Finish Line Seattle

It turns out that the Senior-Guildforders can't really do anything for the hungry cyclist like I though they could.  It would involve time, too much money, a very professional looking display, and getting the ok from the British Columbia Association for Charitable Gaming to do a raffle that's legit and would bring in some real cash and not just pocket money. It clearly doesn't work the way I imagined.
But, they said, I am welcome to organize another fundraiser myself and that I would get their support.
I had hoped that someone else would come forward because originally we had planned that every team member would do one fundraising event. We've done 3 so far. And we are 9 people.
There continues to be this eerie silence about the whole fundraising issue. I don't have much hope and I am moving on to other ways of thinking and being.

So I said to myself, what the hey! Let's focus for a moment and remember what my goals were when I registered.
Goal # 1: raise some loot to help people in need. -Check!
Goal # 2: cycle until my thighs burn. -Double check!!
Goal # 3: Have fun while doing it. -Half-a-check...
Goal # 4: get my behind to Seattle! -To do

Clearly, goal # 3 and 4 needed some attention. So what was there to do? One thing, and one thing only:

Go. Visit. Seattle already!!

Here some impressions of my trip:

 Canadian-US Border - I'm going in!

Why, thank you!

The streets of Washington State

 Convention Center in downtown

 Space Needle, baby!

Anthony's at the waterfont 

I can't really say that the ride was "epic" in any way. There was no cheering and hoopla about it and there certainly weren't any cycling crowds, just tons and tons of cars. Way too many cars...

However, it was a great trip that made everything feel alright again.

My blogging habits will change from now on. I have a strong sense of fullfillment and accomplishment and I am not sure if there will be much more to add.  Turns out that I did end up doing my very own thing in my own way and I am happy and content with that. All the goals I originally had are met as of yesterday. 

Christina's Ride to Conquer Cancer was certainly quite different from the official version, but that's just the way I roll. Maybe there was really not much doubt that it would be a unique undertaking. People who know me in person know that I have my own way of doing things. Starting at the home-made logo over the Rebel Ride idea to the altered T-shirt. I just seem to always 'personalize' things and can't leave them just the way they are, which, in my world, is a quality I call creativity.

I'll leave this Blog online for others who may consider registering for the ride in the future. May it be helpful and give a honest and real look at what it can be like.

A very special thank you to Ronda Laveen of Ronda's Wonderland and Sherry at Mrsupole's Place who have been amazingly supportive in any way imaginable. I have never even met these two lovely ladies in real life. Their compassion, support and big hearts humble me immensely.

Thank you also to Tatoos and Teething Rings, a Blogger who is no more but really helped me in the early days of the project.

And last but not least:  Thank you proud sponsors! I am truly impressed with all the donations you have made. Most of you don't even know me very well or very long but that didn't stop you to show me lots and lots of love. I think I've recieved a donation from pretty much every person I approached, with maybe 2 or 3 exceptions. Some people pulled out their wallet right away, others had to think it over, but 98% of you came through at the end, which was truly amazing and very touching.

Thank you and farewell, everyone!

Come visit me at Christina's Outlet some time, that's my permanent "home" on the Internet.

Surprising Turn of Events

I've just received an email from our team captain that two more members of our group have been given a large donation from a corporate sponsor that puts them well ahead of the game. So 4 out of 10 team members are definitively "safe", which is great.
But -
now I am starting to understand why these key players were really not all that interested in any more fundraising events last time we spoke! For a while it felt to me like people are just giving up and I could not comprehend why.

Well, I sure hope they will continue to support the efforts of the rest of us. We definitely will need their help because they have access to resources we others just don't have, plus they are the foundation of the team, the driving force, and inspiration.
Please don't leave us hanging, Guildford gang! It's not like we're not trying, we're just lacking the big sponsors and have to do way more legwork than you - and I don't mean on our bikes (hehe). :-D

I also wonder why they've recruited all those people in the first place. There was not much doubt that this little original group could have reached their goal easily without any additional help. They didn't even need all those extra bodies to volunteer at events, because they did most of the work themselves. I am beginning to understand why they were a bit hesitant to accept my offers to help out at times. I think they saw it coming that they wouldn't be able to feed me the way I expected to be fed and didn't want to take advantage of me.
I think they were just not really thinking how things would unfold when recruiting all those poor and hungry cyclists. I am sure they thought "the more the merrier" and now they are a bit. Hm. Well. Ok then. Good luck to you!
Could that be the reason why we haven't really gotten together for rides thus far? Why we never did any teambuilding stuff as of yet? Why there wasn't much communication in general?
Was it because people started to feel overwhelmed by the way things developed? Maybe the Guildforders assumed the single riders would rake in more cash on their own than they actually did and all of the sudden they felt being put in the position of having to take care of all of us? Turns out that more doesn't necessarily mean merrier, huh? And I guess it's true: that is a lot of responsibility, having to take care of 6 people financially.

Sure, I can't just sit around and cry "me so hungry!" so I came up with a few constructive ideas that could help the ones in need in our team. Let's see what Guildford can do for us. There's not much time left, though...
I'll have to make a decision soon.


Wow, what an experience this whole thing is.

But let's also not forget: this is about a good cause after all.

One Month left!

In one month exactly, on June the 19th, I am supposed to ride to Seattle with Rusty Number 2.

Today I feel like scuffing and saying "Yeah right!! Like that's ever gonna happen".

No matter how I slice it, I just don't see it coming together financially.

I am allowed to scuff. This is my Blog. In which I am keeping it real.

And I will volunteer, so there's no real harm done.

Take that, delusion! I am waaay ahead of you! Harhar!

Money's too tight to Mention

I did another little number crunching session just now - and I honestly still don't know how we're going to manage.

• We have one team member who has reached her goal (the poor woman may end up being the only Guildford Rider cycling down to Seattle! :-o Kidding!)
• There is one team member who is certain that he'll get the funds required. He's found someone who is willing to match what he's raised so far and that will definitely be enough, since he's already at $2,275.00
• The remaining team members need a whopping $ 10,929.00 in total in order to ride.
• We've raised approximately a bit over $2,000.00 with our two fundraising events. There is one more raffle and then we are pretty much done with ideas and activities.

So yeah, lots of hungry cyclist mouths to feed, nowhere near enough money to do so.
Unless there is something I am not aware of...