On September 9th, 2007, I’ll be riding in the NYC Century Bike Tour, a 100-mile ride around the perimeter of New York City. The ride itself is organized by Transportation Alternatives, a NY-based group dedicated to improving the transportation system of New York City (for more info on TranAlt, their official site can be found here). While my Tour entry fee goes to helping TransAlt improve bike paths, subways, and other non-vehicular modes of transportation around NYC, I’ve decided to use my participation in this event to also raise money for FINCA International’s “Village Banking” program, which provides financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.
THE CHARITY
More than one billion people struggle to survive on less than one dollar a day. Another 2.7 billion live on less than two dollars a day. In 2000, 147 nations agreed that, together, the citizens of the world must work to put an end to severe poverty by 2015. They drafted eight important goals– the Millennium Development Goals– which, when achieved, will improve the lives of the three billion people currently living in dire poverty:
- Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
- Ensure environmental stability
- Develop a global partnership for development
FINCA’s Village Banking program is helping to meet these Millennium Development Goals in a number of ways, including increasing access to education and food, improving health, and most importantly, helping to build sustainable economic growth in impoverished areas. For more information, check out this article. Basically, it’s a great cause, and any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. To make a donation and sponsor my ride, click the button below. A minimum donation of $10 will let you sponsor 1 of the 100 miles I’ll be riding (don’t worry, this is not a per-mile donation). More info below.
THE RIDE
Starting at 6am (yikes) on September 9, I’ll leave the northwest corner of Central Park to begin my 100-mile ride. Sometime around 4 or 5pm, I’ll return to the starting point, having ridden around the perimeter of New York City. Here’s a map of the Tour, the route I’ll be taking is the solid black line:
At each of the orange circles on the map above, there will be a rest area with water, food, and bike mechanics, and at the end of the day, the New York City Coroner’s Office will transport my corpse back to Brooklyn to be prepped for burial.
YOUR DONATIONS
To donate, click the “Make a donation” button below. It’ll take you to a donation page for my PayPal account, which will allow you to contribute using a credit card, bank account, or PayPal account. If you don’t have a PayPal account, you can still donate… just look for the “Don’t have a PayPal account? Continue” text on the left-hand side of the page. Once all the donations have been collected, I’ll make a lump donation to the Village Banking program. PayPal takes out a fee of around 1.5% (plus 30 cents) per transaction, but other than that, every penny you donate will be passed along to Village Banking.
As you can see, my PayPal balance is currently $0.00, and I’ll keep this blog updated as donations come in.
I’ve set a personal goal of getting 100 people to donate to this cause, one for each mile I’ll be riding. For a minimum donation of $10, you can sponsor your very own mile of my ride (though I hope you can donate more than $10). I’ll update this blog a few times during the ride from my phone, so you’ll be able to track my progress and see how I’m doing as I come to the mile you’ve sponsored. If you would like to sponsor a specific mile, let me know with an optional note on the donation page (except for mile 100, I’m saving that for myself).
To see how your donation, or the overall total, will impact the lives of impoverished people, use this Donation Calculator.
A spreadsheet with the donors, their donation amounts, and the mile they’ve sponsored can be found here.
THE BIKE
I’ll be doing this ride on my trusty bike, nicknamed Robocop, which is a single-speed (freewheel) Giant Bowery messenger frame. Robocop has braved rush-hour traffic in lower Manhattan, rainstorms, several close-calls with taxicabs, and recently, a 30-mile ride up the west side of Manhattan and through the Bronx to a seafood feast on City Island, so I’m confident that he’ll be able to make it through the 100-mile Century Tour.
Factory photo of Robocop
Me riding Robocop in Manhattan’s West Village, March 2007. Luckily, the weather in September is a lot nicer, so I won’t have to wear 3 layers, jeans, gloves and a knit cap on the ride.
Those are some hot calves, might I add. They should be featured much more prominently on this page.
Fuck, I hate reading. You know that, Jim. Where’s the goddamn link to push to give money? Take my fucking money & hold the witticisms, please.
There. I found it. I did read 143 more words than I would have liked, which wasted my time. We all know time is money, and it took me about a minute to read those 143 words… lemme do the math, here… carry the one… What? Somehow I owe you $7.50. My time is other people’s money, apparently. Sheeeeeyit.