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Thread: Crohn's Rides?

  1. #1
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    Crohn's Rides?

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    My DH was diagnosed Monday with Crohn's disease. Now I want to find a ride to channel my energy into. My father recently finished chemo for colon cancer, so the foundation for Crohn's would help that too.

    The only thing I can find is the "Get Your Guts in Gear". Two problems- the only two rides are FAR away and you have to raise a lot of money. My goal is to raise a lot of money, but to get two people to raise $3700 combined is a tall task. Anyone know of other rides?
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  2. #2
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    Did you find dates for the rides for 2007?

    V.
    Discipline is remembering what you want.


    TandemHearts.com

  3. #3
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    Well I was thinking for 2007. I don't see the ride dates, but it is a long time to attempt to fund raise.

    It is just something I am so passionate about. My Dad has colon cancer, my Pawpaw had colon cancer, DH has Crohn's, obviously I have a vested interest in the Crohn's and Colitis foundation. I want to find away to help but committing to $1850 a person is daunting.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  4. #4
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    Diy

    Get your Guts in Gear -- just cracks me up. I know, it's a serious disease, but what a funny (and almost disgusting) name.

    If you can't find a fundraising ride, you could always do something on your own. Or, you could participate in a different organized ride, but have a fundraising campaign that benefits the Chron's Foundation and run it through one of the various fundraising sites. I know other athletes who've done that.

    Good luck to you and my thoughts go out to your father as well!

  5. #5
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    I'd never heard of the ride before. My sister has Crohn's and so the ride intrigued me.

    2007 is kind of full for me, but the idea is percolating.

    V.
    Discipline is remembering what you want.


    TandemHearts.com

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama View Post
    Well I was thinking for 2007. I don't see the ride dates, but it is a long time to attempt to fund raise.

    It is just something I am so passionate about. My Dad has colon cancer, my Pawpaw had colon cancer, DH has Crohn's, obviously I have a vested interest in the Crohn's and Colitis foundation. I want to find away to help but committing to $1850 a person is daunting.
    You can do it. This amount is more than some charity rides, less than others. It does seem daunting at first, but just let everyone you can think of know that you're doing it and why, and explain that any amount will help. You will be surprised by the generosity of some. Plus, completing the fundraising is part of the challenge, so think of how much it will mean to finish both goals. You should plan things you can do to raise money, like - can you provide a service where proceeds will go to the ride, or organize a donated goods sale, or a raffle (my husband did this for the PMC). Ask family, friends, any groups you belong to etc. My husband and I had to raise $5000 for our ride, and we were first timers...

    I say commit to it and make it happen! As for it being far away, that may be more of an obstacle, but I'd bet there are plenty of riders who come from other areas. I know the PMC draws from something like 38 states.
    Last edited by tygab; 10-11-2006 at 06:18 PM.

  7. #7
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    Aggie_A,

    It's very do-able. (((hugs))) to DH. My sister and my neice both have Crohns and both ride. Thanks for doing this.
    Fancy Schmancy Custom Road bike ~ Mondonico Futura Legero
    Found on side of the road bike ~ Motobecane Mixte
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  8. #8
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    Well now the gears are turning. The Seattle ride would give me a long time to prepare both in fundraising and the trip.

    The other thing I am wondering is how one begins an organized ride? Do you contact the LBS? The local cycling club? It just seems like everywhere I turn I meet someone who knows someone with Crohn's, why not have a ride in the Southwest? I am not sure this is something I would be ready to take on, but it seems like something to put my heart into.

    I am going to keep researching ways to pedal and raise money for CCFA. Right now DH is beginning Remicade, but I don't want to have him on it forever. There must be a way to find a cure. It is a pretty hard diagnosis to take, so I am channeling my frustration elsewhere.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  9. #9
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    long answer

    Yep, my daughter and I both have Crohns and both ride. Ride, hike, swim, ski, work more than we oughta. I'm not in all that great shape, but I'm still pretty active. And DD is training for the California Aids Ride 2007! Two words of encouragement for a new Crohn-ie:
    1) Not that I'm a Mormon (far from it!) but according to one historic Mormon elder "The secret of a long life, is to get yourself an incurable disease ... and take care of it." Now THAT I do believe.
    2) I just read in a local science magazine that somebody at my university has come up with a new mechanism for stopping auto-immune diseases (Crohns falls into that category). So far they've done the mouse tests on this for one skin disease, because then they could apply it as a cream. The mouse tests were successful, but there are still some years of human testing to do before it can go on the market. And for Crohns they have to find a different way of delivering the medication to the affected areas. So we'll still have to be patient, but at least there are new approaches under development.

    Which I guess brings us back to your goal: Yes, there seems to be good reasons to do fund-raising for Crohns. There is research out there to support, and support group work to support while we wait for the research results. I wasn't aware that there were Crohns rides anywhere. Glad you found some. Perhaps others could be organized (talk to local bike clubs? bike shops?). I also wasn't aware that one could self-declare fund-raising goals for other, non-charity rides. Hmmm. Maybe we Crohn'ies on TE could find a weekend when there are rides here and there and overlay those with a virtual charity ride for Crohns ...?

    As for raising the funds, there are several threads on that hereabouts. My DD has started her fund-raising for ALC. She's got letters printed up to send to friends and relations. She's made cards to insert into bags of cookies she plans to sell at her own and her BF's universities (took some calculating to work out what to charge for the cookies, but I guess she's got that done too). And I gather her BF wrote a piece for the local paper. Sister Trek420 also gets some sponsorship from the firm she works for. They contribute money and I vaguely recall that Trek proposed they make team jerseys the company's riders could all wear one day of the ride. That could be quite a PR show for the company if they all rode out as a group, for instance. I'm sure you'll find other tips in threads in this theme area.
    Half-marathon over. Sabbatical year over. It's back to "sacking shirt and oat cakes" as they say here.

  10. #10
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    Duck on Wheels sorry to say that this is not true "Sister Trek420 also gets some sponsorship from the firm she works for."

    No shirts, jerseys, water bottles, no company match....now if I was a golf tournament or was a football team or bowl game...

    The grand high mucky muck poobah of Residential Service for Big Mega Telco was one of my sponsors on my last AIDS ride.

    She made noises about team jerseys. But we're too po' to afford them at BMT corporation. We bought Bell South....but can't afford jerseys. I told her there will be publicity, we ride through tiny rural towns in CA where this is one of the biggest events of the year we should have...

    Was she ever there was a 7-day made for TV movie filmed of the ride, our competitions team had jerseys....

    I came back and said "for a few $35.00 jerseys you could have had 7 days of advertising in the youth market, our competition did!"

    oops.

    However....many companies match their employees charitable donations (not mine ahem). These funds usually take a long time to post but if someone's sponsoring you ask them.
    Last edited by Trek420; 10-12-2006 at 05:29 AM.
    Fancy Schmancy Custom Road bike ~ Mondonico Futura Legero
    Found on side of the road bike ~ Motobecane Mixte
    Gravel bike ~ Salsa Vaya
    Favorite bike ~ Soma Buena Vista mixte
    Folder ~ Brompton
    N+1 ~ My seat on the Rover recumbent tandem
    https://www.instagram.com/pugsley_adventuredog/

  11. #11
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    My husband has a pretty good attitude "You just play with the hand you are dealt." He went in for his first Remicade therapy yesterday and was a little frustrated about the treatment, but optimistic.

    A virtual ride? That is a great idea! I think I found Betagirl raised her own money for Crohn's in 2005, maybe she can share what she did. This would allow up to raise money without the stress of hitting $1900.

    I found there is going to be a "Get Your Guts in Gear" in Texas, March 23-25, 2007. They require $1900, which I would love to believe I will hit but it is a tall order. I need to think this one over for a while.

    I loved Toni's idea of standing at the local university in her bike clothes. It is just so catchy.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  12. #12
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    Don't just stand...train! Might as well, you have to train anyway.

    There's a group of ALC riders who set up a fund raiser on a rainy day in SF indoors on their stationary trainers
    Fancy Schmancy Custom Road bike ~ Mondonico Futura Legero
    Found on side of the road bike ~ Motobecane Mixte
    Gravel bike ~ Salsa Vaya
    Favorite bike ~ Soma Buena Vista mixte
    Folder ~ Brompton
    N+1 ~ My seat on the Rover recumbent tandem
    https://www.instagram.com/pugsley_adventuredog/

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trek420 View Post
    Don't just stand...train! Might as well, you have to train anyway.

    There's a group of ALC riders who set up a fund raiser on a rainy day in SF indoors on their stationary trainers
    Every year the University of Texas does this before their 4,000 mile ride for Cancer. It might not work in Austin. I have never seen it done in the town I went to school at, maybe I could try there? My wheels are definitely spinning, which is better than my head. It has been spinning since DH started getting sick 8/25. This is much more productive.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  14. #14
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    As Mother Duck (Duck on Wheels) and Auntie Trek (Trek420) said, I have chron's and I'm riding. I was worried about making the $2500 target for ALC too and almost didn't sign up. But then I decided to do it anyway. I started sending out letters to people this week (so no response yet...) and I started my cookie sales this week. I brought them in to my work yesterday and to BF's department today and so far I've made $25 profit. Not much in the big scheme of things, but it's a good start and I plan on doing this every week so it should help.

    So my recommendation is to find a ride that you can make it to date-wise and sign up. I'm certain you won't have too much trouble getting the donations in.

  15. #15
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    Mar 2006
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    Minneapolis, MN
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    CCFA- Rant

    I don't want to sound all cynical here, but I have a problem with CCFA.

    It's a creation of a drug company. Drug companies make lots of money off people like me who have UC and need to take drugs for the rest of our lives to treat our disease. I used to go on their website to do research and such until I realized that they devote nothing to any sorts of natural treatments or cures. It's all about the drugs.

    I just wonder whether they're really trying to find a "cure" or whether they'd rather we rely on their products for the rest of our lives.

    On the other hand, my sister, who has Crohn's, did a fundraising thing for them so she could go skydiving, and she said it was one of the best experiences of her life. So I guess if you're doing it as something for yourself, then go for it.

    Just my opinion. I've thought of doing the get your guts in gear ride, because it would be cool to meet other cyclists who have IBD, but I figure there are better places for my charity.

    In any case, I hope you find a way to support your family members with IBD. It's not something I would wish on anyone.

    cheers,
    Kate

 

 

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