SKLZ Team Members Tim Norris (left) and John Sarkisian (right)

John Sarkisian CEO of SKLZ is participating in his second Million Dollar Challenge bike ride for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Yesterday's ride was epic. It rained nearly the entire time with the heaviest rain in Monterey as we were trying to have lunch outside under the easy ups. Miserable. Because we were riding through farm land we were covered in mud. Dangerous and slippery all day, however, we had very few accidents. Attached is a picture of me with mud covering my face. I am not exaggerating when I tell you I had to wash my hair three times before I could get out all of the mud.

This day reminded me of why we ride. As there was so much mud covering my gear I was unable to get in and out of my pedals. This separated me from my group and  I was left riding with one other cyclist. We were 10 miles from the lunch break and the rain was coming down hard. If it had not been for the following I would have considered dropping out. This is when we came along to David Lee in his hand cycling riding by himself. Given the fact that he is just a couple of inches off the ground you can imagine what he looked like as a result of the rain and mud. We rode with David to the lunch break and during that time I kept saying to myself, this is why we ride and support the Challenged Athletes Foundation. David was an inspiration and motivated me to finish the ride.

Today was a different story. Perfect weather and unbelievable scenery. I left late and rode by myself for the first 15 miles meeting other riders along the way. I ran into Tim and we took the attached photo. 114 miles felt easy compared to yesterday. Doing the ride for the second time is definitely an advantage. I am a stronger rider and more importantly smarter. I know not to attack every hill and flat. I feel great even after nearly 300 miles in three days. We are hoping the weather forecast improves as it looks like more rain is in store for the riders.

Need any training gear? Help out the Challenged Athletes Foundation by purchasing on SKLZ.com now! 10% of all purchases from now until 10/26/10 will be donated to the Challenged Athletes Foundation.