I apologize up front for the Facebook-esque post. I’m generally pretty private here on CB, but I think it’s worth cracking open the curtain this time.
A year ago my brother and I thought up a crazy adventure, and we started it last Thursday. We are riding our bicycles across the state of Arizona from the border of Mexico (Nogales, AZ) to the border of Utah (Page, AZ). Today we are in Flagstaff for a rest day, and we will finish the last two stages tomorrow and Friday. Overall the trip will be 530 miles and 25,000ft of aggregate climbing spread out over 6 stages in 9 days. If you’re on Strava, bm me and I’ll show you what we rode. Our plan is to cross Utah next year and Idaho/Montana in two years to complete a route all the way across the western US from south to north.
Then last October 2020, my brother’s best friend Tyler Tieman (and the younger brother of my best friend) passed away unexpectedly at age 36 from a rare autoimmune disease. He was one of the most genuine, selfless, happy people I've ever known. He left behind a wife and six adorable daughters age 11 through 2. He had health and life insurance to cover necessities, but not enough to meet college needs for all of his girls. We decided to honor Tyler with our ride and give people an opportunity to contribute to the girls' college fund in an Arizona 529. If you're blessed enough to be able to help, please consider a donation no matter how small.
Thank you CB for reading this and all of the service and advice you've given over the years. Please start another post to discuss life insurance, because it's important.