Finance Ponderings...

Since the Sea To Sea kicks off this weekend in Seattle, it seemed a good idea to come back and revisit the issue of finances. Even though I am not joining the tour until Mid-August, I still feel that "it's really beginning" excitement.

Back in November/December of '07, when I first started down the road of fundraising, I set the goal of having my funding in place by the end of March. It seemed like a good idea at the time! I wanted to get the funding out of the way as soon as possible, so that I could then just focus on the physical training when the spring arrived.

Well, here we are in June, and the financial aspect of the ride is still ongoing.

This has been an education, of course, in so many ways. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't about me and my fun biking trip. I've said it before: the cause is the key. I've had to humble myself a bit and admit that my earlier goal was kind of naive. I now realize that I had best be prepared to talk about this cause, and yes, fundraise, all the way through to the end of the tour.

(as an aside, all riders who are going from sea to sea were asked to raise $10,000. All riders who were going to ride just one segment of the tour were asked to raise $4,000.)

This grand project has been an education in the challenges of fundraising as well. This was all new to me, as I'm sure it was to the other riders. I really didn't think it would be as hard as it has been. And it has been hard.

So, where do we stand?

Back in the fall, 8 local riders, mostly based out of our church, formed a group and covenanted to fundraise together. And some of us, were very good at it. As a group, our goal was $50,000 to cover the commitments of each of the 8 riders. To date, we're are at about $52-53,000 which is amazing news. Praise God!

Still, not all of us have achieved our personal goals. The group may have hit the goal, but individually, most of us would still like to achieve our own individual goals. Call it a bit of pride, or competitiveness, or a DIY attitude, or just plain determination to see things through to the end.

I have raised just over $3100 toward my own goal of $4000. It would be nice to cover that before I start the tour in Mid-August... seven short weeks from now. We'll see.

Blessings,
...art

Snappy Comebacks...

This past week there has been a lively discussion on the cyclist forum about "Why A Bike Ride". Discussing sort of the meta- question as to why are we going on a bike ride, and how does that help, and why not just raise some money and so on.

There was a lot of good and heartfelt discussion about how to address people when they ask that very valid question.

This post is not about that.

No, this post is about the very nice snappy comeback that my friend passed along to me today. I wonder if I'd have the nerve to use this, when next I get asked this question.

It goes something like this: "Look: I could go on umpteen different vacations this summer, and spend about the same amount of money (or more, even) that I'm spending on my bike and gear and so on... and it wouldn't make a lick of difference to anyone in the world."

Okay, maybe I do need to get a bit serious. Sure, all the cyclists are raising a bunch of money each as part of this bike tour. But the critic would suggest that we could still donate more, if we didn't spend all this other money on our bikes and gear, and the tour itself. So wouldn't that make more sense?

We say no, because Raising Awareness, is also very important. Some have argued that it is even more important. We've already seen cyclists being profiled in the media, which is having a wider impact. And when the tour itself goes on, you can bet that we're going to see lots of local media checking out what the heck all these cyclists are doing. And that, again, will have a wider ranging public impact.

I believe that doing the bike tour, is going to have a lot more impact than if we had all just gone out quietly and donated $4000 (or $10,000 for the full-distance cyclists) to charity.

Ups and Downs

Hi folks,

Bad news first... I (re-)injured my back. Back in April I injured my back for the first time. Thanks to a bulging disk that was pressing my S1(?) nerve going to my right leg I was off work for 3 weeks and a further 3 weeks on reduced hours. Medication and exercise took care of it then.

Well, earlier this month, while shoveling snow I strained my back, so I was in pain again. This time it was only for about 4-5 days. Unfortunately, just over a week later (Monday Feb 11), I forgot myself when lifting something, and did it again. In both cases it was a bending/lifting situation. Lifting vertically I can do, but when bending over and then exerting myself, that's the bad kind of lifting.

This time, my sciatica (the bulging disk) flared again, and 9 days later I'm still dealing with it. Mornings and days are pretty good. Early evening is when the pain starts to be worse. It is just like last spring, though thankfully in a reduced way, so I know I just need to work on my exercises, take it easy, and wait for the swelling/inflammation to subside.

Still, it is frustrating. I'm angry with myself for doing that lifting. I feel like I let my wife down. And I feel semi-guilty, since "obviously" I wasn't exercising enough to strengthen my back. I know, I know, not all of those are true or valid -- sometimes things happen for reasons which we just can't forsee, and we may never know why (in this life). But the emotions are still there.

All I can do now is press on and do what I can.

On the upside, this week marks the 1/4 mark for me in fundraising. Yesterday I wrote another series of 22 letters to go out, to another group of contacts that I have not yet approached. Also, our London group (we are working together on fundraising) has more ideas and energy to move forward. I'm confident we're going to make it.

And look at the tour overall! 211 cyclists! Wow, Praise God. 129 going sea to sea, and 82 going part way. Do the math, that is a big chunk of change going to poverty issues! (I figure somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1.5mil)

I'm also really curious as to just what kind of PR we're going to get this summer. A bike tour this size has got to attract a lot of interest and curiousity. That is something to look forward to as well.

And I'd better wrap this up. Blessings, all!

Giving and Getting

Happy New Year to anyone out there! I hope you enjoy the time spent reading through my blog.

We still have a few months before the weather turns mild enough to focus on outdoor training. So for the next few months our focus will be more on fundraising to meet our goals.

I don't like asking people for money. Do you?

I suspect that most of us don't. I've considered, at times, what a career in development (ie: Fundraising at hospitals/colleges) would be like for me, and I'm sure that the first few times you ask someone for a significant donation would be tough. Like all gifts and skills I'm sure that it requires plenty of practise.

But regardless, fundraising is part of what all of us have committed to doing for this tour. (Hmm, I digress, but it occurs to me that by the time the summer rolls around we will have over 150 people who have learned a lot about fundraising. I wonder if that will lead to any career changes for people involved in this tour?) Therefore, last month, I sent out my first handful of fundraising letters. It was not easy to write those letters. But the next set -- which went out with our Christmas letters -- was a bit easier. Now comes another part of fundraising, the waiting for a response.

That response will itself be a new experience. Receiving gifts can itself be tough ... even humbling. Last month I received my first donation update from Sea-To-Sea HQ and I found myself stunned to see a donation listed from people I didn't even know. I've put donation links here on my blog, and in other locations, and told people about my tour. So on an intellectual level I knew that this could happen. And of course, I was hoping it would. But still... seeing for the first time a response like that was quite something. (Dave and Marcella, thank you SO much! Maybe I'll get to meet you someday.)



I've also been delighted to receive some tour-related gifts from friends and family. These will also help me a great deal in preparing and undertaking this trip.

Best Wishes for January 2008!