Obliteride: Kick Off to Fundraising

It's nearly May, 2014 which means I have just over 3 months to prepare for Obliteride 2014, 101 days to be exact. 101 days to ride my bike as far as the eye can see. 101 days to raise $4000. Let's do this! (donate)

This will be my first year participating in this event. You may already know this because I announced my participation via social media at the beginning of the year. I then went into virtual hibernation to wait out the Seattle rain. Well, the sun has arrived (for this week at least), and it's time to get outside and ride bikes!

As many of you are well aware, I have on a few previous occasions shaved my head to raise funds to fight children's cancer via St. Baldrick's (a wonderful, wonderful cause), but this year, I barely have any hair and I wanted to switch things up a bit. I heard about Obliteride at a few different cycling events last year, so I've been pondering it for some time. Riding Obliteride couples two of my major goals for the year: ride my bike many many miles and contribute to a great cause. (donate)

I've decided this year that I'd like to make donating a little more fun and perhaps a bit competitive. I want you to really FEEL like your money is going somewhere; that is beside to a great cause, 100% to funding cancer research. To boot, I've come up with two different fundraising strategies; it'll be a choose your own adventure thing.

#1 Just Give Me The Money

This, as the title implies, is the simple, semi-traditional approach to fundraising. You can donate any amount you desire, no strings attached. You'll receive my personal gratitude, a tax receipt, and the satisfaction that you're helping to obliterate cancer. (donate)

#2 The Mileage Rate Plan

This is my favorite! You pledge some amount you're willing to pay me per mile between now and the end of the event on August 10, 2014. I'll ride my bike lots and lots, multiply the number of miles I ride by the amount you pledged, and collect the funds from you. I'll keep you updated with personal emails, graphs, and ride reports over the next three months and you'll feel like the weight of your hard earned pennies (heavier than dollar bills, y'all) is pushing my bike pedals round and round. Instead of a one-day, feel-good event, you're signing up for 3 months of pure pedal pushing inspiration! (donate)

Each person who signs up to donate via option 2 will be able to set a rate and a maximum donation value (so that my ambitious legs don't break your bank). Every week I'll let you know how many miles I rode and how close I am to collecting on your promises. (donate)

As a preview I have the following events (and miles) already on my calendar:
Bike and Brews - 40 miles
Bike and Brews, El Norte - 48 miles
Flying Wheels Century - 100 miles
Seattle To Portland - 204 miles
Obliteride - 150 miles

That's already 542 miles between here and August 10th, and as you can imagine, that's not all the riding I'll be doing. In addition, I've got the commuter challenge, potentially track racing, and many gorgeous weekends ahead of me. :)

So how far do you think I can ride my bike? Are you willing to contribute your hard earned pennies to the cause?  (donate)

*If you chose option 2, please let me know via comment here, facebook, or email. I'm going to create a spreadsheet to track all the all important numbers*

*For you lovely folks that have already backed my cause, send me a message and we'll sort out a way to loop you into the fun! There will be a few other wonderful opportunities over the next three months.*