Friday, May 27, 2011

Crossing Paths, Sharing & Passions

I met George @ Laguna Beach Cyclery which has recently become a part-time addition to my photography career. What better way to marry my two favorite passions in life! I learned a lot about George in our first meeting and was enthralled of his pursuit of riding 24 Hours of Adrenalin (mountain biking solo for 24 hours). It mirrored my pursuit as I'm preparing for the British Columbia Bike Race (a seven day mountain bike stage race). With both us having a purpose behind our ambitions, raising money for  non-profit organizations, there was a lot of great energy and the momentum started to pick-up. I offered to support George with my photography to be utilized in his PR and marketing. This has expanded to training together, helping each other with sponsorship acquisition and cheering each other on. We've been making incredible strides on a daily basis and we keep our arms open to receiving more!
 
George is raising money and awareness for Wheels 4 Life, which its headquarters are local here in Laguna Beach. He was inspired after seeing the first screening of the Wheels 4 Life documentary last October. Wheels 4 Life provides bicycles to 3rd world countries that lack adequate resources and transportation for people to make visits to the doctor, get groceries, attend school and visit families. This ran parallel with his experience: "The bicycle has been an integral part of my life. I've always had my two bikes, and there was a time when I lost everything and all I had was my clothes and the wheels to get myself around. It was what got me through that time and I'm grateful to be able to ride and want to share that awareness with others of those in less fortunate countries."
Other than cycling and raising money for Wheels 4 Life... there's also a plethora of inspiration and passion that yields to Georges character. He enjoys spending time with his fiance Jessica and six month old baby girl Rylee. Spending time in the ocean body surfing and stand-up paddling, eating and cooking healthy nutritious food, going to the farmers market,... and a hidden passion that I discovered the other day... playing the drums! "I've seen so much in my 13 years as a paramedic, Life is too short and I've got to live life to the fullest every day."

Join George on June 18th @ Laguna Beach Cyclery for a fund raising event benefiting Wheels 4 Life. Screening of the documentary is @ 8 p.m. Hope to see you there!

www.Wheels4Life.org




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