The Last Best Ride could also be Sam Boardman’s last best haircut

Sam Boardman really wants a haircut.

The leadout man for L39ION of Los Angeles is well-known in the peloton for his lustrous locks, but it’s hot out, and he’s over it.

“It’s gotten to the point where I’m hot when I sleep, I’m shedding like a monster, and I nuke every drain I come across,” he said.

Another reason for Boardman to get a haircut is that he’s well into one of he and his wife Jess Cerra’s busiest/most stressful weeks of the year: this weekend, the couple puts on The Last Best Ride, a gravel race Cerra founded three years ago in Whitefish, Montana.

Gallery: Smiles for Montana miles at The Last Best Ride

But Boardman and Cerra are creative and unconventional race promoters who are firmly committed to the community empowerment aspect of the event. So, they’re making Sam’s hair part of the show.

When The Last Best Ride launched in 2021, Cerra established the Barbara Mansfield Champion Scholar Program to benefit young women from Whitefish who are pursuing higher education.

In the last three years, the event has raised over $75,000 for the scholarship recipients.

So, this year Boardman and Cerra are using Sam’s haircut as an incentive for people to donate even more.

If people donate at least $5,000 to the champion scholar program, Boardman will stand on stage at The Last Best Ride’s opening happy hour on Friday for a public shearing. And, it won’t just be a run-of-the-mill trim.

Anyone who donates gets to vote on a hairstyle for Sam. There are three options, and they’re ridiculous.

The John Stamos:

The Eminem:

The Lloyd Christmas:

If the donations reach $8,000, Boardman will go full Tiger King.

Anyone can donate online from now until Friday, August 4 at 5 p.m. MST. Anyone who makes a donation will then receive an email with a link to vote for the haircut.

Those attending The Last Best Ride can donate in person at Friday’s happy hour. If, by the end of the happy hour, enough money has been raised, Boardman will take the stage where a Whitefish friend (who is not a licensed esthetician) will cut his hair in the style that receives the most votes.

Oh, and Boardman also plans to donate the cut hair to Locks of Love (“even if it’s a mullet, I should have enough,” he said).

Originally, Boardman said that he’d get his hair ‘tidied up’ after the event weekend. However, he later said on record that he’d keep it in the new ‘do for his next race, which is Indy Crit, the weekend of August 25-26.

“If I have to look like Lloyd Christmas at Indy Crit, well, that’s the price you have to pay for raising money for a good cause.”