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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

One Final Push (Really, Encourage My Behavior, Pleeeze!)

Okay, folks, riding in BikeMS this weekend. I'll do the hard part, riding over 160 miles in two days. I'll sleep in a borrowed tent on the ground. I will get up on Saturday morning at what might sometimes pass for bedtime Friday to do this.

What am I asking you to do? Pony up. For real. What did you spend in the past month on fast food? What did you loose at the boats? If you've been laid off, had your hours cut, are about to lose your house, I'm not talking to you. But for all you folks with jobs, who know where your next mortgage payment is coming from (and it's not your August mortgage payment), dig deep.

No amount is too large.

When I signed up for this, I spammed everyone I know. To take a line from Vonnegut, I got something very close to Doodley Squat. Sure, eventually, I made the minimum, $200. But I wanted to raise a grand for this event. I've raised $200 to $350 for the Relay for Life in years past, and it's a worthy cause, you should donate to it, too, but all I was going to do was walk in leisurely circles for an hour.

People have started coming through, but I only have a couple days to turn in my packet. And so far, including the checks I picked up today (and a big thank you to my boss, my chiropractor, and my Mom, today has been my single biggest fundraising day), I'm not quite half way to that thousand dollars.

It's crunch time, for real. I'm taking Z-Pak to battle bronchitis and not flinching from this ride. All I want is your money, and I don't want it for myself, I want it for a totally worthy cause. Do I need to parade my two friends who have MS in front of ya? One of whom has had it since before I met her 20 years ago?

I didn't think so. I knew you could do it. This is better than ordering pizza because you don't feel like cooking. You're doing a good thing and it won't make you fat or give you a heart attack.

Anyone I emailed back when I signed up who thought I wasn't serious, it's a fair cop. I'd been a slug for six years or so, despite the warning shot over the bow (heart attack at 32). If you wanna know I'm serious, I've logged 600 miles in the saddle and spent more than I've raised on getting the bike/gear ready for this. Your skepticism was well founded but ultimately wrong, pony up.

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