The Behemoth are a Bunch of Rad and Crazy Dudes!
Don't let the evil minions that are scattered throughout their games fool you, the kids at The Behemoth have very big and generous hearts.
The mastermind developers behind Castle Crashers (soon to be released on PlayStation Network) and Alien Hominid, have agreed to match Sony's matching donations towards my ride, meaning that every donation up to the first $2,500 will actually be tripled with the help of both Sony and The Behemoth.
Having raised $2,000 thus far (minus matching donations), that leaves an additional $500 to go and $1500 on the table. If you can spare just $25, that is a total of $75 that will go to help end AIDS.
So check out the blog post at The Behemoth's site, get your donation in within the next 4 days, and while you're at it, go ahead and buy a Behemoth game or two on your favorite gaming device.
http://devblog.thebehemoth.com/?p=2662

by Nathan Bosia on Wed, Jun 02, 2010 @ 1:06 PM

 Permanent Link   No Comments 

Feats of Strength
As you know, I'm an amateur when it comes to this whole balancing yourself on a two-wheeled contraption while propelling it from point A to point B thing. As an example, on a recent training ride, I had someone ask what kind of biker I was -- road or mountain. I told her I was a "ride down to the corner store" kind of biker.
I'm also not good at preparation, preferring to live life by the seat of my pants. This includes postponing any training for a 7-day, 545 mile bicycle ride until about 5 weeks before the event.
5 weeks ago, I made the first ride of my life over 15 miles long. Since then, I've beefed up my last three weekends with a 50 mile ride over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Capitola and back, doubling that 7 days later with a 100 mile ride throughout the South Bay, and most recently tackled a Category 4 50 mile with a climb into the Alpine Dam and to the top of Mt. Tam.
Not too bad in just a few weeks.
Now I just have to do all of that back to back to back, + 4 more ridiculous days of riding.

by Nathan Bosia on Wed, Jun 02, 2010 @ 1:03 PM

 Permanent Link   No Comments 

Minimum Achieved
Thanks to the $1500 donated from family and friends thus far and Sony's matching donation offer, I've reached the minimum fundraising amount of $3000 to qualify for my ride in a little over two weeks time. I'm stoked. So very happy that I could help out and equally thankful that you've decided to join me.
And now that I've gotten the hard part out of the way, I'm off to apply some more Chamois Butter.

by Nathan Bosia on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 5:05 PM

 Permanent Link   No Comments 

Nearly $2,000 in just over a week!!
I am humbled. The support that I have received over the past week+, in both dollars and words of awe and encouragement, has been overwhelming.
If I'm honest, I'm still a little frightened at the prospect of tackling 745 miles on my bike, but the kindness of my family and friends has been nothing short of inspiring. I'm working hard to prepare for the trip, meet all of your expectations of me, and save a few lives along the way.
I've got 60 miles ahead of me on Saturday, followed by 5 straight days of 15-20 miles a day to prepare my butt for a week on a bike seat.
With almost $1000 donated, and Sony's match, that leaves me just over $500 in donations from qualifying for my ride. If you have not contributed, any spare change that you have laying around will help.
Thanks everyone! Wish me luck!

by Nathan Bosia on Fri, May 14, 2010 @ 11:07 AM

 Permanent Link   No Comments 

545 miles? Piece of cake!
Sure, I only started training yesterday. And yes, my legs feel like jello after a short 30 miles on flat land, which is only half the distance of the shortest day of the 7 back-to-backs I'll be riding on the way to L.A. And of course I've waited until today to start any fundraising...

No doubt. I've got this one in the bag.

I've resisted making the commitment until this weekend, but now, I am all in. So much so in fact, that I would advise against sending me invitations to any dinners, family outings, communions, or any other event over the next 5-6 weeks where skin-tight biker shorts and a florescent green "don't run over me" tank are not appropriate attire.

by Nathan Bosia on Mon, May 03, 2010 @ 7:28 PM

 Permanent Link   No Comments