It's On: $38/day in 38 Days

The recent failed (for now) battle for transit may have distracted me, but never fail, even though I'm disheartened, I can't eschew my fundraising committment to the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. While transit is a passion, so is biking and the arts, and funding for them is important to this community as well.

Time has flown though, and today I realized that there's just 38 days left until the big ride and I need to ramp up both my fundraising and my physical training.

In case you forgot, you can donate online here.

I'm still a huge believer in quantity over quality for fundraising because I think that everyone should feel good about donating, even if it's just $5. Of course, I'll be creatively adding incentives to entice those larger donations over the next 38 days.

So here's what's on the horizon:

FUN-draising Events & Challenges

Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM
Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers
Belly up to the bar during happy hour and get served by yours truly. Make me earn my tips toward the United Performing Arts Fund. The universe has actually conspired to make this a truly awesome night. Here's three reasons why the night will rock:

1.  AJ Bombers will be visited by the film crew of Food Wars on the Travel Channel next week. They probably won't be there while I am, but the aura of basic cable fame will still be lingering.
2. My dear old dad will be flying in from Portland for the occasion (well actually he was just going to be in the neighborhood for work, so he'll be stopping by).
3. The Milwaukee County Transit System kicks off its 150th Anniversary Celebration that day with free rides on the Route 15...which...you guessed it...goes right by AJ Bombers!

Week of May 16
Kisses for the Arts - More info coming soon, but the plan is for every $1 I get this week I will either eat a Hershey's Kiss (will be working them off in training) or kiss the donor. This could get interesting. Mark your calendars kiddos.

Week of May 23
To Be Announced - I'm "cooking" up a pretty cool idea on Twitter. I'll keep you posted as to what develops.

Week of May 30
Rocking for the Arts - Need to flesh this out, but Verge Music Festival is that weekend, so there will be some sort of challenge!

Training Plans:
I'm going to ramp up some intensive cross-training so my body will be ready to take on these 75 miles. I'm also doing both the Rock N' Run (Proceeds going to UPAF) and the Block Melanoma 5k before the ride as well. I am going to start the Bridge to 10k running program and get a lengthy bike training ride in every weekend between now and the ride.

Care to join me on a training ride? Mark your calendars for May 2 (25 miles), May 9 (35 miles), May 15 (45 miles), May 22 (55 miles) or (possibly) May 29 (65 miles).

Sound like fun? Keep watching the blog for more updates. And don't forget, you can donate online here.