Curt's Ride to Cure Cancer - 2012 Edition!

[Cynette]

The 2012 Curt's Ride to Cure Cancer is one week away!

On Saturday, September 29 a small and stalwart crew will be starting the 2012 edition of Curt’s Ride to Cure Cancer – a 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 September 29. 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.

This ride is organized by Dave Lavery, who is one of the many extremely busy engineering professionals who give their time to mentor in FIRST Robotics (and a very cool guy). I was so amazed that he was willing to give up his free time (what free time?) to dedicate to the organization of this event, that I had to join him on the ride this year. Also joining the Curt's Ride Team this year is Jeff Wetzel (Wetzel on CD). We are riding with 6 other team members, some back for the second or third time and some who are brand new!

We all would like your support for this very special cause. 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 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. As Dave so greatly expresses it... Help the people you know learn about the project. The more people that know, the more that can join in. The more people that know, the more we can raise visibility about the need for a cure. The more people that know, the more that will be able to help. Tell your hairdresser, your haberdasher, the local pastry chef, the guy next to you on the airplane, and the guy sitting next to you at the poker table. Let everyone know, and see 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/

- Contribute. One of the goals of Curt’s Ride is to raise financial support for the American Cancer Society. By contributing to ACS on behalf of Curt’s Ride To Cure Cancer, you will help the ACS fulfill their mission to eliminate this disease and diminish the suffering that it causes.

We have all set personal fundraising goals for our 2012 ride with a total team goal of $25,000 and hope to go well beyond that. Any support that you are able to contribute will be most gratefully appreciated. The fastest and easiest way to contribute is online through the Curt’s Ride participant pages at the Curt's Ride Project Page. If you are not an internet credit card user, we can take checks made out to “American Cancer Society” (with “Curt’s Ride” noted in the notation block), which will be forwarded directly to the ACS. Just send any one of us a PM and we'll get you an address!

All contributions to the ACS are tax-deductible. The Curt’s Ride project page is a direct subsidiary of the American Cancer Society web presence, and your contribution will go straight to the ACS with no middlemen or intermediate organizations.

- Join the “Curt’s Ride” team. It's a bit late to join as a rider for this year, but we are still looking for north-east coast Floridians to help drive the support van. If this is something you would be interested in doing on the days of September 30-Oct 2, let us know asap!

And for next year, consider becoming one of the riders, and participating in the adventure! It would be great to have you ride along for a day - or for the whole thing! For example, my husband Tom and I are riding the first four days because that's what our vacation schedule would allow. We have had an increase in the number of riders participating this year, but we can always use more! If you want to ride, please also consider becoming a full “Curt’s Ride” team member and helping with the fund-raising goals of our project. You can sign on to the Curt’s Ride team on the American Cancer Society project page at http://curtsride.info/

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).

Thank you for your support and generosity.

[DonRotolo]

Cynette (and everyone else on the team):

You guys are completely insane. 620 miles in 7 days? That is insanely difficult.*

Of course, not nearly as difficult as dealing with Cancer.

As for every year of Curt's Ride, I will be making a donation. Absolutely positively.

To anyone else reading this: Can you say you don't know anyone who had cancer? Do you know your odds of getting cancer, even if you're only a high school kid? Maybe you should Google that.

When I was a kid, "finding a cure for cancer" and "getting very, very wealthy" were synonyms. Well, through the generosity of millions and millions of people, some cancers have been cured or made 100% preventable. Google Gardasil, for example.

Please give some serious thought to making a donation of a size you can afford. Even if it's only a few dollars. Because every penny counts, and one day maybe we can announce yet another kind of cancer cured.

To the Curts Ride 2012 team: Good luck, Godpseed, and a dearth of flat tires to all of you.

Don

*Well, at least you're starting at the top of Florida, so it's all downhill, right...

[rsisk]

I kicked in my $.02 worth, who else in this awesome family known as CD is supporting Cynette, Wetzel and Dave?

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

You guys are completely insane. 620 miles in 7 days? That is insanely difficult.*

Of course, not nearly as difficult as dealing with Cancer....


...*Well, at least you're starting at the top of Florida, so it's all downhill, right...

I agree with the insane part! My husband and I did our final training ride of 70 miles on Saturday in intermittent rain and temps in the 60's. With the typical western New York wind blowing west to east against us on the 2nd half of our ride, the enormity of our quest really started to sink in. But as you said, it will be nowhere as difficult as dealing with cancer.

To all of you who have been impacted by the reality of cancer, we ride for you. We really hope that we can make a difference, even if it is just letting you know that your individual stories are important and the ferocity of your fight is honored.

Don - My favorite part of riding in the rolling hills of western New York going down after the uphill climb. So I'm really looking forward the entire ride being downhill in Florida.