Has Anyone ever done the Team in Training Program?

[Bike Diva]

My husband and I have done two Team in Training century rides. It's a fantastic program! We came from a mountain biking background. When our local mtn bike trails got destroyed during all those hurricanes a few years ago we went out and bought road bikes.

The road bike kind of scared me compared to the mtn bike. I didn't like riding on the road with cars, and those skinny tires of the bike took some getting used to. I received a TNT brochure in the mail and figured signing up for a century ride would get me used to riding the road bike. And now I am a road bike addict - I'm mostly a roadie now and hardly ever ride my mtn bike anymore.

Our first TNT event was in 2006. We did the Intracoastal Century Ride which took place in Cocoa Beach, Florida October, 2006.

And we just completed the 25th annivesary of the El Tour de Tucson which took place on November 17, 2007. This was actually a 109 mile road bike ride which included 2 dry river bed crossings. Over 5,000 bikers participated in this ride - it was awesome. My husband and I were the mentors for our local S. Florida TNT cycle team.

And this year my husband will be the cycling coach for the 2008 TNT winter season and I'll probably be one of the mentors. We'll be training for the 2008 Intracoastal Century Ride.

Raising the money is always our main concern. Since we are both participating that means we have to raise double the $$. The Cocoa Beach ride was a local event so we only had to raise $2,800 each = $5,600 total. The fundraising for Tucson was $4,100 each but since we were the mentors we only had to raise $3,100 each x 2 = $6,200.

As a coach, my husband isn't required to do any fundraising. So this year's fundraising should be a piece o'cake!

Both seasons we met a terrific bunch of people on our cycle teams. We are still friends with many of them. That's one of the best parts of joining TNT in my opinion. 5 of our Tucson team members, including our coach, are now training for our local MS150 ride - a 2 day, 150 mile road bike ride that benefits the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

GO TEAM!!!!!!

And now that I love road riding so much I have a new bike on order. A 2008 Trek Madone 6.5 WSD - it's SICK!!!! The bike I have now is awesome = Cannondale Synapse 2 WSD, but once the biking bug hits, forget about it!

[Raygungirl]

The fundraising is my biggest concern...I'm not a very good salesperson, and hate asking for money from family and friends...how do you deal with this? What kind of support is actually available in the programs?

[Possegal]

Just a few thoughts: [Mine was for the LiveStrong Challenge, not Team in Training, but still fundraising].

The online fundraising is a nice tool, and sending out harassing emails - as I kept joking with my friends - is pretty easy to do and I got a good number of folks that donated online right away. But others, I had to send a few reminders to.

I still had people who were not comfortable donating online (and it wasn't a generational thing, I never quite figured it out). I think this year for my LiveStrong ride, I will end up sending out requests for donations in the mail as well. Years ago I used to do that for Relay for Life. I would send a sort of newsletter with pictures from the previous relay, and a request for donations, with a self-addressed stamped envelope included so they could send the donation back to me. I may be doing that again this year.

I have a friend who works for a sporting goods store. He said his boss donates to one thing like this quarterly. It may be worth asking some of the bike shops or sporting goods stores in your area. I've not tried that yet, but plan to do that this year.


My friend who did do 2 marathons with Team in Training added this:

The Team in Training folks acted like the fundraising was very easy and she didn't think it was.

She said if you are worried about the fundraising, try and do a ride closer as the fundraising needed will be less. She wondered if they also pay for the transport of the bike, which would add more to the cost.

Her coach the second year was more helpful with ideas. She said they gave lots of ideas if you were willing to follow up on them.

She did happy hours with the Team in Training folks that were held at some places in the DC area, they were handled differently, someplaces had a cover they charged that then went to TT, others had other methods that we aren't sure of right now. We know that Chipotle, Chicken Out, Austin Grill, California Tortilla (which we think actually may be local to the DC area) among others will do fundraising days for you, just talk to someone at local restaurants or bars and see if they do it.

We held a yard sale, emailed everyone in our work divisions and told them when they were spring cleaning if there were things they wanted to get rid of to bring them to us. We got a really good turnout in things for our yard sale and raised about $550 for her from that alone.

Great if you have friends that donate who work for companies that will match. As a pharmacologist, I have many friends who work for pharmaceutical firms, and they all match, that has helped me before.

My friend said to tell you she is just like you, hates asking folks for money, but she managed it twice. I, it seems, don't hesitate to email and ask people to support me. We both agree though, that asking people to donate when you are challenging yourself to do something so difficult, seems a little easier.

Ok, very wordy, but hope something in here helps. Good luck!!

[Starfish]

The fundraising is my biggest concern...I'm not a very good salesperson, and hate asking for money from family and friends...how do you deal with this?

I have not done TNT. I have done other kinds of fundraising, both for charities, and as a job. I know others will have lots of tips on the actual how's of raising the funds. What I would say to you is this:

Start the process of getting to know the people who are affected by ________ (fill in the blank for what you are supporting/fighting for). Start with reading and get a handle on the numbers of people afflicted. Start talking to people who suffer from it. Let your heart get involved. See how much pain is caused by ___________________.

From the moment you gain a deep conviction about the need to eradicate the problem, you cease to be a salesperson focused on your own needs and fears (raising money, fears of rejection or labelling, or irritating people, or whatever yours are), and you become a person with a passion. Once you feel that conviction, and you speak to people straight from your heart about the need, you will not want to stop until you have asked everyone you know, and many you don't yet know, to support the cause.

My experience is that when I am feeling nervous about asking for support, I am forgetting that for me, it is a fundraiser, but for the people affected by the disease (or other issue), it is life or death, or quality of life. And, it is also my experience that when I ask for support from a place of honest passion and conviction, even when people turn me down, they do it from their own place of honesty, and I don't then take it personally (and they seem to feel more comfortable with me).

I hope this helps. I know that it can be difficult to ask family, friends and strangers for money. For me, it becomes much, much easier...and even fun and rewarding...when I keep in front of me the true need that is really behind it all.

Hope that doesn't sound preachy. I know it can be intimidating. But, it is worth it. Good luck!