Toward that end… whenever I imagine doing a long trip (solo) I always think about what to do when I’m in a store or walking around a town with my bike some distance from me. The bike will be loaded with valuable stuff that is easily swiped. I’d like to know what solutions you or others have found that allows you to park the bike and walk around without everything getting ripped off.

Economies will ebb & flow just like peoples’ interest. Of course the mainstream media plays a huge role in how people view their world around them. People, like a school of fish, will change direction as quickly as they can change the channel so the media (in the U.S.) has to hype everything up and shove it down your throat to stay on the top of their reviews. Given this, I think folks just simply think riding a bicycle on a tour for whatever cause isn’t flashy enough or “Reality TV” enough.

I, though, dislike that immensely. I don’t like being marketed to and, therefore, feel funky when trying to “sell” whatever I am working on. I’ve always felt that the “product” should be able to stand on its own merits… my ride is supporting an organization that I believe is doing an outstanding job dealing with an issue that I feel is important… ‘nough said.

Just the same, I’ll keep peddling along and doing the best I can with what I have (I’m not really technically proficient but I’ll get the hang of it or find somebody who can help me with it). And, possibly, through some great networking like we are doing right here we can all make a bigger difference in whatever issue we are trying to bring awareness to or affect.

So…

I am riding from Houston, TX to New York, NY from 11AUG09 through 11SEP09 to raise awareness of and money for Wounded Warrior Project benefiting our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen and Airmen wounded in the GWOT. I’ve posted what I can on the internet and am keeping a blog of the ride. I am Tweeting on Twitter. I’ve posted fliers all over LBS’s and bulletin boards wherever I see them. I’ve had a friend, who is a free-lance news person, write an article and it will be posted in the Houston Chronicle, though, I’m positive it won’t make the front page. I’m going to send a media release to all the nationwide news stations and papers as well as those local ones in the towns & cities I will be riding through. I’ve written a letter to the President and cc’d it to those Congressmen and Senators whose districts I will be riding through. I’ve sent out contribution request letters to all the big U.S. contractors with ties to the Middle East. I’m hitting up the oil industry from the inside through a network of friends in the business. Being in Houston makes it a bit easier since 99.9% of these companies/conglomerates are based here. I don’t know what else to do but, I will listen to suggestions.

When all is said and done I know that I will have made a contribution. It may not be the $300 million garnered for cancer research by the Lance Armstrong Foundation but, hey, look who they have for a spokesperson… right!?! I will have talked to a few people who will then talk to a few people and so on. Perhaps I will raise a little money… hopefully I’ll raise more money than it will cost me to accomplish the mission but, if not, that’s my contribution.

Ride On!

I agree with alot of what’s been said if you’re doing the ‘tourist routes’ (not my words) like London to Cape Town through East Africa or Alaska to Argentina then it’s hard to really grab peoples attention. People have become too used to hearing about it. I think alot of peoples opinion is that if it’s been done once then that makes it easy for everyone else. Not sure they fully understand the blood, sweat and tears it takes just to decide to get up off the sofa and out the front door.

Last year I cycled from Korea to Cape Town through the Axis of Evil and down the West Coast of Africa through countries that are constantly in the news-Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Iran, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, DRCongo-and I couldn’t even get in my local newspaper because it “wasn’t really news”. I eventually got an article in quite a big UK paper-the Times but that was only because a freelance journalist in South Africa happened to read an article done for a local newspaper in Cape Town. He rang his contacts up and I was in the paper the next day.

I hate to say it but if she wants coverage she’s going to have to sell out-PR company, some soul selling photos etc.

One thing I was told before this trip that has stood me in good stead and that is that nobody gives a sh$t. I hate it but have been unable to disprove it. This is only relevant in the developed world as people everywhere else have been in my experience a shining example of hospitality.