Sandpoint bikers race for autism research

SANDPOINT — About 200 bicycle riders took off in teams off from Oceanside, Calif., on Saturday, on their way to the finish line at Annapolis, Md., in one of the most grueling ultra-marathon race events ever devised for two wheels.

They were preceded earlier in the week by about 50 solo riders, both women and men, all of whom have elected to test the boundaries of physical endurance in a coast-to-coast competition called Race Across America.

Four Sandpoint men — and their team member from Madison, Wis. — are watching this year’s race with keen interest. Exactly one year from today, they will be riding for all they’re worth in this same cross-country contest. The local riders already are training hard, according to team member Mel Dick, who made his own, 10,000-mile solo ride across the U.S. in 2008.

An adventure that took Dick five months to complete will be wrapped up by the race team in approximately one week, if all goes as planned.

“Race Across America is considered to be the toughest bicycling endurance event in the world,” he said. “The Tour de France is about 2,000 miles long and they finish it in 21 days. This race is half again as long — 3,000-plus miles with no days off — and most riders complete it in eight days or less.”

Fighting autism

The riders hope to parlay both a national sponsorship and an upcoming fundraising event into a seven-figure nest egg for an organization known as Autism Speaks. The cause came to light when the team’s sponsor, Laughing Dog Brewery, suggested it as a possible recipient for any money raised.

“One of our employee’s grandson is autistic and we saw that there’s not a lot of funding available for it,” said Fred Colby, who owns the brewery with his wife, Michelle. “Autism is one of those issues that’s out there, but nobody knows a lot about it.”

That’s true even for the parents of autistic children, said Lisa Barth, whose 11-year-old son, Jackson, has the neurological disorder. On a daily basis, the Barths live through what she described as “the complexity of autism.”

“It’s not a set diagnosis or a set list of challenges that affects everyone in the same way,” she said. “There are a lot of scrambled wires, so it’s variable from day-to-day — and all 24 hours within that day. In our situation, Jackson’s education is a complex thing that really requires a team approach.”

Which is why Barth has become part of the broader cooperative that makes up Team Laughing Dog. Working together, the group has a goal of raising $1 million for a national organization called Autism Speaks, which works to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders and provide money for research. It’s a lofty goal, especially since all Race Across America teams combined have averaged a total annual figure of $1.5 million for the causes they rode to support in recent years.

Shared inspiration

Lisa Barth said she is “inspired and excited” by what the local riders hope to achieve when they hit the road next June. Mel Dick, who already knows what it feels like to bike across America, said he and the rest of his team take even more inspiration from this mother whose family never gets a break from its battle with autism.

“After I heard Lisa’s story, I just knew I could never look her in the eye if we didn’t go through with this,” the rider said. “Race Across America is a 24/7 thing while the race is going on — once you start, you never stop.

“But when the race is over, we’re done,” he added. “When you have a child with autism, you’re involved forever.”

The original idea to form a team and join the cross-country race in 2011 took shape when a few local bicyclists made a ride from Sandpoint to Jackson Hole last summer. On their route, they met a rider who had done Race Across America and what he had to say stuck in their minds.

“It started out as a running joke around the campfire,” Dick said. “Then it turned into ‘Let’s do this.’”

Straight shot

Team Laughing Dog will be made of up Mel Dick, Jacob Styer and Wayne Pignolet from Sandpoint, along with Al Lemire of Madison, Wisc. Sandpoint’s Dean Kyriakos will be on hand as an alternate rider, while Chris Bier will act as crew chief for the riding team.

Unlike the 2008 solo ride, Race Across America will entail a series of all-out, 100-mile legs from each rider in succession until they reach the finish line at Annapolis.

“When I did my ride across America, I rode about 95 miles a day and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells along the way,” Dick said. “In this race, you have to go as fast and as hard as you can for the whole time you’re on the bike.”

Last year’s winning team completed race Across America in a little over five days. Team Laughing Dog hopes to finish in seven to eight days.

During that time they will help increase visibility for a local employer that now distributes its liquid wares in nearly half of the contiguous United States, as Laughing Dog owner and team sponsor Fred Colby travels along to promote the Sandpoint-based beer company.

“We’re now distributing in 20 states and the race goes right through a lot of them,” Colby said. “Along with the charity side of it, Michelle and I thought it would be a good way to get our name out in some of those places where we distribute.

“I told the team that, while they’re out riding, I’ll be asleep in a hotel room along the way,” he joked. “But I’ll be thinking about them.”

Best medicine

The kickoff event for the local bicycling team’s fundraising efforts will be the “Stand-up for Autism” comedy show, scheduled for June 25 at the Panida Theater. The show will feature three headline comedians, with the main act being Jimmy Shubert — a well-known funnyman to viewers of his Comedy Central special. The evening’s entertainment also will include a post-comedy concert by the popular local band, Tennis.

Dean Kyriakos, who is helping to organize the show, recalled that there were a few raised eyebrows when it was first proposed.

“Some people thought that you shouldn’t inject humor into a serious subject, but we thought just the opposite,” he said. “You need a sense of humor in situations of adversity.”

Jackson Barth’s mom couldn’t agree more.

“My parenting has become a spiritual practice for me and you really learn the value of lightening up,” she said. “You can never have enough humor. One of my most powerful parenting tools is ‘tickle torture.’”

Tickets for the June 25 “Stand-up for Autism” comedy show at the Panida are available at Laughing Dog Brewery, Outdoor Experience, Downtown Crossing and Sandpoint Online for a $20 donation to Autism Speaks. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.

For information on autism research or the Race Across America event, visit: www.autismspeaks.org or www.raceacrossamerica.org