The Companions in Courage Foundation.
The Companions in Courage Foundation was originally founded by NHL Hall of Famer, Pat LaFontaine in 1997. They are recognized as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and eligible to receive donations. In just the last five years their efforts have gone to raising funds to build interactive playrooms in hospitals throughout North America. Through innovative communications tools, these playrooms replace the isolation of a hospital with a connection to family, friends and celebrities during each hospital stay.
Charity Bike-a-Thon: Turning Training Hours into Donation Dollars
On Saturday October 24, 2009 Fraser Bicycle and Fitness hosted their first annual Companions in Courage Bike-a-thon in their CompuTrainer cycling lab located in the lower level of their multisport store. With over 40% of riders experiencing the high-tech bike ride for their first time, the underground training facility was no longer a secret. Riders had the option of riding with a team and splitting the prize or going solo and attempting to cover the most miles on their own.
All riders donated on an hourly basis to Companions in Courage (CiC), a charity geared towards building interactive playrooms for sick children in hospitals throughout the United States. These rooms, or more formally named, Lion’s Dens have brought smiles to the faces of children who lost hope in the idea of having fun during their stay at the hospital. With Microsoft on their side, CiC has connected children with family members, celebrities, and children in other hospitals dealing with similar issues. When they enter the room, they forgot about their sickness. Fraser Bicycle & Fitness and Team Fraser have held an annual Golf Outing to raise funds towards building a Den in a hospital in a local hospital. This year’s Bike-a-Thon also helped with guarantee that a room will be built in a local hospital in the near future. Athletes trained hard on Saturday to help make the Bike-a-Thon a success.
Team Fraser’s own Dave Kutcher rode morning, noon, and night covering just over 100 virtual miles (101.57 to be exact). His journey took him from a hilly course in Hawaii to an IRONMAN course in Florida (which he has actually raced) and finishing with 40 miles in sunny California. He chose to donate his $300 Fraser Bicycle and Fitness Grand Prize towards Team Fraser Lab Rats triathlon team that trains primarily out of the cycling lab.
Kutcher did accomplish an incredible feat, riding an impromptu century on legs that were supposed to be “taking a break”, but there was also had a fleet of IRONMEN athletes riding for 4 to 5 hours continuously. Their diligent preparation for their upcoming race was tested on Saturday as they rode hard and practiced nutrition by consuming gels, goos, sports drinks, energy bars and plenty of water. Our IRONMAN athlete Ben Borsenik rode 81.17 miles and grabbed third place. His prize of 5 free rides in the lab (a $150 value) will be nice to have when the snow starts falling and he starts craving the thrill of a good training day.
Team Infinite Multisport made an appearance in the lab during the morning hours. Jay Zammit, a Team Fraser racer, brought fellow Infinite members Paul Leonard and Lori McColl over to the lab to show them the training facilities that made him so fast! As a team they covered 95.30 miles. They won nine free rides in the lab (that’s three each!). It will be nice to have Team Fraser and Infinite members training together. The friendly rivalry acts as a motivator in the races; hopefully it will have the same impact while training.
The end of the night was the best representation of the how a diverse group of athletes can train together and in one place at different levels of intensity. With “Don’t Stop Believing” playing in the background, one could look around and see all types of riders: a Team USA triathlete and his 15 year old son, a coach and his racers, a brother and sister, a mother and son, triathletes, a mountain biker, a cyclocross racer, a casual rider, everyone came together to support a great cause. In the cycling lab at Fraser Bicycle, you never know who you’ll ride next to, but know that you’ll always start and finish your race side by side.