Edelman Financial Executive Bicycles Across U.S. in 39 Days - Raises $100,000 for Charity

Release date: 7/25/2008

Mark Bagley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mark Bagley
703-227-0541; mbagley@RicEdelman.com

FAIRFAX, Va., Aug. 1 ? A top executive at Edelman Financial has achieved a long-held personal goal: bicycling the entire width of the United States, coast to coast.

Rey Roy, 46, Edelman?s managing director of financial planning, departed San Francisco on Tuesday, June 17. Thirty-nine days and 3,700 miles later, Roy arrived in Virginia Beach on Friday, July 25.

While the concept of the trip began as a personal quest, it became a major charity fundraiser. Roy raised $100,000 for two charities: the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

?I?m delighted that I was able to stay on schedule and complete the ride in 39 days, but I?m even more thrilled about the money we raised for charities which benefit both wounded veterans and our young people in communities across the country,? said Roy. He was greeted at the end of the ride by 20 children from three local Boys and Girls Clubs. Current fundraising totals for both charities are reported on Roy?s blog, where he also posted photos and accounts of each day?s travel: http://ReysRideAcrossAmerica.blogspot.com/ .

Roy made his remarkable trip during a four-week paid sabbatical leave, which is a benefit enjoyed every six years by all employees of Edelman Financial, the company founded by financial author and radio host Ric Edelman. ?The sabbatical lets our employees fulfill a dream that normally would not be possible or, at best, delayed until retirement,? said Edelman.

Roy?s vow to complete a coast-to-coast bike ride was quoted in Edelman?s 2002 book, Discover the Wealth Within You (page 279).

The trip of exactly 3,672 miles took Roy over the Sierra Nevada, the Great Basin in Nevada, and the Rocky Mountains. He found the biggest challenge to be Carson Pass, altitude 8,650 feet, near Lake Tahoe. The most enjoyable moment of the trip for Roy was his conquest of the 11,312-foot Monarch Pass in the beautiful scenery near Telluride, Colo.

Roy was supported during the journey by a team consisting of his wife, Joan, and daughter, Megan, who traveled in a recreational vehicle. A few family members and co-workers joined the support team for portions of the trip.

An avid cyclist for 13 years, Roy followed a six-month bike, diet and technical exercise regimen under the direction of a professional long-distance cycling coach to prepare for the ride.