(Chalco Hills, Neb.) -- The red, white and black train of Team Kaos was out in force at the 2004 Life-A-Thon Saturday, May 22. More than a dozen team members showed up at Wehrspann Lake to help out with the annual fundraiser for organ donation awareness.

Two of the team's sponsors, The Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, work together to maintain a world-renowned transplant program. Team Kaos sponsored the event by contributing 50 percent of the cost of a Giant Cypress hybrid bicycle and serving as on-the-road technical support.

The first group of riders set out at 8 a.m. on the 45-mile course, which wound its way up Highway 370 to Gretna, then out Highway 31 to Schramm State Park. From there, the riders crossed the Platte River on the pedestrian bridge to the turnaround point at Platte River State Park.

Team Kaos riders paired up and spaced themselves among the cyclists to offer advice, assist with mechanical breakdowns and make sure no one got off course. With a gentle breeze and temperatures in the low 70s, the ride was a comfortable one, but not without a few incidents.

Before even leaving the bike path around the lake, one rider needed assistance with a loose crankarm. A second participant, riding a recumbrant, flatted just short of the turnaround point. And there were several more flats on the run-in back to Lake Wehrspann.

Team Kaos sponsor, Bike Masters, supplied team members with a variety of tubes to help fix the flats. And Dave's Decks' owner Dave Mortensen was just as quick driving the Bike Masters van as he was in his racing days zooming from one end of the course to the other.

Following four-plus hours in the saddle, the last of the riders to complete the 45-mile distance trickled up the long finishing climb and made their way to the complimentary pancake feed. Not completely satisfied with the training ride, several Team Kaos riders set out for an afternoon ride that better satisfied their need for speed.