While Tweeting up with some of the local folks this weekend, one of them said they wanted to donate to my Livestrong Challenge effort but didn’t really understand it. So I figured I’d blog about it to try to give them a better idea of what I’m doing. Let’s see how this works in the form of a FAQ:

What is the Livestrong Challenge?

Wikipedia says:

“The LIVESTRONG Challenge is a series of community-building fundraising events that take place across the country. The LIVESTRONG Challenge includes the signature LIVESTRONG Ride, as well as 5K run/walk to allow people of all ages and physical abilities to participate and raise funds for cancer survivors.”

The challenge series helps to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded and named after the seven time Tour de France champion who is not only a cancer survivor but the greatest cyclist in United States–if not world–history.

For what it’s worth, this year’s challenge is a 10K run/walk, at least in Philadelphia, on Saturday, and on Sunday, the “signature LIVESTRONG Ride” is a century–in this case 95.7 miles of riding.

There are several Livestrong Challenge events throughout the nation, including California, the Pacific Northwest, and Austin, Texas (where Lance Armstrong is from). The one I will be riding happens to be in Philadelphia, an ocean and a continent away.

What team are you on?

I’m on Team Fat Cyclist, aka Team Fatty, captained by Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist himself. It’s cocaptained by Philly Jen, who has been quite helpful in my figuring out my arrangements so far.

What’s special about Team Fatty?

Team Fatty is an outgrowth of the immensely popular Fat Cyclist blog, which started off being about his cycling adventures (he is no longer fat, for sure) but ended up being about his late wife Susan’s battle with cancer and fighting cancer in every conceivable way. In 2009, less than a month after Susan had passed, Fatty himself was in Philadelphia with Team Fat Cyclist, and they obliterated all of the records for fundraising in the Livestrong Challenge.

I want to be part of a winning team. That’s why I chose Team Fatty.

Why Philadelphia?

Reading a couple of the blog posts on the Philadelphia event, and more importantly, watching the video of the awards banquet the night before, will tell you exactly why I chose Philadelphia. This is not to speak poorly about any of the other sites; I just believe that Philly is where I want to be. See why:

2009 Philadelphia LiveStrong Challenge: Fatty’s Speech from Fat Cyclist on Vimeo.

After watching that, I have a hard time thinking I could be anywhere else.

Is money going to you or Livestrong?

Everything sent in is going to Livestrong. People have asked if I would take personal donations to help offset my travel costs, and while I appreciate the gesture, this is essentially this year’s vacation. A once in a lifetime effort and experience. So thank you, but I think they need the money more than I do.

How can I give?

You can go to my Livestrong page here.

Donate online or print out a form and give what you can.

What if I can’t afford to give or can’t afford to give much but I still want to help?

Any amount helps, so don’t feel like anything is insignificant. If you’re a blogger or Twitterer or FaceBooker, pimping out this effort would be a huge help, particularly if you’re local (meaning in Hawai’i) or in the media. I want this to be a huge success–and actually, thanks to you, it already is.

What’s your goal?

While I list a monetary goal (right now at $1,500), the real goals are to

(1) do as much as I can for this cause I believe in;

(2) finish;

(3) not injure myself;

and

(4) have a great story to tell.

Because of all of you who have supported me in this effort–and those who are making up their minds to do so–I already have a great story to tell.

And, after all of that, I guess the other goals I have are to get into the best shape of my life and make those of you who believe in me proud.

In my entire life, I have never been so grateful, honored, and humbled by the people in my life as I have been during this effort. I cannot do or say enough to thank those of you who have stepped forward to support me in doing this.

Thanks for reading.
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1. T Foster Says:
   January 18th, 2010 at 10:51 pm

   Wow,
   I am headed to Philly also as part of Team Fatty. This will be my first LIVESTRONG event. However, it is a mere hop, jump, and skip from Georgia in comparison. In addition to your efforts so far, I am now super impressed you are traveling from Hawai’i.

2. ryan Says:
   January 20th, 2010 at 12:15 am

   Thanks, Tommy. I hope to meet you there! Let’s ride together.