First ever ElliptiGO circling the bay

Malinda Walker, 45, of San Francisco, and Lamorna Brown Swigart, 50, of Fairfax, will become the first people to circle the bay on an ElliptiGO when they ride 230 miles around the San Francisco Bay on June 4-11, 2015. Their project is called “We Go for Good.”

They will circle the bay riding about thirty miles a day on ElliptiGOs. An ElliptiGO is an eye catching mode of transportation that combines running, cycling and the elliptical trainer; it is used by elite runners as a low-impact, high-performance mode of cross training. ElliptiGO users and Bay Area Olympians Shannon Rowbury and Magdalena Lewey-Boulet have already shown their support for this project. Rowbury comments, “As someone whose family has been touched by cancer, I’m thrilled to be a support of this project.”

The idea was born in May 2014 when Walker and Brown Swigart conceived a project to promote exercise and raise awareness of diseases while supporting charitable causes and having fun. “Training for this has changed my work out regime from walking the dog to truly meeting and exceeding the CDC recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise per week” said Brown Swigart.

Walker and Brown Swigart work at the University of California San Francisco in a breast cancer research group. Thus it was a natural that they chose to use their We Go for Good Circle the Bay ride to raise funds for breast cancer research and treatment. “With forty-five years of cancer research experience between the two of us, we have witnessed the positive impact of research and understand how necessary it is to continue to fund this work,” said Walker.

The ride will begin in San Francisco, go south to San Jose, head north-east through Pleasanton, up to Napa and Sonoma, and return south back to San Francisco. They plan to stop along the way each day at lunch time and the end of the day to talk with interested groups and promote their project. Specific location are confirmed in Redwood City, Pleasanton, Novato, plus a kick-off and return at UCSF, but they are eager to add more venues along their route.

In preparation for this ride they started off renting ElliptiGOs and riding twelve miles in an hour and a half. Since that inaugural ride in June 2014 they have purchased their own ElliptiGOs and ridden over 1,000 miles, including 60 miles over two days on President’s day weekend. “It’s wonderful that our passions are colliding to advance breast cancer treatment and improve our own fitness,” said Walker.

For more information on the We Go for Good Circle the Bay for Breast Cancer project, or to make a donation visit their website at http://wegoforgood.com You can also follow them on Twitter @wegoforgood, Facebook and Strava https://www.strava.com/clubs/WeGoforGood