September 18, 2008 (Morgan Hill, California) – It wasn’t a dream, somehow I managed to find myself wrapped up with the Specialized crew on a little jaunt from Morgan Hill, California to Las Vegas, Nevada with Interbike 2008 as the finish line. Over 960km/600 miles of paved reality await us, peppered with a whole lot of vertical and a whole lot of Death Valley along the way.

Phrases like “life altering”, “soul defining”, “you’re nuts” floated around Specialized’s Morgan Hill headquarters as we prepared for the 5-day journey ahead. Specialized suited us up with 2009 Roubaix SL’s and spent hours fitting us to the bikes that we will call home for the next week. The Body Geometry, video-capture fitting system was a thorough and precision fitting that will be well appreciated as we tackle the km/miles ahead.

This is the second year that Mike Sinyard, President and Founder of Specialized, and a select few have made the journey from Morgan Hill to Vegas, a ride that elicited an “Are you crazy!” response from Sinyard when originally suggested to him. Apparently crazy is in good company because this year the ride has more than tripled from 6 to 17 riders, so we should be much faster… right?

The route will take us through some stunning country on our way to the 2008 Interbike convention in Vegas. Along the way we will be treated to dizzying heights over Tioga Pass, sub-sea level elevation in death valley, and fascinating towns like Furnace Creek. I’m thinking SPF 50!

It’s set to be an amazing adventure, but this year’s ride is more than just a test of strength and endurance, it’s a testament to Specialized’s commitment to cycling, the environment, and worthy causes. This year Sinyard has donated $1,000 dollars for each participant on this ride, to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation – as total donation of $17,000 that everyone is welcome to add to as we pedal across California. To follow our progress and to get more information on this ride tune into pedalmag.com daily and check out our link to Specialized’s Riders club here and route maps here