Meet the 2006 Houston to Austin Team
Meet the 2006 Waves to
Wine Team
DUNAGAN PEARSON Dunagan grew up on big wheels. Actually, 1 big wheel and 2 small wheels. When his sister Meg got another pink bike with a white basket and brother Philip was fast enough to outrun the Big Wheel, Dunagan began cruising the streets of the South Hampton neighborhood of Houston on his Schwinn Predator BMX big boy bike. Someday he hopes to return back to his roots and become as "Rad" as his idols. For now, the open road from Houston to Austin is pretty much all he can ask for, and pretty much any bike will do. Or Big Wheel. |
|
ADEN BLISS When not raising money or making movies for the MS150, Aden works in finance, business development and operations at an educational non-profit in San Francisco. A 1985 graduate of John Adams Elementary School where he majored in Coloring Inside the Lines with a minor in Tetherball, Aden enjoys cycling, watching college athletics, going to concerts and telling stories about how great an athlete he was in high school. The 2006 ride will be his 3rd consecutive MS150. His personal records include a 56: 34.08 split on the 3rd leg of day 2 of the 2004 ride, and 15 orange slices at the 6th rest stop of day 1 of the 2005 ride. Aden's role-models include his family, Ghandi and Wilt Chamberlain. |
|
DANNY KRAMER He was an eight year-old half-Californian circus bicyclist, the youngest of a family act called the "Bicycling Kramers" of the Gardere Circus. Danny joined the act at a very young age, having been trained in bicycling from birth. While on tour on the MS 150, he overheard "boss" Rico Andrade, a well-known and feared tandem-lord, threaten the performers unless the circus's owner paid extortion money. The owner refused, and that night Danny watched in horror as his parents' bicycle frame snapped, sending them hurtling to their deaths, all while many of the MS 150's elite watched on. Young Danny felt responsible, because he didn't warn his parents in time. Shortly after the tragedy, the millionaire philanthropist Aden Bliss rescued Danny from an uncaring juvenile services system. Frustrated by the lack of attention from his new guardian and the mystery still surrounding his parents' death, Danny sneaked out of Bliss Manor one evening to solve the crime on his own - only to stumble into the team of Brokebike Mountain on a tandem bicycle, who were also investigating the murder. They succeed in revealing Rico´s complicity, but he died of a heart attack before his arrest. Seeing a reflection of themselves in Danny; first as a prodigious athlete with keen detective skills, and most importantly, that young Danny could temper compassion with a thirst for justice, the team of Brokebike Mountain not only revealed their identities as Dunagan and Aden to the boy, but also made the young orphan the offer of a lifetime: the chance to become their crime-fighting partner. Danny chose the name Sunscreen Dance, and his training began. |
|
DADEROO John "Daderoo" Pearson is without a doubt the heart of the WeFightMS.com team. An nine-time veteran of the Houston-to-Austin MS150, former Chairman of the TX Lone Star Chapter of the MS Society, and voted "Sexiest Lawyer in a Tutu" in last April's ride, Daderoo is coming to California for his 2nd Waves to Wine this year. Rumors from Houston are that Daderoo's trainer from Houston has him readier-than-ready for the September ride, and WeFightMS.com is prouder than proud to have him lead us up the hills. See Finish Line, Why We Ride, and Hope is a Good Thing to get a sense for what this man means to the team! |
|
MANDY LIEBSCHER Made in Germany. Born to ride. And to be wild. Mandy is riding in her 2nd MS150 of 2007, 6 months removed from the Houston to Austin ride, and she's ready for a little more punishment. Mandy rides for a family member back in Germany who is fighting MS, and for Daderoo, her future father-in-law. :-D WeFightMS.com is lucky to have her! (And so is Dunagan.) |
|
MEG PEARSON Meg learned everything she knows about biking from her dear old Daderoo.
From the first time she took the training wheels off her pink bicycle
with the pink handlebar streamers, to the first time she locked her
feet into real clip-in pedals, he was there to laugh at her when she
fell down. She hopes that she will not entertain Daderoo with too
many "laugh-ins" on the tandem bike she and Rahul have foolishly
decided to ride to Austin this year. |
|
RAHUL YOUNG Rahul fights MS so that he can have an excuse to wear spandex and to win the heart and grundel of his girlfriend Meg. He also embraces the opportunities for mid-ride karaoke, whether they be singing Bon Jovi in a driving windstorm, or butchering Metallica lyrics when he thinks that no one's watching. Rahul hopes to end his 16 months (and counting) of unemployment any day now and start saving the world again in San Francisco. For now, you can find him wrestling calves and wearing chaps in rural Oregon. |
|
BECKY CHAPLIN-KRAMER | |
CABE NICKSIC Why does he ride? Because it's there. |
|
GEOFF FRASER WELLESLEY FRASER Geoff and Wellesley bring their smashing good looks to Waves to Wine for the second time this year. The most attractive Texan-Canadian duo (can you tell which is which?) ever to hit the course in September, Team WeFightMS.com is so happy to have this power couple on board. |
|
RICO ANDRADE The Cobosce nods approvingly. |
|
MONIKA NAGY | |
RYAN PADREZ Ryan is riding in his first MS150 ride this year and fired up. He rides for his friends with MS and to feel the wind in his hair. Moving back to the bay area from Washington DC this past year, Ryan now spends his time working in San Francisco at a health policy start-up research center and hopes that medical schools might be impressed by his ability to ride from Napa to coast with no hands. |
|
MEREDITH KESSLER Pictured here standing on top of Mt. Elbrus (Europe's tallest point), Meredith is trading vertical distance for horizontal this year, putting aside her ice axe and crampons and trading them in for spandex and butt balm. go figure...we're pumped she's riding with us! |
|
JOHN CHASE
|
|
GRETCHEN ANDERSON | |
KARIN ANDRADE | |
PETER BERG | |
MIKE BERMAN | |
LAURA RAMIREZ | |
JENNY HOGAN | |
TIM HOLME | |
MARYAM KAMVAR | |
JEFF COOPER | |
ALEX PRICE | |
BRETT GARRETT | |
KIM PETSKA | |
ADAM SELIGMAN | |
NATE WHITSON | |
MAREN WHITSON | |
JOCELYN WHITSON | |
JEREMY SMITH | |
RACHELLE McMANUS | |
MIKE NICKSIC | |
PETER BERG | |
PETE MALONEY | |
PHIL FARHI | |
TYLER HUEBNER | |
JONAS KETTERLE | |
JIM TOMPKINS | |
ROB TOMPKINS | |
JESSICA COLLINS | |
SYDNEY JONES | |
More coming on board daily! Tell your friends! Join the Rolling Circus! |