Welcome to Our Blog!

Dear Breckenridge Brewery,

We are Team Avalanche, a small but elite team of superior athletes and beer lovers. Team Avalanche is a cycling team founded by Darren Johnson, Jordan Cook, and Mark Bland. We would like to extend an invitation to Breckenridge Brewery to become the primary team sponsor and honorary member of Team Avalanche.

You are probably asking yourself at this point why we call ourselves Team Avalanche. We have given ourselves this iconic name because we have ridden the avalanche, and survived. The three of us were in Colorado in early January 2007, skiing at Winter Park and Keystone Mountain, when on our return trip coming through Berthoud Pass our van was struck by what was said to be the largest avalanche in Colorado to cross a road in recorded history. The impact was like being hit by a freight train. Our vehicle was thrown over the guard rail and rolled 10-15 times down the mountain landing about 300-350 feet from the road. While most of us received only cuts and bruises, Darren sustained the brunt of the impact and broke four ribs. We were all taken to the hospital and released later that day.

Our story has been carried on numerous national media outlets. Twice we were interviewed on Good Morning America, and were guests on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, not to mention our story being told on various other international (BBC), national, and local television and print news sources. Needless to say, we have quite a story to tell. This summer, Team Avalanche is riding in RAGBRAI – an annual week-long cycling event across the state of Iowa, put on by the Des Moines Register. (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa – www.ragbrai.org ). This year is the 35th annual ride, and is the longest, largest, and oldest bicycle ride in the world. There are about 10,000 registered riders each day, including cycling legend Lance Armstrong.

Last year was our first year and our team rode under a different name. However, adding avalanche survival to our team resume has inspired us to rename ourselves as Team Avalanche. Last year we kept a daily online journal of the day?s events and uploaded pictures. We experienced over 1,000 hits during the week of RAGBRAI and the site was a daily highlight to many who frequented the site ( http://avalanche.needssalt.net/2006/ ). Check out our entries for each day. Then try visualizing the pictures including us toasting a hard day?s ride with a round of cool and refreshing Avalanche Ale, sporting fashionable Avalanche Ale jerseys.

When we decided on the team name change we went searching for appropriate jerseys to accommodate the new name. Being men who enjoy a good quality brew that we are, our hearts were thrilled to find that Avalanche Ale from Breckenridge Brewery had cycling jerseys. We would be pleased if you would consider sponsoring our arduous journey across Iowa. RAGBRAI is a highly publicized and very visible event from which we can work together to connect with other cyclists about refreshing Avalanche Ale. As we share our story (and perhaps a cold bottle of suds after a hard day’s ride) with our fellow riders and the press, we will surely speak of our avalanche experience. Hopefully Breckenridge Brewery and Avalanche Ale can be along for the ride!

Cheers!

~Darren Johnson, Mark Bland, and Jordan Cook