The international organization, Best Buddies, brought top cyclists to Miami to participate in the 2014 Best Buddies Miami Challenge. On Friday, November 21, as an exclusive fund-raiser for the organization, fifty cyclists had the opportunity to ride with world champion cyclists in a 60-mile peloton with police motorcycle escort from the Marlins Park, across the Julia Tuttle Causeway, down Alton and Ocean Drive, across the MacArthur Causeway, down Brickell and over the Rickenbacker to Crandon, back to Miami and down to Matheson Hammock and then looping back through Coral Gables and Little Havana to the Marlins Park. Another challenge was the weather and wind conditions that Friday morning which made for a wet and less than scenic experience.
Mary Jane Mark greets husband Mark Losada and Anthony Shriver after the four hour challenge.The night prior, Mack Cycle & Fitness, presenting sponsor of the challenge, hosted a Q&A with the world-class cyclists: George Hincappe, Leandra Dave, Chrisitan Vander Velde, and Cameron Wurf, followed by a photo op and autograph signing. The meet & greet event was open to all cyclists.
Anthony K. Shriver is the Founder and Chairman of Best Buddies International, which he created in 1989 to foster one-to-one friendships between people with and without intellectual disabilities.
40 miles down and 20 to go, cyclists take a break at Matheson Hammock.
