Fundraising for Golder

My employer, Golder Associates has been incredibly supportive in my decision to take this excursion. As such, I feel like it's fitting to dedicate my ride to the Golder Trust for Orphans. The idea is a simple one: I ride 5,000 miles and raise $1 for each mile I log. And I am hoping that my colleagues at Golder will come through to make this a reality.

As part of our commitment to sustainability, Golder Associates formed the Golder Trust for Orphans in 2003 to provide support to children and families in Africa who have been orphaned or displaced by the AIDS pandemic.

Our (rough) route is shown in this map.

View Cross-country in a larger map

The fundraiser will kick off in February. I will be deciding on a method for collecting donations, but it will likely be via paypal.

Branded

Into the Wind Explained

Alon, Geoff, Mike and Ryan (since writing this post, two of our companions have decided they are unable or unwilling to make the trip) will head west with only their bikes and gear in the Spring of 2010. This site will act as my link to friends, family and coworkers to share the riders' collective experience on our adventure.

I called this site Into the Wind, because when I would tell folks about my plans to ride East to West cross-country the typical response would include "but you're riding into the wind in that direction." And that is likely the case so I decided to embrace it. The fact is I don't think it is logical or prudent to travel to the west coast to ride back to the east coast, no more than I endorse driving to the gym to run on a treadmill. I think this BBC article about riding into the wind gives some good insights into why so many people commented on our headwind-heavy route.

The headwind is the natural enemy of the cyclist.