First Ride!

     I finally took my bike out for a nice ride today! The temperature warmed up to the mid-50's and around 10:30am my parents and I left for Valley Forge National Park. Below is a map of our route. Red is our way there & blue is the way back. In total we rode 21.4 miles in 2 hrs.

    (1) is my house, (2) is the Radnor Trail, where we encountered some ice and had to dismount and walk. The road in between the (3)'s is a long hill we climbed on our way back and on the way there I went over 32 mph downhill :) Finally (4) is the monument we stopped at for a short break at the beginning of the park.

     Overall it was great to get out and ride finally! The new bike is excellent, though I'm still getting adjusted to the shifting and using clipless pedals. Some highlights from today include when I was trailing my parents up a short incline into the park and some other riders came up from behind. One said to me as he passed, "Is that your boyfriend leaving you behind?" I replied, "No! It's my parents!!" and of course I just had to laugh. My parents are in better shape than I am! Also, my mom and I like to secretly race each other up hills--meaning when the other isn't paying attention, one of us will start sprinting and pass the other from behind. So of course my mom beat me up the incredibly long hill (3), which I definitely wasn't racing up, but I got her back later in the ride when I sprinted past her up a smaller hill on King of Prussia Road :D

     I suppose that's it for now, but today is definitely the the "official start" for me getting in shape. My ride starts in 83 days, less than 3 months, and I don't want to be hurting too much when that begins!

I want to ride my bicycle!

     After what seemed like an eternity (in reality it was about a week), my bike was finally delivered! UPS dropped it off around 10:30am today, and my Mom very kindly helped me assemble the parts. After the bike was ready to ride, I took it out for a quick spin around the neighborhood to practice clipping in & out and make sure everything fit properly.

     You may be thinking, "But wait, didn't it snow yesterday?" Yes, it DID snow yesterday! Lucky for me, the roads are cleared, and the weather was a not-too-brisk 35 degrees when I rode :D Needless to say, I am eager for warmer weather to arrive so I can go out for some nice long rides & start real training.

Fundraising & Other Updates

     Since most of my friends and family already know about my bicycle trip and have either already donated or have pledged to donate later, I've been brainstorming and trying out a few different fundraising strategies over the past week.
Here are some things I've done:

1. I went to DC for Valentine's day weekend and met up with my friend Kira. We made a poster that said "SUPPORT AFFORDABLE  HOUSING" on one side, and "KISSES FOR DONATIONS" on the other. The original plan was to give out kisses to raise money (like a kissing booth), but alas, we ended up just walking around Dupont Circle holding up the "Support Affordable Housing" side and telling people that I was biking across the country. Many people were interested and, despite it being a Sunday night, we collected $117. The next day (Valentine's Day), which we thought would be more lucrative, was NOT. We went to very busy areas, encountered at least 4x as many people as we did on Sunday, but only received $15 in donations in 2 hours. Oh well, better luck next time.
2. In an online search I discovered a website called iGive. I registered Bike & Build on the website and now, if you go online and register with the website (or install their toolbar) each time you search $0.01 is donated to Bike & Build. More importantly if you shop online, for example, at amazon.com, you can go to Amazon through the iGive website, make your purchase, and Bike & Build will receive a kickback! So please, help my fundraising! All you have to do is go to www.iGive.com/bikeandbuild make an account to record your donations, and the next time you want to purchase something online, go to the iGive website and search for it. Many companies & websites participate (pretty much anything I've ever wanted to buy online, I could buy through iGive), so give it a try! If you're still confused (I definitely was) follow this link to How iGive Works. ***I do want to emphasize, they say that you need to search through their browser or install their special toolbar, but I think if you add a store to your "favorites" section, it will automatically keep track of what you buy from there and donate to iGive. I can't promise this, but I added the Wall Street Journal to mine, and while I was in DC my mom went to wsj.com and bought a subscription and I received an email saying $13.00 was donated!*** SO Try it out, and let me know when you buy something =D
3. I'm thinking about planning some sort of raffle/silent auction or maybe something very small in my neighborhood to get the local community involved in my trip. More on this later.
4. My Fundraising Grand Total is $1,332!!! Thank You Everyone & keep spreading the word!

I felt inspired by the goodwill & support of my friends and family

Dear Friends, Family, and Other Interested Persons,
         First, I would like to say THANK YOU for your generous contributions to my Bike & Build fund! I am just about to reach $1000, 1/4 of the minimum requirement for my trip, and the amount necessary for me to order my bicycle! It is a very exciting time for me. I have never fundraised money before, and I really wouldn't have made it this far without your support. I am confident I will make it to my goal, thank you again :)