What's more difficult: One of the most grueling bike races on the planet or raising $1 million for charity?
Vancouver resident Gavin Romanis, 36, is about to find out as the rookie cyclist competes in the La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica on Nov. 11.
The four-day mountain bike challenge takes riders from one end of the island to the other while forgoing any modern comforts like smooth, paved roads or flat terrain.
Forty per cent of the entrants end up crashing out of the race, but Romanis - who has no previous mountain biking experience before this year - is determined to avoid being one of them.
"I've gone from zero riding to training 400 kilometres a week," he said. "I've been extremely lucky, I've had a lot of support and feel physically and mentally tough."
Training with Canadian Olympic team riders will do that, but his TweetMyRide charity drive is a whole other ballgame, and perhaps an even greater challenge.
Using the race as a focal point, Romanis has teamed up with 10 charities, including Oxfam Canada and World Vision, to generate followers, and hopefully donors, on the social networking service Twitter.
The goal is to have a million followers donated a dollar each, but getting there has been an uphill climb.
"It's is a modern way to get the word out there, but we're a long long way from getting there," he said. "I think the biggest problem is that the campaign started right at the tail end of a recession, it's been extremely difficult."
So far, the drive has raised just over $10,000.
But he's not out of the running yet, Romanis hopes that the @tweetmyride community continues to grow online, especially once live updates from the race begin flowing in.
For more information, visit www.tweetmyride.com.
