Dave Lavery to Shave Head, if…

[Cynette]

Subtitle: Curt's Ride to Cure Cancer - the 2014 Ride!

It is just two weeks until we will be departing for the 2014 edition of Curt's Ride to Cure Cancer, our 620-mile bicycle ride along the length of the Florida coast to honor and raise awareness for all those that have been affected by cancer, and raise funds for the American Cancer Society. This year we will depart from Amelia Island on the Georgia-Florida border on October 4. Eight days later we will pedal up to the "Southernmost Point" marker in Key West. Along the way, we hope to increase visibility of the impact of this disease and the dire need for a cure, and raise funds for ACS.

I've started this thread on behalf of the Curt's Ride Team which includes FIRSTERS Dave Lavery, Jeff and Sam Wetzel, myself and my husband Tom.

Wait! What happened to the part about Dave Lavery shaving his head?

This year a level of insanity that has been thrown out by the Curt’s Ride Team. In a fit of what can only be described as poor judgment, several of us have proposed an even higher challenge. It starts with Dave! Dave will be shaving his head if he can raise $15,000 (currently at $8163.73). And we have proposed that if the entire team raises $100,000, everyone on the team will shave their heads in the name of team spirit and to show support for all those going through the effects of chemotherapy.
How about it? Can you help Dave reach that Head Shaving Goal? Start here! [Donate to Curt's Ride Team]
On the serious side, Curt’s Ride has a very important focus. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. (behind only heart disease), and it strikes children and adults with equal ferocity. Virtually everyone we know has been touched directly or indirectly by this disease.

On behalf of those affected by this disease, all of the Curt’s Ride team members are asking for your help and support for our project. You can do this in any of several ways:

- Get the word out. Help the people you know learn about the Curt’s Ride project. The more people that know, the more that can join in. The more people that know, the more awareness we can raise regarding the need for a cure. The more people that know, the more that will be able to help. So let everyone know – the local bike club, your Bunco league, the local fishmonger, the sweaty guy that stands a little to close to you on the subway, and the drummer from your favorite 1980’s hair band. Let everyone know, and ask if they will join in or lend their support. Not sure what to tell them? Just check out the Curt’s Ride project web page at http://curtsride.com/


There are some real costs associated with implementing Curt’s Ride each year, and providing support for the riders. In prior years, that has been an expense that the riders have covered out of their own pockets as a cost to participate. But since they are already giving a week of their time and all the effort to pedal themselves along the entire Florida coast, and covering all their own transportation and lodging costs, we really want to avoid having them take on that additional expense. Sometimes a company will want to sponsor a specific element of the effort. So we are looking for (corporate?) sponsors to become our “Foundation Sponsor.” For a $1,000 donation to the Curt's Ride Foundation, they can help sponsor ALL of the Curt's Team riders at once! In return, they will be included in all press releases and materials, and will have their logo put on the Curt’s Ride support van that will follow us down the coast. If you have any ideas for companies that might be interested in this idea, please let us know.

Check out the Curt’s Ride web site for other ways you can support us!

Additional information about the ride, including the route map, planned itinerary, and progress notes, will be posted on the project Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/curts.ride (you don’t have to be a member of Facebook to see the page, but you will have to join if you want to comment or participate in the discussions).

In the meantime, thank you again to all those that have already signed up to sponsor our ride and donate funds to the American Cancer Society. If you have not yet, remember that it is not too late to sign on as a sponsor for the 2014 Curt's Ride to Cure Cancer!

p.s. Send me a PM if you have donated to help Dave reach his head-shaving goal. I’d love to know how much impact Chief Delphi had on our Ride!

[IndySam]

looks like I may have to jump from the Cavaliere ship this year.

[Cynette]

IndySam, I would totally understand!

Dave is at $8536 out of the $15000 needed to cause him to shave his head! That's $6464 away! That's only 323 people giving $20!

[Foster]

I supported the ride with my donation, it's a great cause. We donated last year, the Bacon Route is a great book.

Good luck on the ride!

[Cynette]

It's getting easier to reach Dave's "Shave your Head" goal! Only $5838.27 left! But only 10 days! So that's only 292 people donating $20 each!

[Foster]

Very close, under 5K to go. Think about it teams, pay for that third regional, or fight cancer and set a new level of fashion: bald Hawaiian shirt Dave!

[DonRotolo]

OK, only $4500 to go. We're right at the home stretch folks, let's see if we can get a bald Lavery out of all this...

[Cynette]

You have one more full day! Curt's Ride starts Saturday morning!

Here are my thoughts on being a participant in Curt's Ride:

It’s Hard…

It’s hard to even fathom riding 620 miles down the coast of Florida as part of Curt’s Ride to Cure Cancer. I’m not saying it isn’t fun; we all have amazing experiences while we are there, from touring NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, to seeing manatees, to eating fresh seafood every night. But sitting on a bike for hours on end to cycle up to 110 miles in a day is hard. Especially when the wind is at your face and the sun is beating down as it does even in October in Florida. And then we have to do it again the next day, and the next day, and the next day. And the trip planning…a big thanks to Dave who plans the routes and the breaks and the stops for the nights; and to Deb for planning our send-off hosts and meals (and cake); and to Stacey who keeps us all communicating and comes up with new ways to support Curt’s Ride. But the planning is still hard on our end, saving our vacation days, tearing apart and packing our bikes for shipment, the expense of the flights, and trip costs, spare parts and gear.

It’s hard to train for such an endeavor. You know that word “dedication”? Well it actually means giving up a lot of other things, to do one thing that is hopefully noble and good. We spend hours and hours on our bikes, hours and hours that we could be doing other things. It’s hard to train in the Rochester winter because that means sitting on a bike for hours that doesn’t go anywhere. It’s hard to train in the Rochester spring that doesn’t seem to ever arrive. But the summer is glorious! For that brief time period we are excited to know we are part of the Curt’s Ride team as we ride the roads of the Rochester and Finger Lakes areas, dodging freshly graveled roads and the innumerable of cars and trucks that we annoy as we ride. But fall comes too soon. It’s hard to train in the fall because the days get short so fast and there we are riding circles in the school parking lot because it is the only place with enough light and no traffic to make it safe to ride in the dark, in sweatshirts and leggings, pining for the too hot Florida sun we will soon experience.

It’s hard to ask for money from all of our friends. We send e-mails, snail mail, hand out letters to family, friends and to an ever reaching circle of acquaintances and colleagues. We talk about it everywhere we go. I post on Facebook and other social networks, cajoling and hopefully coercing you all to donate something to the American Cancer Society. I wanted to let you know that it is hard to do that. It’s hard to spend the hours that it takes to write the letters and update the mailing lists when I could be riding my bicycle. It’s hard to ask you for money when I know finances are often tight. I know that you are inundated by other requests for donations and mine is just one of the many. But Curt’s Ride to Cure Cancer isn’t just a ride down the coast of Florida. We do it to raise awareness and to raise funds. So it’s an obligation we have as part of the Curt’s Ride Team. I get excited whenever I see that one of you has responded positively to may request! But it’s hard to watch that fundraising total climb ever so slowly to the goal, knowing that I’ll need to send out one more letter, make one more plea, be that annoying person once again.

It’s hard…cancer that is…with its devastating effects on our families and friends. What a horrible illness, all different types, all parts of the body affected, all called cancer. It’s hard to see your father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, neighbor, co-worker get that diagnosis; undergo that treatment that ravages their body to try to kill the cells of cancer that are attacking that same body. It’s hard to be that person going through the treatment, trying to reassure your family that no matter the outcome, things will someday be all right. It’s hard to watch a child lose a mother or a father, knowing that the rest of their life will be different from that point on. Even harder is to lose a child, a beloved sibling to something you can’t control, can’t fix, can’t make all better. We all know someone, we all hope it isn’t us, and then all of a sudden, it is. Cancer sucks.

Because cancer is hard, ugly, treacherous, unforgiving; it makes all of the other things that seem hard in this note that much easier, that much more necessary.

I’m honored to ride as part of the Curt’s Ride to Cure Cancer Team. I’m willing to train as hard as I can to be ready to ride those 620 miles along the coast of Florida. And I’m willing to run the risk of nagging all of my friends and neighbors to donate to help find a cure for Cancer.

If you’ve donated, thank you. Please ask a friend to donate as well. If you haven’t donated, will you please consider donating? If you aren’t able to donate, I do understand. Please pray for the Curt’s Ride team to have a safe journey and many opportunities to continue to raise awareness for the need for more cancer research to find a cure. Now.

Follow our journey on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/curts.ride!
The link to our donation page: www.curtsride.com

[Foster]

Congrats to the Curts Ride Team! They exceeded their funding goal and introduced their followers to even better Lobster BLTs and a new treat, key lime smoothies.

Next year for the hair!!