Wednesday, April 30, 2008

D-day.

Hey Yal,

It is I, Zac Attack. I am in the hotel room with my mom in Hilton Head. It's 1 am on May 1st . I will be starting in 6 hours and I cannot sleep. She had a meeting down here so she gave me a ride to the coast. She's also my mama and wants to see me off. Man, she is so nervous and it runs in the family. I have been increasingly more anxious up to this point. It has affected my ability to do anything effectively. I have been checking and rechecking everything from my route, my media contacts, my gear, and my websites. One thing I noticed is that I have not really said why I am doing this ride.

I decided to do this trip for numerous reasons. What compels me most is the desire to make a signifcant impact on a serious situation in America. How many times in conversation have you heard of someone having leukemia, lymphoma, and Hodgkin's disease. If you ask any person, chances are that they could tell you 2 people who have been affected by a blood-related cancer. Besides blood-cancers, 1 in 4 people will die from any type of cancer. I've also heard a lot of amazing stories from living in Memphis, where people come from all over the world to get life saving treatment for the cancer-related diseases. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helps these folks get the best treatment by providing funds for research and for patient services. They provide the same amount of support for both of these aspects in the attack against cancer. It's like a two pronged prongy stabby thing that can attack the crap out of the these blood related cancers.

I am also doing this for my aunt and my grandpa. They are both survivors of lymphoma. Honestly, I do not feel as though I supported them enough through their times of need. Of course, I thought of them constantly, but I dont feel as though it was enough. I wish I had called them more frequently. I wish I had researched what they were going through. I wish I cheered them on in their fight. So, I hope that you will support anyone you know with cancer with love and interest bc it is worth it. I think they will appreciate the thought and energy. I hope my family does. I am riding for my aunt, my grandpa and all the Americans affected by blood related cancers.

Today I will ride from Beaufort, South Carolina to the Middle of Nowhere ,South Carolina. I plan to stay in an RV park which is located about 15 miles away from Olar, SC. My ride today will be 70 mi. long. This is Day 1 and tommorrow I will ride from the RV park to my home town of Aiken SC in order to promote my cause at the good 'ol lobster races. I should go now but I will post about day 1 and 2 when I get home.


Thank you everyone for your interest and support! Here's my fundraising site. I appreciate anthing you can do.

Love,
Zac Attack
Zac

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Zac Attacks Cancer Blog

Hey Comrades,
This is my blog site for my Zac Attacks Cancer coast to coast, self-supported, charity bicycle ride to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As you may know, I will ride my bicycle alone from coast to coast in an effort to raise 15K dollars for the Society. The trip will last 80 days and I will cover 4,167 miles. I will not have any support vehicle or hotel rooms to stay in. I will camp, cook, bathe, and live completely off of my bike. I will network via a mixture of the internet, local media, and established personal contacts. I hope to educate whomever I encounter about the state of blood-related cancers in North America and inspire them to give to this well-established and worthy Society.
This site will show you what I am going through on my trip through my own words and images. I will not be able to update it everyday but I will keep a journal and transcribe my experiences into the Information Superhighway. I will also put my links to my online donation site. How about now? You can easily donate funds via this website:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntmds/ZacAttacksCancer



I know that it is a weird site address, but this site is easy enough to use. Keep posted for a link to my myspace page. I know myspace can be lame, but I think that it's a great networking tool.
Please email zholford@gmail.com or call me at 803 270 4700. Feel free to ask me any questions about my trip or just to give me an inspirational message. Ill need it.

What I am up to now: I am readying my websites and contacts before I leave town. I am also taking care of all that other "real world" stuff like getting out of my apt, getting a new license, and maintaining my car. I am also kinda stressin' about getting my websites together in order to get the most amount of people checking out what I am doing. My route is planned but I need to make cue sheets that give me directions each day. I also need to focus on finding more free places to stay out West. Church and firehouse lawns are always great to camp out on. Paying for a campsite stinks. I hate paying $20 just to put my tent down on cigarette butt riddled gravel in some crummy campground. Please let me know if you have any contacts along the way who can help me.

Well, its getting late and i have to do a tad more work. Ill holler at you, whoever you are.


Yar mateys!