Kent man to ride from California to Colorado to raise money for charity

By Ruth Stoffel
Special for the Kent Reporter

Steve Stoffel is not your typical 53-year-old. Unless you count riding 860 miles across four states, through deserts, and over mountains and more mountains as “typical.”

Stoffel of Kent is the last-minute addition to Team RVLution, a four-man team that will ride relay-style in the annual Race Across the West (RAW) from Oceanside, Calif. to Durango, Colo. on June 13-15.

RAW will be Stoffel’s second endurance ride of his lifetime. He completed the Seattle to Portland (STP) Bicycle Classic last year and was training to finish that race in one day this year when the RAW opportunity called.

“One guy had to drop out due to his busy work schedule. And the ride to raise money for the MORE Project was in jeopardy if someone didn’t step in,” said Stoffel.

The MORE Project, founded by health and wellness company MonaVie, seeks to change lives of families living in poverty in Brazil, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Stoffel’s fellow Team RVLution-mates from across the U.S. have been training for RAW since October.

While Stoffel had been training for STP, he recently volunteered for RAW and has had to rev up his training schedule.

“I have had to accelerate my training rides significantly and include a lot more hill work and interval training,” said Stoffel. “I now ride a minimum of five days each week, target a minimum of 300 miles each week and include resistance training and cardio at the gym seven days a week.”

An endurance ride like RAW is a personal achievement for Stoffel. A little over two years ago, he weighed in at almost 300 pounds.

“I could not climb a flight of stairs without taking a break,” he said. Stoffel said his doctor wanted to put him on blood pressure and diabetes medication. But it took being denied life insurance that finally forced him to make a change.

“I started to use MonaVie RVL ™ and joined a local gym. My first 10-minute workout on an elliptical trainer felt like I had run a marathon. I didn’t quit, though.”

Stoffel has since lost close to 100 pounds and has kept it off for over a year.

“I am riding in the Race Across the West to give to the poor families in Brazil,” said Stoffel. He and his family have sponsored a 13 year old boy who lives in the slums of Rio de Janeiro with his mother and four younger sisters. When a friend asked why he would do a ride like RAW Stoffel said, “Any time that I feel my legs tightening up or my back starting to hurt, it cannot possibly compare to the hunger pangs and emptiness that some of these children in Brazil feel every day.”

Team RVLution’s goal is to raise $100,000 for the MORE Project and finish RAW in 55 hours. To donate, go to www.facebook.com/RVLutioncyclingandfitness.

Ruth Stoffel, wife of Steve Stoffel, lives in Kent. She is an Emmy award-winning journalist and former producer for KIRO-TV, a best-selling author and currently a certified nutrition coach and network marketer.