There are some wonderful ways to contribute to worthy charities. A bicycle ride to raise money for cancer research would certainly count as one of those.
Some people take it too far, however.
There are a couple of phrases that people who’ve visited Texas come to recognize. The first is “Everything’s Bigger In Texas”; another is “Keep Austin Weird”. Combine them both and you get the Texas 4000. It’s a bicycle trip from Austin to Anchorage.
And, despite the fact that one can find Palestine, TX; Paris, TX; London, TX and more, this Anchorage isn’t in Texas. It’s the famous one, in Alaska.
Riders split into three groups, taking different routes up through the country, through Canada, and into Alaska. The trips take 70 days and various riders live-blog when the group stops.
They’re in the process of riding now, with the end date of August 10. You can follow it on their website, with the specific link here: (social wall)
It was begun in 2004, and has to date raised almost $5 million for cancer research.
But life isn’t always wonderful for bicyclists. Just ask Yassine Gallham. He is a Moroccan, and was traveling around the perimeter of Africa on his bicycle, nicknamed Mama Africa. 22,000 kilometers into his journey, he stopped to relieve himself at a mosque in South Africa. Upon coming out he discovered that someone else had wanted to ride on his bicycle… and they didn’t come back. (News 24)
Yassine is now hoping a local radio station will help him raise enough money to buy another bike. Perhaps he’d be better off going from Austin to Anchorage.
Question of the night: When was the last time you rode a bicycle?
