Dallas kidney recipient embarks on unprecedented, nationwide bike ride

by Josh Hixson of The Assignment Desk, DFW

Beginning on July 4 - the anniversary of his transplant - Dallas Man David Landsberg will bicycle in all 50 states.

DALLAS — Riding a bicycle for 50 miles in 50 states over 50 consecutive days with a single transplanted kidney sounds like a one-way ticket to the hospital. But don’t tell that to David Landsberg, a Dallas man who’s about to undertake the ride of his life.

“It is 50 days in a row, which is insane. It is a pretty crazy event on paper,” Landsberg said about the trek. “To do it 50 days in a row will be incredibly fatiguing. But 50 is also the number of lives you can positively effect being an organ donor.”

David Landsberg, middle, is joined by his transplant physician Dr. Lu, on left, and Dr. Sagalowski, his surgeon. The three hadn't been in the same room since his surgery more than 10 years ago.

From the moment Landsberg begins talking about the task, it's clear that his heart is about to write the proverbial check his body shouldn’t be able to cash. A kidney transplant recipient himself, the 52-year-old Landsberg takes the task of spreading the word about the importance of organ donation very seriously.

Landsberg’s ride will begin July 4, but it actually started about 14 years ago when a genetic disorder called polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, caused him to go into renal failure. From it, he lost both kidneys.

While waiting for a new one, Landsberg spent his days getting his blood cleaned via dialysis and then recovering from the nauseating treatments. “You only have a few good hours a week on dialysis,” Landsberg said. “But, I am thankful for it.”

Landsberg said there were days when his blood pressure would drop so low that he would crawl to the kitchen and chug a bottle of soy sauce to keep himself from fainting. Despite all of this, one day he got tired of “just surviving” and decided to bring awareness to those like himself who were living their lives waiting for an organ transplant.

Posted by Flickr user theSODA

David Landsberg

“I did the Tom Landry Triathlon as a publicity stunt with no kidneys and no spleen,” Landsberg said. “That began my whole campaign to spread the news about the need for donors.” After completing that feat in 1999, he followed that up with an Ironman Triathlon in November of last year.

The biggest challenge for Landsberg during his 50/50/50 race will be monitoring his nutrition levels while he rides in conditions he’s never experienced before, said his coach Debbie Leslie-Minier. Landsberg is on immuno-suppressive drugs designed to keep his body from rejecting the kidney, and he constantly has to monitor his blood sugar.

“I think what he's doing is amazing,” Leslie-Minier said. “The event in itself is incredibly hard. For anybody, [riding] 50 states in a row [has] a huge cumulative effect. And his system is already being taxed at a greater-than-normal rate.”

In addition to losing both his kidneys and spleen, Landsberg said he has also survived a bout with skin cancer and broken his back twice.

So why does he seem so determined to complete a 2,500 mile trek that will tax his already-depleted system? “I feel like I'm on a mission from God. ‘He’ wants to save lives,” Landsberg said.

Landsberg has also started a foundation called the Society for Organ Donor Awareness (SODA) to bring to the forefront statistics like these: An average of 18 people a day die waiting for an organ transplant.

“Ultimately, I want organ donation to be so common so that no one ever dies from needing a transplant and everyone is a donor,” Landsberg said. “Then I can shut SODA down.”