RAGBRAI Team Project 3000

Congratulations Team!

A team of a dozen cyclists -- including a blind U.S. Paralympics track cycling national champion -- pedaled 442 miles across Iowa as part of RAGBRAI to raise awareness of and funds for Project 3000. The team raised nearly $40,000 in support of the University of Iowa-based effort that is seeking a cure for rare childhood blinding eye diseases.

RAGBRAI 2009: Ulterior Motives

Paul Rosenthal, who we met in the previous post, is the leader of the Team Project 3000 pack.  He's serious about the mission of Project 3000 and he's serious about raising funds and awareness on behalf of families living with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).

We LOVE the fact that during his week long journey, he took the time to share with us the highlights of his trip.  His sister-in-law trusted him enough to give him room on her blog, I never signed up for this..., to chronicle his trip.  In so doing, Paul has shared some great stories, some really fun photos, and consequently we now know that as serious as he is about Project 3000, he is equally serious about... pie...

Read on - you'll enjoy these posts -

Photo description: Not sure what Paul is sitting on, but he's sitting at the end of a table (outdoors), bicycle helmet still on, tasting one of 10 pieces of pie in front of him.

Meet Team Rider: Paul Rosenthal

Photo: Paul being interviewed by KCCI.  He made the evening news!

University of Iowa News Release...The idea to form a RAGBRAI team to support Project 3000 originated with Paul Rosenthal, a Washington, D.C., attorney who is chair and a founding member of an advisory board to the UI Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration, of which Project 3000 is a part. The center is a unit of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

"I have had the privilege over the years of dealing professionally with numerous Iowa businesses and government officials, and as a result I have developed a great respect for this wonderful state," said Rosenthal, who manages the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Kelley Drye and Warren. "One of Iowa's, and indeed the nation's, great treasures is the Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration at the University of Iowa. Because I have seen first-hand the enormous talent and dedication of the center's scientists and staff to their mission to find the causes, treatments, cures and preventions for inherited eye diseases, it is only natural for me to want to express my appreciation and gratitude by riding across the state on RAGBRAI."

Day 2

The toughest day of climbing by far, the team was phenomenal and had great stamina. Paul, our fearless leader, led them in a unified effort to try 9 different types of pie.

It started to rain, fortunately after our tents had been set up. We're off in search of food and then the Nadas concert.

Everyone's backsides are hurting but our host stays have been GREAT; today's includes cookies and a padded toilet seat. The hospitality and kindness Iowans have shown is overwhelming.  Yesterday Shannon even had someone push her up a hill; literally.  We have been blown away and have loved the conversations we've been able to have to share the reason we're riding.

Thanks to all for the support! 2 days down. 5 to go.

Day 1

Day 1:

Apparently we were all fooled by the fun and cause of riding that we forgot about the actual biking. But, we made it through some killer climbs to the mecca of all meccas: the Farm Brothers breakfast burritos.

The team was able to meet Clark Rachfal and two rider friends of his. Clark has LCA and is a paralympic athlete. After dinner with the team and a recounting of the day's funny memories, we hit the hay in preparation for a long day in the saddle

View from our Council Bluffs host home

Photo description: beautiful green pastures with trees, barn and pond in the distance

Ready to Ride

Twitter Link: Ready to Ride

RAGBRAI Team Project 3000, or at least part of it, has gathered together to stand behind the Budget rental truck that will accompany them during the week.

Meet Team Rider: Mitch

Twitter Link: Mitch and his Huffy. He may be at the end of the pack.

Photo: Mitch is loading his bike, a Huffy, into the truck. He's leaning on his bike and is grinning at the photographer.

Blind cycling champion to lead UI's Project 3000 RAGBRAI team

University of Iowa News Release

July 17, 2009

Blind cycling champion to lead UI's Project 3000 RAGBRAI team

A team of a dozen cyclists -- including a blind U.S. Paralympics track cycling national champion -- will pedal across Iowa next week to raise awareness of and funds for Project 3000, a University of Iowa-based effort seeking a cure for a rare childhood blinding eye disease.

Team Project 3000 will ride 442 miles, from Council Bluffs to Burlington, as part of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). The team's inspirational leader is Clark Rachfal, a U.S. national medalist in track cycling who has been losing his sight since childhood and who has Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), one of the blinding eye diseases that Project 3000 seeks to cure. Rachfal, whose competitive cycling activities have been supported by the Verizon Foundation and by generous colleagues at Verizon, rides a tandem bicycle with a sighted partner.

The mission of Project 3000 at the UI is to find and offer genetic testing to the estimated 3,000 Americans with Leber congenital amaurosis, which causes severe vision loss or blindness and typically strikes during early childhood.

Genetic testing helps confirm the diagnosis, discover the genes responsible and lead to treatments and a cure. UI ophthalmology researchers are committed to this approach to finding the causes, cures and eventual prevention of LCA and -- through what they learn during Project 3000 -- other blinding eye diseases. Key partners in Project 3000 include Chicago Cubs star Derrek Lee and Boston Celtics CEO and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, both of whom share a desire to find treatments and a cure for LCA.

The idea to form a RAGBRAI team to support Project 3000 originated with Paul Rosenthal, a Washington, D.C., attorney who is chair and a founding member of an advisory board to the UI Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration, of which Project 3000 is a part. The center is a unit of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

"I have had the privilege over the years of dealing professionally with numerous Iowa businesses and government officials, and as a result I have developed a great respect for this wonderful state," said Rosenthal, who manages the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Kelley Drye and Warren. "One of Iowa's, and indeed the nation's, great treasures is the Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration at the University of Iowa. Because I have seen first-hand the enormous talent and dedication of the center's scientists and staff to their mission to find the causes, treatments, cures and preventions for inherited eye diseases, it is only natural for me to want to express my appreciation and gratitude by riding across the state on RAGBRAI."

As of July 17, Team Project 3000 had raised $35,000 in gifts for the LCA research and treatment effort. Each team member set up a personal online giving page to collect gifts from family, friends and colleagues via the University of Iowa Foundation's Web site, http://www.givetoiowa.org.

Overall, more than $1.5 million in gifts has been raised through the UI Foundation for Project 3000 since the project's inception in 2006.

"We are closing in on effective treatments for LCA, and the support created through this RAGBRAI cycling team will bring us even closer," said Edwin Stone, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UI Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "Paul Rosenthal's efforts to bring our team together, and Clark Rachfal's involvement, are both greatly appreciated."

For more information on the Team Project 3000 effort, or to make a gift, visit http://www.uifoundation.org/project3000/. To learn more about Project 3000, visit http://www.project3000.org. Those interested may also follow the team's progress on Twitter at Twitter@Project3000.

The UI acknowledges the UI Foundation as the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university.  For more information about the UI Foundation, visit its web http://www.project3000.org.

STORY SOURCE: UI Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, Iowa 52244-4550

CONTACTS: Mitch Beckman, UI Foundation, 319-467-3402, mitch-beckman@uiowa.edu; or Joseph Schmidt, UI Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UI Hospitals and Clinics, 319-384-8529, joe-schmidt@uiowa.edu

PHOTOS:  A high-resolution of Clark Rachfal and his tandem bike partner, Dave Swanson, is available at:
http://www.uifoundation.org/news/2009/images/jul-ragbrai-hires.jpg

A web-quality image also is available:
http://www.uifoundation.org/news/2009/images/jul-ragbrai.jpg

PHOTO CUTLINE: U.S. Paralympic national track cycling champion Clark Rachfal (left), who is blind, and riding partner Dave Swanson, will ride across Iowa July 19-25 as part of Team Project 3000, which is raising awareness and funds for a University of Iowa effort to cure Leber congenital amaurosis, an inherited blinding eye disease.

Team Rider: Clark Rachfal

Clark Rachfal has been tandem racing with the U.S. Paralympic team since 2006. 

Promoting Project 3000 on RAGBRAI seemed a natural fit, said Rachfal, who rides the back of a tandem with his sighted partner, David Swanson, as his pilot. It’s the first time Team Project 3000 has ridden RAGBRAI, but this will be Rachfal’s third consecutive trip across the state on the back of a tandem.

“It’s local; it’s homegrown,” he said. “I think it will do a lot of good in creating awareness.”

The above quote was taken from the Cedar Rapids Gazette.  Read more: Blind cyclist, RAGBRAI team combat eye condition

Our own "Team Project 3000" riding in RAGBRAI

Dear Friends of the Carver Lab:

We are excited to let you know that members of our Lab, along with friends and supporters of Project 3000, will be hitting the road to raise awareness for Project 3000 and research of blinding eye diseases!

A group of individuals will be cycling in one of the biggest annual events in Iowa!  On July 19-25, “Team Project 3000” will be riding 472 miles across Iowa as part of the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI.  The event is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. 

The team includes U.S. Paralympics Track Cycling Champion, Clark Rachfal.  Clark has been legally blind for most of his life and was recently diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).  He is excited about riding with the team to raise awareness for the research that is taking place at the University of Iowa and elsewhere.

Team Project 3000 has raised nearly $30,000 in donations in support so far!  If you are interested in supporting the Team, please visit www.uifoundation.org/project3000

The team will be “tweeting” from the road, as well as posting pictures and video on-line, so friends and family can keep up to date on the conversations and money that is raised along the way.  Follow the team's progress during RAGBRAI on Twitter@Project3000 <mailto:Twitter@Project3000>  or via any RSS feed via www.twitter.com/project3000  

Please feel free to share this email with friends and family.  Together we can work as a TEAM to help spread the word on behalf of these riders dedicated to Project 3000.

Sincerely,

The John and Marcia Carver Nonprofit Genetic Testing Laboratory
University of Iowa