{"id":4354,"date":"2011-03-28T15:29:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T21:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/?p=4354"},"modified":"2011-03-28T15:29:56","modified_gmt":"2011-03-28T21:29:56","slug":"universal-sports-announces-groundbreaking-new-original-adventure-series-take-a-seat-sharing-a-ride-across-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/universal-sports-announces-groundbreaking-new-original-adventure-series-take-a-seat-sharing-a-ride-across-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Sports Announces Groundbreaking New Original Adventure Series, \u201cTake A Seat: Sharing A Ride Across America\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Los Angeles, CA\u2014March 28, 2011<\/strong> \u2013 Universal Sports is excited to announce its groundbreaking new original adventure series, \u201cTake a Seat: Sharing a Ride across America\u201d, premiering with back-to-back episodes on Monday, April 4, at 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET\/PT. From the Santa Monica Pier in California through Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, across the Badlands in South Dakota and arriving in Central Park in New York, \u201cTake a Seat\u201d \u2013 the network\u2019s first-ever original series \u2013 will take viewers on a powerful and inspiring cycling voyage across America.   <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake a Seat\u201d is a 10-episode docu-series featuring British adventurer Dominic Gill\u2019s journey across the United States on a tandem bicycle with the help of 10 companions, all of whom suffer from a different physical disability. In each episode, Gill will bring viewers into the lives of these inspirational riders and their everyday struggles with disabilities that include muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson\u2019s disease. Full episodes will be available on Universal Sports\u2019 website as they premiere.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Universal Sports looks to add more adventure programming into our lineup, \u2018Take a Seat\u2019 is an important first step in this journey,\u201d said David Michaels, Executive Producer of Universal Sports. \u201cIt is a powerful series that combines adventure and inspiration. Each of the companions has an incredible story to tell and watching the evolution of each story provides a compelling tale of making the impossible seem possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Partnering with Universal Sports has given me an amazing opportunity to share this journey and the experiences of those who took a seat on my bicycle,\u201d said Gill. \u201cAs an adventurer, I was excited for the challenge of cycling across the United States, but to be able to do it while helping others overcome adversities and break boundaries is an honor. I just provided the seat; Ernie and each of my companions provided the inspiration.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>Gill originally developed the series as a tribute to Ernie Greenwald, a 70-year-old man from Lompoc, California battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia, whose lifelong dream was to cycle across the country.\u00a0 Gill met Greenwald on a cycling expedition in 2006 and was moved by his passion to live an adventurous life despite his physical condition. Greenwald was supposed to ride in the passenger seat of Gill\u2019s tandem bicycle on the cross-country tour, but had to cancel the trip in early 2010 when he discovered that his cancer had spread.<\/p>\n<p>Determined to keep the trip alive, Gill divided the journey into 10 stages and searched for physically disabled companions who shared Greenwald\u2019s passion for adventure and life. Each companion assumed anywhere from a one- to 25-day segment of the 104-day trek, during which over 4,000 miles were covered. \u201cHuckleberry\u201d, Gill\u2019s unique tandem bicycle named after Greenwald\u2019s dog, was donated by Hase, a German manufacturer, and designed with a recumbent front seat and secondary free-wheel mechanism that allows for weak or disabled individuals to endure long distances. <\/p>\n<p>Full episodes will be available on Universal Sports\u2019 website as they premiere. For bios, photos, complete viewing schedule or to find out more about \u201cTake a Seat: Sharing a Ride Across America\u201d, please check out www.universalsports.com\/take-a-seat. <\/p>\n<p>ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: <br \/>Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, LP, is the premier multi-platform media destination for Olympic-related sports programming in the United States.\u00a0 Universal Sports is available in 52 markets nationwide, including all of the nation\u2019s top 10 media markets and 20 of the top 25.\u00a0 Major world championship sports events aired on Universal Sports include track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons, figure skating, cycling and rugby.\u00a0 The network\u2019s website, UniversalSports.com, delivers an immersive user experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through interviews and blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year-round.\u00a0 For more information, please visit UniversalSports.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles, CA\u2014March 28, 2011 \u2013 Universal Sports is excited to announce its groundbreaking new original adventure series,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9012],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-outdoor-industry-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}