Team CSC Cyclists Ride to Benefit Best Buddies International

Participants in the 2006 Best Buddies Challenge

On September 8, Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie and Lars Michaelsen led more than 25 CSC employees, clients and partners on a 100-mile charity ride down the stunning Pacific Coast Highway, from Chateau Julien Wine Estate in Carmel, Calif., to Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

About 900 riders — including 30 intellectually disabled Buddies — participated in the fourth annual Audi Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle. Besides CSC, sponsors included T-Mobile, Wachovia and Accenture, along with many others.

Committed to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, "Best Buddies is largely about jobs, socialization and education," says Richard Fries, marketing director, Best Buddies Friendship Rides. "But what we’re really providing is all that stuff that goes into a normal life that is not institutionalized — like birthday parties and walks to the mall. All the things we take for granted."

Participants chose to ride a 100-, 62- or 15-mile course. One hundred percent of the money raised goes directly to fostering one-to-one social support relationships, as well as helping to secure and maintain employment — with Best Buddies serving as the liaison between employer and employee.

			Related Information: Learn more about CSC’s cycling sponsorships. Read about Dave Zabriskie and Lars Michaelsen. Learn more about Best Buddies International. Contact us and let our experience help you produce results.

"As opposed to other corporate outings, this is a phenomenal team-building experience for corporations," says Fries. "It’s really powerful to have a situation where the strongest person in your organization — in terms of rank or position or authority — can become the weakest person on the road. It’s a one-day boot camp that tears down cubicle walls, especially in large corporations."

Zabriskie — the third American to wear the yellow leader’s jersey in the Tour de France and the reigning American Time Trial Champion — and Michaelsen — who twice placed fifth in Paris Roubaix and won the inaugural CSC Invitational in Washington, D.C. — joined other VIPs in leading the ride. Honorary Chairperson and California First Lady Maria Shriver rode 15 miles on a tandem bike with a Buddy. Her husband, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, attended the Friday night reception.

Once all the riders reached Hearst Castle, they were treated to hot showers, professional massages, dinner and entertainment by ’70s rock band Cheap Trick.

Founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver in 1989, Best Buddies International is a global nonprofit with six formal programs — Best Buddies Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e-Buddies and Jobs. The ride down the California coast raised $3 million.