Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #32

Today's donation incentive demonstrates the camaraderie and support that exists among Christian Meier's Garmin-Transitions team, as more teammates step forward with donations in support of the Journey Home in Michael Meier's memory. Today its a true family affair as the Meyer brothers, Cameron and Travis, offer a jointly signed 2010 Garmin-Transitions jersey.

Both brothers are excel on the track and on the road. Travis Meyer won 5 World Track Titles as a U19 Cyclist at the World Championships and went on to win the Tour of Berlin and the Tour of Wellington as a first year U23 rider. He's also the 2010 Australian National Champion. Older brother Cameron is 2010 World Track Champion in the Points Race, Team Pursuit and Madison and 2010 Australian National Time Trial Champion.

Show your support of the Journey Home by making a donation now. For details of the gifts that qualifying donors are eligible for please visit the Donation Gifts page. 
 

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #31

Donation incentive gift number 31 is a signed jersey courtesy of Tim Johnson who has found success both in cyclocross and road racing. Most notably he was the first rider from the United States to stand on a UCI Cyclocross World Championships podium -- a bronze medal from the 1999 UCI U23 Cyclocross World Championships. On the road Tim's career has spanned from his 2001 start with Saturn through stints with Saunier Duval-Prodir, Jittery Joe's, Health Net and Ouch. Tim currently rides for United Healthcare presented by Maxxis where is one of the leaders of the team.

Show your support of the Journey Home by making a donation now. For details of the gifts that qualifying donors are eligible for please visit the Donation Gifts page. 

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #30

Today marks the 30th donation we have received from the world of pro cycling and we are awed at the support the professional peloton has shown to our efforts in funding a cancer education and early detection program in the name of Garmin-Transitions rider Christian Meier's brother Michael who lost a short, intense battle with brain cancer in September 2009. Today's incentive gift is courtesy of another of Christian's teammates on Garmin-Transistions, David Millar. David has won three stages of the Tour de France and two of the Vuelta a España. He was the British national road champion and national time trial champion, both in 2007. He is the only British rider to have worn all Tour de France jerseys and one of four to have worn the yellow jersey.

Show your support of the Journey Home by making a donation now. For details of the gifts that qualifying donors are eligible for please visit the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #29

Today's donour incentive gift is from Garmin-Transitions' Christian Vande Velde. The son of United States Bicycling Hall of Fame inductee John Vande Velde, Christian is talented on both road and track. He turned professional in 1998 with US Postal and rode for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Track Team in Sydney. Riding for Garmin, Christian finished 4th in the 2008 Tour de France, and 8th in 2009.

Make a donation to the Journey Home today for the opportunity to own this piece of cycling memorabilia. For details of this and all the donor  incentives please visit the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #28

Welcome to Monday's sneak peek. Today's incentive gift is courtesy of veteran pro cyclist Michael Barry. From Toronto, Michael has been described as "...the most-storied, most-accomplished Canadian professional cyclist ever, short of Steve Bauer." He's ridden for US Postal, T-Mobile, Columbia/High-Road, and now for Team Sky, and he has donated to the journey home a signed Canadian National Team jersey from the 2009 World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

Also an accomplished writer, Michael has written two books, countless articles for bike publications and essays for the New York Times. Look for his latest book Le Métier. What is métier?  A trade, field or activity at which one excels; one's forte. He writes with a compassion about being a domestique, the unsung working class heroes of the peloton.

UPDATE Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #9

Originally posted April 27: Today's special donation incentive gift is a signed jersey from sprinter Hilton Clarke. We first met Hilton during his days on Navigators Insurance and have followed his career to Toyota-United, Fuji-Servetto and his current team Bahati Foundation. Interesting Hilton fact: his father, a former Olympic Cyclist, introduced Hilton to cycling at the age of 9. UPDATED: Hilton has also had Rashan Bahati and Floyd Landis sign the jersey! UPDATE #2 Upon receipt of the jersey, we note that Floyd Landis HAS NOT signed it.

Check out the  Donation Gifts page for a listing of all available items.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #27

To end the week we are pleased to announce that we received word from Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Transitions, currently racing at the Giro d'Italia, that he will be donating a signed jersey to support the Journey Home. We are waiting for confirmation of whether he has forwarded a team jersey or the Red jersey of the Sprints Leader from the Giro. In either case, a great piece of cycling memorabilia from Tyler's breakthrough year.

Check out the Donation Gifts page for details on the jersey which will be updated as soon as we receive confirmed details.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #26

Another vintage jersey from our friend Henk Vogels; this is the leader's jersey he won in Stage 1 of the  Commonwealth Bank Classic in 1994, his last year as an amateur. He turned professional in 1995 with Novell and after a career that included a pair of top-10 finishes in Paris-Roubaix, second at the 2003 Gent-Wevelgem, wins at the USPRO road and criterium championships, an overall victory at the Tour de Beauce and an Australian national road title he retired at the end of the 2008 season to take on his current role as directeur sportif for the Fly V Australia Pro Cycling team.

Make a donation to the Journey Home today for the opportunity to own this unique piece of cycling history. For details of this and all the donor incentives visit the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #25

Another piece of cycling history for today's donation incentive. As the longest running professional team in American history, the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team disbanded in 2007 after its fourteenth year as a professional team. The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international insurance holding company that primarily underwrites marine insurance interests. This jersey from their last visit to BC Superweek in Vancouver includes the autographs of then national champions David O’Loughlin (IRE), who was both the Irish national time trial and criterium champion and Sergey Lagutin, the Uzbekistan National Road Champion. Other signatures include Hilton Clark (AUS) who won the 2006 USPro Criterium Championships, and Kristian House current (2009) British National Champion.

Check back tomorrow for our next incentive gift and check out all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #24

Today's donation incentive is a coveted spot in the RBC GranFondo Whistler. All 4,000 spots in the event have been sold out for several weeks now, even though the ride doesn’t take to the Sea to Sky highway until September 11. Event organizer GranFondo Canada has generously donated a spot in the ride to support the Journey Home's fight against Cancer. The entry will be auctioned to the highest bidder.

Check out the Donation Gifts page for auction details which will be posted in the next few days.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #23

Five weeks until the Journey Home ride from Seattle to Vancouver! Today's Donor Incentive is from the 2009 Swiss National Time Trial Champion; and no it's not Fabian Cancellara, it's Rubens Bertogliati. Rubens rides for Androni Giocattoli, and gained a lot of face time on Friday's 6th Stage of the Giro d'Italia when he was in a daylong break with Matthew Lloyd, in the first mountains stage of the Giro. Lloyd attacked his breakaway companion on Bedizzano climb 11 kilometres from the finish but Rubens heroically held on to to finish 2nd, nine seconds in front of the main group.

A professional cyclist for 10 years, Rubens wore the Maillot Jaune in the 2002 Le Tour de France for two stages, winning Stage 1 in Luxembourg, but for him the Swiss National Time Trial Champion's skinsuit which he has donated is the more significant win. In a note he sent us, he writes, "For me it was like a dream come true. Every time I ride the T.T. bike with the suit on, it reminds me of all the beautiful moments of being Swiss champion has given to me... I wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, but the White cross in Red is always something that remains inside you."

Make a donation to the Journey Home today for the opportunity to own this unique piece of cycling memorabilia. For details of this and all the donor incentives visit the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #22

To finish off the week, a donation from our friends at Uno Imports who will be exclusively bringing LiveStrong and Radioshack cycling apparel to Canada this Summer. Donate $500 to the Journey Home now and you will receive the only LiveStrong jersey available in Canada prior to the June 10th official launch.

Next week be on the look out for more great cycling memorabilia including a skin suit belonging to the Swiss National Time Trial champion. Also coming up; disappointed that you did not register for the RBC Whistler Gran Fondo in time? Stay tuned to find out how we can get you in!

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #21

Thursday's Donation Incentive is courtesy of Lance Armstrong. Lance has donated to the Journey Home an autographed Collector's Edition of his book Comeback 2.0. The book is a photo-journal of Lance’s return to professional cycling and goal to take his cancer message worldwide. The Collector's Edition includes 16 extra pages of photos and a unique black cloth cover featuring a gold-embossed title.

Check back tomorrow for the last incentive gift for this week and don't forget that you can see all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Preview #20

Wednesday's donation incentive gift comes from Henk Vogels Jr., who also donated another item we featured earlier this month. Henk Vogels Jr. represented Australia at various levels this one was from his Junior days on the National Team Pursuit team. As we know, Henk went on to a long successful career as a professional cyclist and is now directeur sportif of the Fly V Australia Professional Cycling team.

Check back tomorrow for our next incentive gift and check out all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Preview #19

Today's donation incentive is courtesy of the Astana Cycling Team, led by Alberto Contador and Kazahstan Alexandre Vinokourov. Vinokourov in his first full season since a comback from a doping ban has won the 2010 Liège–Bastogne–Liège and is currently leading the Giro d'Italia after a chaotic, crash strewn Stage 3 yesterday. Contador has had a quiet season thus far but expect to see the two time Tour de France champion going for the win again in July.



Check back tomorrow for an opportunity to own a piece of Olympic history from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. See all the available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Preview #18

Six weeks to the Journey Home and to kick off this week a donation from UCI Continental Team Type 1. Founded to inspire people with diabetes around the world to take control of their health through diet, exercise and proper health care, Team Type 1 is the world's only professional cycling team with a roster that includes riders who have Type 1 diabetes. The team recently recently met with the Giro d'Italia with hopes of competing in the Giro, maybe as early as 2011.

Check back tomorrow for our next incentive gift and check out all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #17

On the eve of the Giro d'Italia, Sean Yates, Director Sportif for Team Sky has donated a Team Sky jersey signed by the Sky Team for the 2010 Giro. The Team, led by Bradley Wiggins and Dario Cioni will include Michael Barry, Steve Cummings, Chris Froome, Mathew Hayman, Greg Henderson, Morris Possoni and Chris Sutton.

We're off for the weekend but check back Monday for our next incentive gift and check out all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #16

Thursday's Incentive gift is donated by Fly V Australia rider Phil Zajicek. A professional cyclist on the domestic scene for almost a decade, Phil has demonstrated that he can compete with Pro Tour riders as evidenced by his overall finishes at the last two Tour of the Gila: 2009 - 3rd behind Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong and 2010: fourth behind Levi Leipheimer, Tom Danielson, and David Zabriskie.

Look for Phil in the upcoming Tour of California where he will have another opportunity to prove he a Pro Tour level rider. Fly V, Australia's largest and most successful team aim to ride the Tour de France in 2012. Check back tomorrow for our next incentive gift and check out all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #15

Wednesday's donation gift is courtesy of Christian's and Svein's Garmin-Transitions teammate, David Zabriskie. David has donated a signed 2009 Garmin-Slipstream jersey. David is known not just for his race results - he's won stages in all three Grand Tours and in 2005 set a record for the fastest individual time trial in the history of the Tour de France (54.676 km/h) - but also for his off-the-wall personality and his multifaceted ventures (check out dz-nuts.com -protect your junk). Coincidentally, David and Svein are both 5-time and reigning Time Trial Champions in their respective countries.

Check back tomorrow for our next incentive gift and don't forget you can now see all available gifts on the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #14

We are awed by the generosity of members of the pro peloton, past and present, who are donating items for our special incentive gifts. Some of these have very special significance to their owners; today's is a perfect example - Gord Fraser's 2004 HealthNet National Champion's jersey.

Here's an excerpt from the note Gord sent along with the jersey: "The jersey has a little BC flavor and very special meaning to me... During my long career, I had never won a National Championship of any kind. When I traveled to Kamloops in '04 to contest the Nationals, it had double meaning and importance as it served for that year's Olympic Trials. The day before while pre-riding the course my hopes and aspirations suffered a severe set back.  Seeing the incredibly difficult nature of the course almost made me pack up and fly home right there; the course could not have been worse suited for me.  Adding to my self doubts while standing at the top of the climb, a team rolled up and started laughing that I had traveled all the way up there for nothing. I laughed with them of course but deep down I was all but defeated...Well, the race came and I rode one of the best races of my career.  Not only did I win and punch my ticket to Athens but I finally got to wear that National Champion Jersey... something I had dreamed of since I was 15 years old..."

Thanks for sharing with us Gord. Check out all available donation incentives the Donation Gifts page.

Special Incentive: Sneak Peek #13

Today, a real vintage jersey from our friend Henk Vogels, his 1997 Gan Team Jersey. Henk rode with GAN/Crédit Agricole between 1997-1999 and during that time became National Road Race Champion of Australia and finished in the top ten of Paris – Roubaix twice! He is now directeur sportif of the Fly V Australia Professional Cycling team.

Check out all available donation incentives the Donation Gifts page.