David Staley

100 Miles on a Tandem Mountain Bike. Because the Hard Stuff Isn't Carried Alone.

A month ago, my best friend Logan lost his wife Molly to cancer. She was diagnosed on a Friday and passed away that next Tuesday. She left behind a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old.

When something like that happens to someone you love, it stops being abstract. You see what comes after the loss — the Social Security calls, the life insurance paperwork, the child therapy appointments, the daily work of continuing forward on a path nobody chose.

That's why I'm riding the Leadville 100 — one of the hardest mountain bike races in the country — with LIVESTRONG. And I'm doing it on a tandem bike.

The tandem isn't a gimmick. What I've watched over the past month is that the hardest things in life aren't carried alone. They're carried together. A tandem at Leadville is the most literal version of that I can think of — 100 miles above 10,000 feet, two people on one bike, figuring it out together.

I've done hard endurance stuff before — a Guinness World Record for ultra running on a treadmill, the FKT for a self-supported run across Panama. I'm comfortable being uncomfortable for a long time. But this one isn't about pushing limits for its own sake. It's about putting that effort toward something that actually matters.

Funds raised go to LIVESTRONG's free programs — fertility preservation for young adults facing cancer, fitness and recovery programs through the LIVESTRONG at the Y, and Ellis, their AI resource that connects people to support when they need it most.

I'm planning to donate the full fundraising amount myself, but I committed to sharing this page, so here it is. If you want to contribute, every dollar goes directly to making sure these programs stay free for the people who need them.

This one's for Molly, for Logan, and for everyone carrying something they didn't choose.

— David