The GOYAR: Continental Divide Mountain Bike Route Riders

Neal H. Levin    Michael Compisi






Neal H. Levin
This project is an incredible milestone for me on many fronts. As an Animal Welfare enthusiast and expert, I have sought ways to address the trend of widespread abuse towards animals and our environment while at the same time recognizing the importance of commerce and industry. Most recently, I founded and am the CEO of The Skan Project, finding profitable solutions for businesses choosing to embrace sustainability and the humane treatment of animals. Coupled with the experience I've gained over the past 15 years as principal of Neal H. Levin & Associates, P.C., a Chicago law firm concentrating in commercial litigation representing major business concerns, my mission is to apply my expertise to help improve conditions for wild and domestic animals while improving the bottom line for those that wish to adopt this philosophy and way of existence. I also want to teach young lawyers about this philosophy as well as about more civil, practical and professional practices in the legal industry. So I sought and received an appointment as an adjunct professor at DePaul University College of Law teaching Animal Law. Philanthropically, I work with various, conservative humane organizations and am General Counsel to the Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control. I lecture on this topic and others, I've been a member of various speakers' bureaus and am currently a member of the Chicago and American Bar Associations. I completed my undergrad work at the University of Denver with a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology and, after a short stint as a professional hockey referee, received my J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law. Of all these things, though, the most dear and important to me is my family, including my wife Amy Morton, my two daughters, Ruby Rae and Abra, my two dogs, Sake and Rico, loads of fish and a parakeet named Papa Blue. We live in Chicago where I also enjoy yoga, Native American studies, soccer, hockey, racquetball, adventure travel, boating, flying and, of course, lots of mountain biking.






Michael Compisi

I am a business development professional working for a technology distribution arm of General Electric. I have been in the working world since I graduated from Yale University in 1993. Neal has introduced me to his work with the Skan Project where I am assisting him in planning out the business model. My affinity for animals made engaging with him in the Skan Project and participating in this ride impossible to pass up. For the first five years after college, I played professional soccer where I was a goalkeeper for the Charleston Battery and the South Carolina Shamrocks. When I hung up the soccer boots, I took on biking as a way to fill the void left by my retirement from soccer. I mix road riding with mountain biking and thoroughly enjoy both. I have participated in some long road bike rides in the past; a six day 500-mile ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage Alaska and a 400-mile five day ride from Montreal, Quebec to Portland, Maine but nothing like the ride I will be taking this August.

I expect the Continental Divide mountain bike ride to be a feast for all the senses. Being away from the day-to-day activities and routines that fill my daily life will be a very foreign experience. It is impossible for me to comprehend the scenery we will be riding through, the historical places we will see and the ridiculous hills we will need to climb all while raising awareness of animal welfare issues we and our animal friends face. That alone provides the incentive for me to Get Off My Ass and Ride.