Sponsors

Although I am a very rich fellow, my wealth is not of the material sort. Like most people I work for a living and I am only able to take the time off from work to do a long ride the the Great Divide Mountain Bike Race thanks to the generosity of a variety of friends, customers and various contributors. I have created this page to thank the many generous people who are helping me race in the 2005 Great Divide Mountain Bike Race.

My greatest supporter has always been my lovely wife Christine. Her love, patience and humor are the single biggest power source any man could ever hope for. Even when my travels take me down desolate mountain paths I know that she is always with me. Most of the money I am raising will go to making sure that Christine and my sons will continue to have a roof over their heads and food on the table even when I'm off riding in places with no roof and no table!

My employer, Sammamish Valley Cycle, is generously allowing me to take a month off in the busiest time of the cycling year so I can race from Canada to Mexico. The folks at the shop are wonderful people who understand that bicycles are more than just machines, they are the machines we ride in pursuit of our dreams. It's a privilege to work with these fine people and to call them my friends.

The good people at Seattle Bike Supply help keep your local bike shop stocked with the things that keep us all rolling. Among other things, they make a bike called a Redline Monocog. The Monocog is a good, honest, steel single speed mountain bike. As a bike shop employee, I could have gotten a pro-deal on any number of fancier bikes but I'm not a very fancy guy. Redline builds nice bikes for guys like me and I'm very grateful that they gave me a nice deal on my Monocog. Heck, even at full retail it's a terrific bike for the money.

Much of what I know of long distance cycling I learned on rides with the Seattle International Randonneurs and Randonneurs USA. These randonneur clubs are staffed by dedicated volunteers who who put in countless hours supporting the idea of self-sufficient long distance cycling.

Seattle International Randonneurs

Alex Wetmore maintains servers in the basement of his home that house phred.org, a valuable source of bicycling knowledge. The iBOB list, the Touring list, the SIR list and many others are housed on the phred machines and the internet is a better place for it.

A fellow named Tim Rangitsch in Rapid City South Dakota runs a neat shop called ACME Bicycles. I've never met Tim but he tells me my stories have inspired him to do some randonneuring and he sent me a nice care package and contribution.

I've used Eko Sport's Power Grips for many, many years. They are a very simple and reliable way to keep your feet on the pedals.

Although I've noted many times that I am not a nutritional role model, I do eat energy bars now and then. The folks at Clif Bar make tasty bars out of real food and they also help people like me go out and have adventures. They contribute a lot of money to many very good causes and they are one of those companies that restores one's faith that nice guys can be successful in business. If you want to read a good book, pick up a copy of "Raising the Bar" by Gary Erickson and Lois Loretzen.

A very bright guy named Henry Shires makes a terrific, lightweight shelter called a Tarptent. In researching shelters for my Divide Ride, it quickly became clear to me that the Tarptent was the best choice for a light, simple, bug-proof shelter. Henry knows about adventure because he's one of those guys who is out there having adventures. And when he's not out in the woods, he's making great stuff so the rest of us can have a better time out there.

Unlike many bike magazines that seem to exist just to run ads telling you to rush out and buy the latest SUV, Dirt Rag actually runs real articles by real people who love bikes, who ride their bikes, who think about stuff and write good stories. Heck, I've never talked to an editor who was more jazzed about a story than Michael Browne was when we talked about my Divide Ride. If you want to get a feeling for the soul of Dirt Rag, check out Mike's story at http://www.dirtragmag.com/print/article.php?ID=78&category=features

Finally, I'd like to thank all my grass-roots supporters. These folks have either donated in some way or bought something from my online store. I'm truly grateful to:

Meade Anderson, Anonymous, Allison Bailey, Shane and Chantel Balkovetz, Timothy Beachy, Robert Belcher, Peter Bell, Lance Bermudez, David Berry, Gary and Patti Blakley, John Blish, Donald Boothby, Gary Boulanger, Andrew Brenner, Tom Brett, Emily Briant, Joseph Broach, Paul Carolan, Norman Carr, Ken Carter, Malcolm Cattermole, Ray Coffey, Marcus Coles, Frank Cordell, Jane Culliton, Paul Cunningham, Amy Cutshall, Chloe Cutshall, Scott Cutshall, Georgia Daniels, Roy Drinkwater, Mike Duncan, Bill Dussler, Orin Eman, Edward Eybel, Larry Fieman, Russ Fitzgerald, Jim Foreman, Tom Forhan, Ray Foss, Frederick Camden Fox, Catherine Fritze, Christian Fritze, William W. Gibson III, Bill Gobie, Dan Goldenberg, Maurico Gonzalez, John Gorham, Jim Gourgoutis, Stephanie Gragnini, Neale Green, Brian Griffith, Paul Gross, Chris Haas, Brian Hafner, Mike Hagburg, Beth Hamon, Steve Hampsten, Rob Hawks, Brad Hawkins, Chuck Hawkins, Gary Haynes, Tell Hermanson, Trent Hill, Sein Hlaing, Ben Hockenhull, Synth Hoffman, Harth Huffman, Bob Hufford, Kelly Iniquez, Paul Johnson, Adam Kanczula, Bill Karow, Joe Keenan, George Kendrick, Reed Kennedy, Nathan Kiger, Kurt Kleinschmidt, Goon Koch, Michael Kraft, Ken Krichman, Jeff Kwapil, Elizabeth Lemieux, Len Lescosky, Moishe Lettvin, Tony Licuanan, Peter Liekkio, Matthew Liggett, Jeff Loomis, Brian Loudon, Kevin MacAfee, Pat Matson, Mike Matteson, Max Maxon, Matt Maxwell, Tom Mayer, Peter McKay, John Meier, Wayne Methner, Geri Molitor, Byron Morton, Jon Muellner, Fred Mulder, Toshihiko Murata, Lee Nau, Robert Nemeth, James Noble, Rudolph Norvelle, Brian Parker, Elena Perez, Jeff Perry, Mr. & Mrs. Palmer K. Peterson, Marc Pfister, Amy Pieper, Faye Pieper, Robin Pieper, Wes Pieper, Elton Pope-Lance, Jeff Potter, John Prelock, Richard Ralls, Joe Ramey, Michael Rasmussen, Dave Read, John Resta, Michael Richeson, Jim Robbins, Philip Roberts, Jim Rupert, Ray Sachs, Tarik Saleh, Craig Sandvik, Stephan Schiavo, Tom Selsley, Michael Sherman, Josh Shoaf, David Shook, Peter Simon, Robert Sloan, Rebekkah Smith, John Speare, James Sprague, Ken Stagg, James Stein, Adam Stritzel, James Thill, Mark Thomas, Dana Thuecks, Brad Upton, Doug Van Cleve, Mark Vande Kamp, Ray Varella, Brigette Vazquez, Everett Volk, Tim Walls, Reagen B. Ward, Darcy Warn, Carla Waugh, Alex Wetmore, Susan Williams, Duane Wright, Dustin Wood, David Yount and Greg Zaborac.

If anyone reading this would like to contribute to my Great Divide Race effort your support will be very greatly appreciated. My Cafe Press store features various T-shirts and other items. Proceeds from the sale of these items don't go to any noble cause like saving the rain forest or building a hospital in Nepal but if you want to help a man race through a mighty pretty part of this world and you need a shirt or a messenger bag, please check out my online store.

If you don't need anything from my store that's fine. If you still want to contribute money directly to my Divide Ride, that's really great. I accept Paypal or you could send a check to me in care of the shop where I work.

Checks in any amount can be sent to:

Kent Peterson
c/o Sammamish Valley Cycle
8451 164th Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052

Thanks,

Kent Peterson
Issaquah WA USA