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Pedaling for Organs

Yosemite JV baseball coach joins team to bike across America

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Thursday, April 21, 2011, 5:22 PM)

On June 18, Coarsegold resident Tom Guevara, 55, will set off on a week-long, 3,000-mile, 12-state relay race across the United States beginning at the Oceanside Pier and ending at the finish line in Annapolis, Md. Guevara, along with seven teammates ranging in age from 27 to 55, is competing in the race to bring awareness and raise money for organ donations.

The team Guevara will be racing with -- "Organ Re-cyclers"-- is part of Team Donate Life, a group organized six years ago to raise organ donation awareness by participating in Race Across America. Race Across America is in its 30th year and draws cyclists from all over the world -- from Slovenia and Germany to Korea and Australia.

Traveling alongside the team will be a crew of 12 to assist wherever needed. Two of those crew members are Tom's wife, Elisabeth, and their daughter Elena, 25.

"He's always had that personality -- competitive, pushing the envelope," Elisabeth says. "Tom's job is to train and ride, my job is to fundraise."

While the team has a goal of raising $100,000 for organ donation, Tom and Elisabeth have their own personal goal of $10,000. Elisabeth is busy looking for donations, particularly sponsors.

"I'm a nurse and realize the importance of organ donation, and not only Ride Across America, but also donating to organ donation," says Elisabeth, who has seen first-hand the results of organ donation while working at Children's Hospital Central California. "As we've gotten involved and learned of people in the community that have received the gift of life it's pretty cool."

The Guevaras moved to Coarsegold from the Bay Area in 2004. Shortly after, Tom, a retired Cal Fire captain, underwent a bilateral hip replacement. No longer able to jog, he looked for a new way to stay in shape and took up cycling four years ago. His first bicycle journey, only an eighth of a mile, was hard, he said, but he kept at it. He now cycles 175 to 200 miles a week and does a double century -- 200 miles in a day -- once a month.

"The very first time I did the century, there's a point you think 'What am I doing?' but when you finish you have that sense of accomplishment," he says. "It's just a challenge to overcome."

Tom, who coaches the JV baseball team at Yosemite High School, trains six days a week and is not shy of hills. Just last week Elisabeth dropped him off at the corner of Road 200 and Highway 41 and Tom headed up Walker Grade for North Fork, on to Malum Ridge Road (274) and around Bass Lake to Oakhurst and Yosemite High School -- all in 2 1/2 hours -- just in time for baseball practice.

Tom, who has wanted to compete in Race Across America for four years, also competed in Climb to Kaiser (155 miles with a 13,500 foot elevation gain) and Furnace Creek (a four-person team relay covering 508 miles with a 35,000-ot elevation gain) through Death Valley.

Both Tom and Elisabeth are members of Fresno Cycling.

"When Tom did his first organized ride I went with him and saw all ages and sizes participating and thought it would be something great to do together," says Elisabeth, who also trains and plans to possibly race in the 2012 Race Across America event.

"We've just met some awesome people and they've introduced us to these events," she says. "We get to be outside and it keeps us young and healthy."

The success of organ donation will be witnessed first-hand on the race with Organ Re-cyclers' team members Elizabeth Kelly, of Folsom, and Stacy Baade, of Orangevale -- donor and recipient of a kidney. The two women and their families, now close friends, will be joined on the 3,000-mile race by teammates and husbands William Kelly and Eric Baade.

Teams will rotate on the race every 15 minutes depending on terrain and weather conditions, Tom said. Teams will cover 350-500 miles a day, racing non-stop, according to the race's website.

Racers raise in excess of $2 million annually for a variety of charities, the site notes, with more than 15 countries represented and racers ranging in ages from 13 to 75.

To make a tax deductible donation by check, mail to Team Donate Life, 3941 Park Drive, Suite 20-373, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 or visit www.teamdonatelife.com.