filled with its own little saga of trials and tribulations… Pain and suffering….Obstacles and rewards, second guesses and doubts.  No matter how big or how small, around every corner, over every hill, small explorations began to present themselves and I very quickly began to forget about the initial goal and all the silly baggage that my brain had brought with me.Life is simple in the saddle. Being on a bike for 10 hours a day forced me to explore the details of anything and everything.  Somewhere between brief descents and excruciating assents in Big Sur, I found a rhythm. I began to feel so selfishly thankful yet so sorry for the people that zoomed by in their cars. They were missing out on all the beautiful details that surrounded us.  Time began to be measured in miles and in those miles my thoughts were all that I was left with…It was a good place to be. I felt a sense of relatedness to whoever happened to be cycling beside me at that moment because of how unique each second seemed to be. We were explorers!!Kam, In a very direct way your journey  allowed us to take our journey, and throughout you seemed to be right there with us. All I can say is, “thank you”. This experience has been something that I will truly measure all future endeavors against.”-Nick Berry

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“Another 500 miles in the bag, making it a total of 1,000 miles Biking for Kam and there are several things I’ve learned in my time on the small, 4 square inches of leather I called home for about 100 hours in the past two trips.

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“First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in supporting Bike for Kam. With your help, Bike for Kam 2012 turned out great. From people who donated and to the people who spent their precious time to help spread the word, thank you all. I would also like to thank the support of my high school, Buena Park HS, for also getting involved in the support for Bike for Kam. It’s nice to see that even though we have been long gone from there, they still find some way to help us down the road. So a big Thank You to Martha Aguilar and the rest of the BPHS students and staff for their support. I would also like to thank my brother and sisters for also getting involved in such a great cause. 

“I was a part of the first B4K Ride in 2011 and what I gained, and this will sound cliche, was an experience of a lifetime, from an adventurist and personal standpoint, to be an advocate to raise awareness for H.I.B.M.  This was a bike ride that tested you mentally and physically over 500 miles fully loaded.  To be able to conquer those feats is self rewarding.  There was no doubt in my mind I would return for B4K 2012.  In lieu of writing paragraphs, I will just bullet point what I thought were the highlights of my experience of this 2012 trip.

• Having the original 6 back again and biking with new riders whom are my close friends (Mike B, Jimmy, Andy, Bobby, Son) and making new friends (Berr, Nick, Big Ben R., and Sean)
• The generous hospitality that was provided to us by Huy and Elizabeth in Daly City for storing our bikes and providing us with a place to stay, John from Specialized near Santa Cruz for cooking us hamburgers and hotdogs, Jose from Santa Maria setting us up with water and gatorade, Lucas G for purchasing beer for us in Ventura, Andres’ parents for the food at our campsite at Pt. Mugu.
• Biking the major climbs without walking (includes Devli’s Slide, Big Sur, Lompoc), which was a goal of mine to attain since 2011 I walked a good amount of those hills.
• To be able to bike through Big Sur and enjoy all of its beauty (*2011 Big Sur landslide occurred and had to detour to 101 fwy to get around)
• For a good couple of miles to San Simeon, the original 6 riders rode together in a formation that we had last year that brought this nostalgic feeling and memories from 2011 B4K ride.
• Showering
• Camping at various state parks and the Boys and Girls Club Handball Court of Guadelupe in which the “Stealth Bomber” name was created.
• Big Ben Ragain’s cruise control pace that would never change, and if you ever ask him how he is doing his exact words would be, “I’m good.”  Damn you! haha
• Cupcheck Wars
• Beltran’s Bose system playing the jams until it became dead weight by the 3rd day of the bike ride.
• Garza putting a shirtless picture of myself as a screensaver on his phone (weird right?)
• Putting a shirtless picture of Garza on my phone.  (what?)
• Reciting lines over and over from the movies of Fast and the Furious and the Hangover with Beltran.
• Biking with Beltran on one of the climbs before lompoc and having to stop and rest because of laughing so hard after insulting each other.
• Illuminaid, for not only making such a great solar power night light, but also a comfortable pillow at night.
• 2,000+ calorie meals at each sitting (not sure if it was a good thing, but the food was damn good)
• Viet introducing me and Hieu to Goldbond Powder because it really saved our butts. Literally
• Viet helping me apply Goldbond Powder inside my shorts.
• Motrin anybody?
• Almost everybody at Duke’s having a Lava Flow drink, one of the last few manly drinks out there.
• All the riders persevering through their challenges and injuries.  You guys were all studs who never quit no matter what.  YOU DID IT!!!!
• Meeting random individuals along our journey that wanted to know what we were riding for and even donated, I just want to say you guys rock and thank you for the support and funding the cure!
• The amazing support from our friends and families and to everybody who showed up and cheered us on to the finish line in Santa Monica was very special feeling for all of us.  A big THANK YOU to each one of you.
• To Kam, for all the work you did during our bike ride with the website, the blogs and especially in this year’s ride where your schedule was hectic with flying all over the country, we appreciate all of your hard work that you provide.  You’re a cool gal and glad that after meeting you last year our friendship has grown.  Your an inspiration to us all.  Thank you for being the person you are.”

-Mikey Duong

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“Bike for Kam 2012 was another adventure of a life time. “I came, I saw and I conquered.” Big Sur to be exact. All the struggles and challenges on this bike ride is only temporarily for me, but HIBM patients have to deal with struggles and challenges everyday. Lets make a difference.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 at 5:52 pm. It is filed under 2012 Bike Journal / Seven Days. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.