We’re almost at the end of March, which means Dan Bilzerian needs to ride from his home in West Hollywood to Las Vegas in order to win a bet that’s now estimated to be worth $1.2 million. Earlier this week I wrote about how Dan upped the ante on his $600,000 bet with hedge fund manager/high stakes poker player Bill Perkins by doing a side bet for his Gulfstream jet with Rick Salomon, of Paris Hilton sex tape fame.
According to a lengthy feature by The Hollywood Reporter, Bilzerian is sidebetting with all sorts of people. He also is offering people at his gym $10,000 to ride with him. Guess what? No takers:
With the start fast approaching, Bilzerian reports that there are millions of dollars of side bets riding on his ride. He says that Perkins and poker pro Rick Salomon (probably best known for his Paris Hilton sex tape) collectively have more than $2 million at stake on his success or failure. Bilzerian says he offered $10,000 to a bunch of guys at his gym if anyone would do the ride, but no one took him up on that offer. “I’ve noted that the people who are betting on me to finish it are people who don’t know shit about cycling,” he says, “and people who ride are betting that I have no shot.”
I can’t believe people passed him up. It must be nice to be a gym rat who is so rich that you literally say no to free money for a bike ride. I’d take that $10k in a heartbeat, even if you know it’s a suicide mission.
Then again, I’m poor.
Meanwhile, he actually is taking the training pretty seriously. He put in a couple of centurion-rides in. Via:
After a few weeks of serious training, he rode 100 miles in one day last weekend. “I actually thought I was going to hate these bikes, and I probably will afterward, but it’s actually a cool sport and it’s taught me a lot about conditioning,” says Bilzerian. “But I also am learning that after four or five hours in the saddle that shit begins to hurt.”
…
Bilzerian’s plan is to ride two or three hours at a time and take breaks. To more clearly understand his cardiovascular limits, he underwent a lactic threshold test at a bike shop in Los Angeles and plans to keep his heart rate under 125 for most of the ride. But he’s aware that he’ll be entering a dark unknown. “I went to this fancy bike shop and met all these pro-seeming riders and the most anyone there had ever done was 140 miles,” he says. “I have to do more than that on back-to-back days. It’s hard to be confident because I know the second hundred miles is going to be so much harder than the first, and the third is just going to be so brutal.”
And now that he’s Bros with Lance Armstrong, he’s even doing the legit biker Bro thing and shaking his legs. Of course, this required buying fancy new toys:
In keeping with the traditions of serious cycling, Bilzerian has shaved his legs. When asked how high he shaved his legs, Bilzerian laughs. “All the way. I already laser from my ass up. I actually bought a laser hair removal machine so I can do it in my house.”
Something tells me the ladies who keep Bilzerian’s company in West Hollywood might be using said hair removal machine. Hey, no shame in saving a couple dollars by not going for your weekly European Wax.
Can’t wait to hear when this goes down. You’re on the clock, Dan.
LIVE LOOK at Dan biking to Vegas:
*Jokes*
