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.

Motivations and Money, oh my.

So why am I doing this?

When the 2005 sea-to-sea (within Canada) trip was announced, I thought it was a bit of a goofy idea. Then the trip actually started, and I started reading about the incredible adventure these people were having. That's when I realized I was missing out on something big.

So when this 2008 tour was announced, I was intrigued. But I really didn't think I could take the time to do so. My wife and I have four young kids (aged 3-10) and leaving them for 9 weeks just wasn't going to happen.

Fast forward to early September. At our Church picnic my friend Gayle -- who is doing the full nine week tour -- encouraged me to consider riding part of the trip. (at the time, they were offering the option of just riding 1/3 of the trip, three weeks). Within the hour, my
friend (and pastor) Pieter also said that he thought I should do the trip.

That is the first time that I seriously considered it, and so my wife Heather and I, while driving home from the picnic, actually talked about how it would be for me to do part of the trip. Not two days later, I was checking the sea to sea website, and I discovered that they had rearranged the schedule such that the final leg of the trip was now just two weeks.

I took the hint.

But what about the money?

First let me say that, surprisingly perhaps, being tasked with raising $4000 doesn't really bother me. Part of that is the enthusiasm of Gayle and the others on our fund raising team. Another part of that is the peace of God. And really -- to raise $4000, all I need is 40 people to donate $100. I think that should be doable.

But on the whole topic of poverty? That is a longer story. Some two years ago, our church did a focus on poverty. We handed out white bracelets, learned about makepovertyhistory.ca and similar organizations, and so on.

Giving has always been a part of our family makeup. But since that time we have made it a practise to make sure that poverty is one of the causes that we give towards. So, via CRWRC we have donated towards poverty causes each year. It doesn't cost much to buy a goat, immunize a child, or provide school materials and so on. Even the Free-A-Family
program -- freeing a family from poverty -- is less than $300.

So yes, I'm supposed to raise $4000 towards poverty, which is great. And the tour is set up such that I cover my own costs, and HQ is trying to find donations to cover the tour costs, so ALL of that money that I raise can go towards ending poverty. That's great.

But if I can get a few more families ... say those 40 who are going to give me $100. :-) If this event can help encourage them to make giving towards ending poverty an annual thing? That would be the best.