2018 Tour de USA

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2018 Tour de USA 2018-11-22T09:48:31-08:00

2018 Tour de USA for Prostate Cancer – We did it!

September 23, 2018

September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and this year we set out to get some local media attention on prostate cancer and how men can beat it. That decision led us through some of the most beautiful scenery in the western United States.

We created the Tour de USA®️ road rally to bring awareness to America’s cancer survivors and the need for men and women to take the screening tests that are so important in finding cancers early when they are most treatable. The 2018 Tour de USA focus is prostate cancer and to add a little excitement we went after the world record for the longest road rally charity event.

The full details are on the event website at https://TourdeUSA.events. We’ll also be posting pictures and videos from the trip.

I began the trip with Dr. Nik Pooviah, founder and CEO of CancerAid, at his offices at the Cedars-Sinai medical innovation center in Beverly Hills, because of the important support CancerAid provides to the cancer survivor community.

I spent a career in the US Army and following every mission or training exercise we published an after action report to capture what went well, what needed improvement, and what just flat out didn’t work at all. So, below is our report on the 2018Tour de USA®️ for Prostate Cancer Awareness.

Here are the statistics:

  • 23 days
  • 7 western states
  • 5,386.2 miles
  • 118.4 hours in my Mazda Miata
  • Two live TV interviews
  • Prostate cancer awareness information provided to 62 media outlets touching 9.5 million men
  • More than 175 one-on-one discussions with men about prostate cancer
  • Participation in the world’s largest motorsports competition – SCCA Solo Nationals in Lincoln, NE – where I employed “Porta Potty Marketing” techniques*
  • Participation in Miatas at Laguna Seca, one of the largest annual Mazda Miata gatherings in the world
  • Added 379 users to ProstateTracker.org
  • Gave 1,357,142 men the information they need to find their prostate cancer early when it’s treatable
  • Potentially saved the lives of 79,831 men and kept them with their families

These are pretty big accomplishments and we are super happy. We want to thank our sponsors and supporters and all of the other prostate cancer organizations for their efforts in publicizing the importance of prostate cancer awareness.

A special thanks goes out to the two television stations that did interviews with us: FOX4 in Kansas City, MO, and K2TV in Casper, Wyoming.

And lets not forget our sponsors, donors, and partners:

What Worked and What Didn’t Work So Well on this Year’s Tour de USA®️

The Route – ↓

I was way too ambitious. In my desire to reach as many men as possible, the daily routes turned into 7-10 hours runs down an interstate to the next stop. Not a very attractive offer to anyone that wanted to join us for the ride.

GPS Tracking – ↑

We used a SPOT Gen3 tracker from GlobalStar to post our location in real time – actually, a 5 minute delay. People could follow us live on the Internet and we had a whole bunch of people that did. Our SPOT Gen3 is now a permanent part of our Tour de USA rally kit. Thanks GlobalStar.

Live Streaming – ↓

My goal was to do at least two live streams daily, but this didn’t work out. I always seemed to be in a location where the signal was too weak to stream to Facebook and I never quite got the YouTube thing down. So, missed opportunity, but I’m going to work on this.

Meeting People and Talking to Men About Prostate Cancer – ↑↑

There’s just nothing like taking a road trip in a bright yellow car with cancer awareness stickers all over it. Some people just sort of hid their eyes, buts lots of people came right up and asked me what I was doing. “Glad you asked. Do you know that one in every six men will have prostate cancer? But they can beat it if they find it early?”

The Bottom Line – ↑↑↑

  • We reached a lot of men with the prostate cancer early detection message
  • We know we’ll save a bunch of lives over the next year. We just won’t know who.
  • We met a lot of wonderful people.
  • We had a great time.
  • I’m pretty sure we set that World Record for the Longest Charity Road Rally. (I’ll keep you posted)

Join Us for 2019

We’re beginning our plans for the 2019 Tour de USA. We’re working in a stop – we hope – at SCCA Time Trial Nationals at the National Corvette Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, followed by a run to Key West, Florida.

2019 is going to be an adventure you don’t want to miss. Complete the form below and join our information list.

Safe travels!

Robert

[recaptcha]

I hope you’ll join us for the 2019 Tour de USA adventure. We don’t know the final route yet, but it’s going to include Key West, Florida. We’re going to stop at all three bars that claim to be Earnest Hemingway’s favorite bar.

I survived two tours in Vietnam and prostate cancer, and one of my life’s missions now is to prevent as many cancer deaths as I can. I’m looking for 400 men and women to join me in that mission. #Fearless400.

Are you in?

Warm regards,

Robert

Prostate Cancer Survivor
Class of 2003

Cancer Journeys Foundation CEO Robert Hess

Robert Hess, Steve Hentzen,

Fox 4 Newscast Kansas City, MO

2019 Tour de USA for Breast Cancer is On The Way

Days Until the Start of the 2019 Tour de USA for Cancer Survivors
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