BICYCLE RIDER PEDALS HALF-TON LOAD IN NATIONWIDE TRAINING, CHARITY TRIP.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - After riding his bicycle pulling a 1,000-pound trailer up a steep incline of The Old Road, David Michael Anthony took a break Monday at the top of the hill - one of thousands he's pedaled up on his cross-country road trip to train for the Olympics.

By the time the former mechanical engineer reached the Santa Clarita Valley on Monday, he had biked about 10,140 miles through 38 states since he started his latest trip on April 13, 2001.

Anthony, 35, has traveled more than 40,000 miles through 49 states with what he calls his Olympic training sled, giving his legs a workout with each push on a pedal.

``I figure I can always go back to being an engineer. I'm not married, I have no girlfriend and no kids,'' Anthony said, recalling his grandmother's advice: ``'Honey, you don't want to be my age and have regrets.'''

Seeing the well-conditioned athlete - 6 feet 2 inches, 208 pounds - bike up a steep hill with 1,000 pounds in tow, viewers find it hard to imagine him bed-ridden and a mere 138 pounds.

But after a fall onto an iron-rod table about five years ago, he suffered a compression fracture in his spine and was unable to move his arms.

``I gotta get out of here,'' he said he thought at the time.

He did in 1998.

He put his BMW sedan in storage and began his first ride from Newport Beach across the United States to Florida in 23 days.

Anthony has ridden through rain, sleet, snow, wind and temperatures topping 100 degrees - Death Valley in the summer - and plunging to 55 degrees below zero - in Anchorage, Alaska, in the winter. He even rode through Texas during El Nino storms.

He started getting publicity for riding with the trailer that carries two bikes, dozens of spare tires, two tents, a sleeping bag, freeze-dried food, canned tuna and shakes, energy bars, vitamins, water, a knife and Gatorade, among other things.

Anthony decided to put all the attention to good use and raise money for homeless shelters and programs to feed the hungry.

Companies including Hawaiian Tropic, SoBe juices, Kinko's, Cliff Bars, McDonald's, Midas, Planter's peanuts and Valencia-based Answer Products, which provides his shoes and gloves, have signed on, and about 411 charities are benefiting from his ride.

``Hunger sees no boundaries, so why should I?'' he wrote on his Web site about his grueling journey. ``The cool thing is I'm raising awareness and helping out people I don't even get to meet.'

He hopes to raise as much as $10 million for charities by the time he rolls into New York City in September - a feat he believes is possible with all his publicity in radio, television, newspapers and magazines.

On Friday he taped ``The Tonight Show'' with Jay Leno, and he will end his trip at ``The Today Show'' with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric.

``I'll endorse anything,'' he said, proudly. ``I'm just a billboard.''

When he began riding, Anthony began recording everything in a journal on his laptop computer.

His days usually start around 5 a.m. and run about 10 hours. He has a regimented stretch routine. He takes 75 vitamins in the morning with a 4,000-calorie shake and one gallon of water. He swallows 35 vitamins in the afternoon and 75 more before he goes to bed - all to power him up for pedaling 75 miles per day, on average, depending on the type of road and weather he's tackling.

His training week includes two three-day cycles. He calls one his power day, the next his easy day and the third his cardio day. On Sundays, he goes to church.

``You have to have some kind of a soul doing something like this,'' he said, smiling.

Anthony mapped out his trip so he hits as many hills as possible, and he tries to get from one hotel to another, but sometimes that's just not possible.

``When I was going across the Mojave, I just pitched a tent,'' he said. ``There are days I go to bed and say, ow, I hurt, but I just think this has been a good training day.''

The ride that tested his physical endurance the most was up 14,324- foot-tall Mount Evans. With grades of 15 percent to 18 percent, the last four miles uphill took him four days.

Except for a few run-ins with animals, including snakes and wolves, and one theft, Anthony said he has felt confident.

``I've got a cell phone, a satellite cell phone, a police walkie-talkie, a 12-gauge shotgun and a Bible,'' Anthony explained. ``I figure in any situation, one of them has got to work.''

When he completes this trip in September, he plans more training and racing to make it to the 2004 Olympics.

``I've been hammering this 1,000-pound trailer (up to) 100 miles a day,'' he said. ``I think four years of that has prepared me to compete on an elite national level.''

He projects his cycling career will end in seven years, but he has a few ideas of what he may later pursue.

Meeting 38 governors has made him consider a future in politics, and he might parlay his journal entries into a book about his riding, which has been life-changing.

``It makes you a better person - the fact that I'm following a boyhood dream,'' Anthony said. ``Every day is like climbing Mount Everest.''

HOW TO HELP

To make a donation or to read about David Michael Anthony's journey, go to www.davidmichaelanthony.com.

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(1 -- 2 -- color) David Michael Anthony puts his food bag onto his trailer after a lunch break in Santa Clarita at the top of a hill he pedaled up Monday with 1,000 pounds loaded behind his bike. He has been pedaling across the United States.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

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