One Week
A Note from Fatty About How You Can Win a Really Cool Camera: Jill Homer of Up In Alaska fame is a great athlete, a talented writer, and a gifted photographer. And she’s a member of Team Fatty. Huzzah! Well, Olympus has been good enough to help Team Fatty raise money for the LAF by donating an updated version of the camera Jill uses on her adventures — the Stylus 1030 SW, which is shockproof to 6.6ft, waterproof to 33 ft, crushproof to 220lbs of pressure and freezeproof down to 14 degrees. Basically, it’s a cyclist’s dream camera. And you can win it by donating to the LiveStrong Challenge on Jill’s Fundraising page . Every $5.00 you donate today, tomorrow or Wednesday gets you a raffle ticket toward this camera (as well as a 1GB xD card and carrying case). You might also win an autographed copy of Jill’s new book, Ghost Trails: Journeys Through a Lifetime. Click here to donate.
Team Fatty 1-Week Report
So, Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting for Susan has been around for one glorious week. What can we say we’ve accomplished during that time? Some pretty cool stuff, actually:
- Team Fatty accounts for 25% of all 2009 LiveStrong donations made so far.
- Team Fatty is the #1 team in Seattle, Austin, and Philly. We’re #2 in San Jose — by less than $100. Serious kudos to Team Lanterne Rouge in San Jose, by the way. A team of one person that’s raised more than $6000 deserves some props.
- Team Fatty currently has 282 people divided between the four events. Frankly, I’m trying to decide whether this is a really great start, or whether it means that my goal of 1000 people on my team was just not realistic. What do you think?
- Together, we have raised about $21,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation in one week. That is extremely cool, and gives me great hope that — whether we have 1000 or 500 people on our team — we can still hit that $1,000,000 goal.
How to Win a Masi Soulville 10
Those of you who have registered to be a member of Team Fatty in the 2009 LiveStrong Challenge (in Austin, San Jose, Seattle, or Philadelphia) probably already know that for every $5.00 you collect on your fundraising page, you get a virtual raffle ticket (I’m excluding myself from all these raffles, by the way) to win this bike:
Yes, the Soulville. Seriously, that is just a cool bike. Take another long look at it, would you?
What surprises me is the fact that quite a few people have signed up for Team Fatty but haven’t raised any money yet. If I were you, I’d find a friend, family member or complete stranger to donate something (or donate something on your own page, for that matter.)
Because, believe me, you want this bike. But you can’t win it if you don’t have any money in your donation page.
And the deadline for the raffle for this bike is Friday night.
How to Win the Wheels of Your Dreams
How would you like to have a nice $2000 wheelset? Well, that’s the next big prize you can win: any Shimano Dura-Ace Wheelset. Like the Soulville, you’re automatically entered in a raffle to win these ultra-top-end road wheels with every $5.00 you raise on your own LiveStrong challenge page.
But what if you don’t plan to do the LiveStrong challenge yourself, but you’d still like to help out, and wouldn’t mind winning an incredibly nice wheelset while you’re at it?
No problem. Just donate on my LiveStrong Challenge page; every $5.00 you do earns you another chance at the any Dura-Ace wheelset you want.
Mmmmm. Carrrrrbon. Man, I sometimes wish I weren’t me, so I could win these wheels.
You think it’s easy giving away all this awesomeness, knowing all the while that I can never win any of it?
It’s not fair, I tell you. It’s just not fair.
I’ll be fine. I just need a moment to myself.
OK, I think I can continue.
Again, the donation for this wheelset raffle is this Friday night. So go donate now.
And Now For A Motivational Speech From a Couple of Guys Who Live In A Van Down By the River
Okay, I know I’m hammering pretty hard, pretty often about this LiveStrong stuff. The thing is, it means a lot to me. I love telling Susan that nearly 300 people have signed up to be part of a team bearing her name, and that we’ve already raised $20,000. And that we’re trying to raise a million.
I love telling her that great companies like Shimano and Masi and Olympus (and many, many more, which I’ll be unveiling soon) are helping us.
I love being able to tell Susan that while her cancer sucks for us, her story is inspiring hundreds — maybe thousands — of people (including me) to start doing something about this stupid, evil disease.
I love telling Susan that she has a lot of friends honoring her, while they honor and fight for their own family and friends.
And — after seeing this video of Medium Brad (who we earned more than $20,000 for last year) and Mike Roadie (who we earned more than $37,000 for last year) — I like thinking about what it’s going to look like when Team Fatty gets up on the stage next year.
I think they’re going to need a bigger stage.
Enjoy the video. Be sure to stick around for both speakers — Mike wears a Fat Cyclist t-shirt up onto the stage and presents Lance with a Fat Cyclist jersey. Not to be missed.
Comment by Kathleen | 12.8.2008 | 1:32 am
They are going to need a HUGE stage!
And I bet your original goal is totally doable…people are super busy just now (you know, holidays, end of year stuff, etc) so my prediction is there are lots more folks out there who intend to join our totally awesome team and just haven’t gotten around to it.
And I gotta go rustle up some donations for my San Jose team…clearly we can’t be the ONLY city not in First Place. Shameful.
WIN Susan!
Comment by Orbea Girl | 12.8.2008 | 2:07 am
I totally agree with Kathleen. But frankly, if Jill can fly down from Alaska and I can fly over from France to take part, distance should not be a limiting factor! Surely everyone will want to take part in the coolest event ever.
Festive Greetings to all the FC family, particularly Susan.
Comment by Beth Mason | 12.8.2008 | 4:10 am
Signing up for Team Fatty was the easy part. Squeezing money out of my cheap friends is a different story! I think Kathleen is right, though, people are likely to loosen up on the purse strings after the holidays. I’ll see what I can do in the mean time to get some raffle tickets!
,_~O
-\<,
(*)/(*)
http://www.bethbikes-bethbikes.blogspot.com
http://www.bethbikes.com
Comment by Mike Roadie | 12.8.2008 | 5:58 am
Maybe it’s because I am a Friend of Fatty, but I must say, I look amazing up there!! Kinda see a family resemblance between me and Lance, if you look at it it just right!
Want to send an FC “shout out” to Kevin in Ft Lauderdale who wore his 2009 FC Jersey to the KIDS In Distress Ride yesterday. Kevin, come join the team now!
Since I have been doing this for a few years, I just want to say that it is not all that hard to raise some money….you just have to be persistent. People will say “No”, some of us are shy to ask. But if you keep writing, emailing, posting, etc., eventually, they will donate–everyone wants to help in their small way!
Good Luck, everyone!
Go Team Fatty
WIN
Unite
LiveSTRONG
Comment by Don | 12.8.2008 | 7:02 am
The thing to remember about donations, guys, is that we are now spreading the Fat Cyclist readers out. I don’t mean to sound as though I am discrediting Mike Roadie by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m guessing he would agree that he had a lot of help from Fatty and his readers. There were a lot of us donating to Mike Roadie last year for contests and stuff. This year we’re all going to have to work fort it. What I’m saying is that as individuals we are going to need to pound the pavement a little harder this year since some of the people who would normally donate to Fat Cyclist readers, by default, will now be riding with Team Fatty. So you’ll need to pound your family and friends with the importance of what you’re doing, and get them to pony up some cash for the cause.
I agree with Kathleen. Things are tight this holiday. Wait until spring before you pass judgement on what you can do. People are forking out cash for Christmas, and scared out of their mind if they’ll have a job come ‘09. Once they see that, while things are tight, everything will work out, then they’ll be likely to start donating.
Mike, as someone who has done some very light fundraising myself, I couldn’t agree more. Your not annoying people! Your keeping people who love you up to date on what you’re doing. In the process your asking for their help. Don’t bombard them daily, but keep them in the email loop! Oh, and remember to not send the same exact email 22 times in a year.
Sorry, it’s early and someone left the soapbox out last night. Anyway, goo luck to all, and lets rock this thing!
Comment by Don | 12.8.2008 | 7:03 am
Oh, and
Huzzah!
WIN Susan!
Comment by MikeonhisBike | 12.8.2008 | 7:05 am
I think it’s totally achievable but it may take some time and a lot more friends of Fatty. This should be a great experience.
Mike
http://www.mikeonhisbike.blogspot.com
Comment by fatty | 12.8.2008 | 7:23 am
orbea girl – you’re coming over from france? seriously? that’s extremely cool.
Comment by Jenni Laurita | 12.8.2008 | 7:51 am
It will happen, these goals will be achieved.
Comment by JEB | 12.8.2008 | 8:00 am
Your question: “Frankly, I’m trying to decide whether this is a really great start, or whether it means that my goal of 1000 people on my team was just not realistic. What do you think?”
I think that something I heard explained recently applies here. It’s about the difference between optimism and hope.
Personally, I’ve set a fund raising goal that I have no reason to be optimistic about attaining. There is no logical reason to think I’ll make it. But being optimistic (and realistic) is a very intellectual thing. What I do have is a whole lot of hope that I’ll attain my goal. And hope is from the heart and is way more important than optimism.
Plus, every time I think of lowering my goal, I get concerned that I’m unnecessarily limiting my chances of accomplishing something truly amazing and great. I’m sure there is a way to make my goal – the challenge is to stay open to the possibility and find the way to do it.
Fatty, what you’ve set up here is very ambitious and you should keep your hopes up that you’ll accomplish everything you’ve set as goals. Don’t be concerned about optimism or realism. Be proud of setting the bar high and challenging us to do the same. That’s part of what inspired me to get involved in the first place.
Jeb
Comment by Orbea Girl | 12.8.2008 | 8:26 am
FC: You bet I’m coming over from France. I’ll be doing the event in Austin and have already signed up for Team Fatty. I’m currently plotting my fundraising strategy.
Jeb, you’re so right. My husband did the L’Etape du Tour in 2006 and he raised Euros 80,000 (in cash and goods) for charity. Our goal was Euros 25,000 which we achieved from just one corporate sponsor. I work on the basis “you don’t ask, you don’t get”.
Ok, with the current economic climate, raising funds will be more difficult but we’ll just have to be more persistent. After all, it’s a great cause and (regretably) everyone knows someone who has been or is suffering from cancer.
Comment by nosferaustin | 12.8.2008 | 8:49 am
I look forward to meeting Orbea Girl and the rest of the Austin team. I’ve been mulling around ideas for fundraising myself, but so far I’m one of those zero donations guys…I should pop over and change that, I could use some new wheels.
Win!
Comment by Jeff | 12.8.2008 | 8:57 am
Out of curiosity, will new Fat Cyclist jerseys be available sometime between now and say…the Philly ride? I haven’t signed on to Team Fatty (yet) but if I do I would feel pretty silly riding for Team Fatty with my Syracuse University bike jersey.
Comment by Kathleen | 12.8.2008 | 9:56 am
Hey MikeRoadie – what was that about a HILL in the San Jose event? Loved Lance’s response…”I didn’t do the course” or something that like. Ha!
Comment by Mike Roadie | 12.8.2008 | 10:26 am
Kathleen:
They sent us up Metcalf Road….a 1.8 mile climb that went striaght up! It was like a 17% average grade…..something crazy like that. It took me 45 minutes! So I couldn’t resist the barb at Lance. What he said was that he didn’t choose the course. He did ride it though….and was back, showered, changed, ate lunch and was giving a quick speech at the finish by the time I got there!
DON: Your advice on fundraising is right on. Also, try to do some local events to mix it up. BTW, aside form the raffles here, I also raised over $20,000 of that money on my own. But this year, I want everyone to participate and have the chance to represent Team Fatty at an event!
Comment by JT | 12.8.2008 | 10:45 am
I agree that 1000 people is “doable”.. as the $$ grow there will be some people not committed to a team that will want to join us and after the holiday season, as more people get on their bikes (and who isn’t a fat cyclist in Jan!) the ## will grow. I’m making sure everyone at the holiday parties/events I go to know about the team and ask them to tell a couple of people. Happy if they donate but given the season awareness is my key for now. People get jacked up about this when I tell them so the bzzz will keep building. As a lurker on the site and very occasional poster it is really exciting to be part of this. http://seattle09.livestrong.org/jtmeldrum
Comment by KanyonKris | 12.8.2008 | 10:58 am
Fatty, good update – I needed the reminder.
Everyone should watch the video. Mike and Brad, wow, I’m very impressed with what you accomplished!
Comment by Dobovedo | 12.8.2008 | 11:22 am
1000 is definitely doable. Don’t forget – it’s W I N T E R. Not on the calendar, but temps are running significantly below normal, at least in my neck of the woods. People are NOT thinking about cycling… and won’t be until March or April. The early adopters will do the work in the meantime, and then we’ll get a huge rally in the spring.
I haven’t even started fundraising yet and I’m at 12% of my goal.
Comment by UpNorth | 12.8.2008 | 12:08 pm
I have the Stylus 1030 and LOVE it. It’s been snorkeling, rappelling, skiing, mountain biking…
Go Team(s) FATTY!!!
Comment by Clydesteve | 12.8.2008 | 12:08 pm
In answer to your question, Fatty – This is a great response so far. Early in december and all that.
I would like to pile on to Mike Roadie’s message about fund raising. I have raised over $18,000 in 2003, over $12,000 in 2007, and over $15,000 in 2008. I am not saying this to brag. (But I want to!) Just this. None of this has involved fund-raising events. This is ALL letter writing to family and friends, and having friends and family pass along the letters to their friends.
Fund raising events and raffles work. I hope to get some help doing some of that this year. But I really want to encourage you to write fund raising letters. It works. Here are some organizing thoughts for content:
1. Get informed about the cancer problem.
2. Personalize it. If you have no personal experience (yourself or loved ones), I feel pretty confident in saying that Elden and Susan are lending you their story for Team Fatty.
3. Learn what the LAF is doing about it.
4. Send the word! Don’t be shy. YOU CAN raise funds. Really.
Steve
http://seattle09.livestrong.org/stevpete
Comment by Clydesteve | 12.8.2008 | 12:12 pm
I also wanted to say that even though I saw Brad’s and Mike’s speeches in person, I really enjoyed viewing the replay. Both were articulate, funny and made me proud to be related by means of Fatcyclist.com
Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting for Susan – An idea whose time is here!
Comment by Clydesteve | 12.8.2008 | 12:37 pm
So, ya want to stand on that stage with Team Fatty? I highly reccomend qualifying for attendance at the night-before-the-ride Appreciation dinner. If you are not there, you are not there.
Here is the link showing how much you need to raise to get there:
http://www.livestrongchallenge.org/site/c.frKPI1PAIoE/b.3920359/k.B054/FAQs.htm#fundraising
If you want to ride your bike in an event, you must raise at least $250. If you wnat to attend the appreciation dinner, and see Fatty accept wild accolades and give a hilarious speech, and possibly schlep you up on the stage, you must raise at least $3000. And YOU can do this. Really, you can.
Comment by Clydesteve | 12.8.2008 | 12:39 pm
Just can’t shut up.
In addition to the stats Fatty posted above, in Seattle, at least, 3 of the top 5 individual fund raisers are on Team Fatty. I suspect this might be true in some of the other cities, as well.
Comment by Woody | 12.8.2008 | 3:46 pm
I have to admit that I’m not scared about reaching my fund raising goal (I have a REALLY big family – all of which I am going to pester beyond belief!) but I am scared to death that I have bitten off way more than I can chew. I have never ridden 100 miles before. I have never ridden 50 miles before. My max is 30 – is there hope for me??
Comment by Clydesteve | 12.8.2008 | 5:10 pm
Woody – Yes, there is. If you have ridden 30, you can certainly do the 40-miler with zero additional training.
And, with some training, you can do the 65 or 100, if you set your mind to it.
check out http://www.roadbikerider.com There is a lot of good free training info available, and if you are willing to buy a very reasonably priced e-book, there are some excellent ones.
Comment by Nancy | 12.8.2008 | 8:50 pm
As one very successful fundraiser said:
YES WE CAN!
. . . and I believe that. Bit by bit, we’ll get there.
Comment by VeloMom | 12.8.2008 | 8:57 pm
I’m happy to report that San Jose Team Fatty is back in first place for our site’s fund raising!
It’s only December–we can meet Fatty’s goals.
Comment by Mom of Fatty | 12.9.2008 | 8:51 am
WOW! What great folks you hang out with son. Guess even I will have to become a team member. Haven’t been on a bike in years, like after I busted up my teeth, but I am a pretty good crew member. Guess that counts!
Comment by Mom of Fatty | 12.9.2008 | 8:53 am
WOW! What great folks you hang out with son. Guess even I will have to become a team member. Haven’t been on a bike in years, like after I busted up my teeth, but I am a pretty good crew member. Guess that counts!
Comment by Di | 12.9.2008 | 10:18 am
I really wanted to join in on the fun and raise money for Team Fatty. Unfortunately, circumstances dictate that I must soon pay a $500 deductible, :? so I can’t afford to join. :-(
Good luck! I really want to see this awesome plan achieved.
Comment by fatty | 12.9.2008 | 11:03 am
mom – you don’t have to ride; you can do the run / walk instead. it would be really cool to have you there. maybe the seattle one?
di – sorry about the big deductible coming up. you still have plenty of time to join up, tho. sign up when/if you can afford to.
Comment by miss & stewOZ | 12.9.2008 | 5:49 pm
Mom of Fatty, you should be so proud of your son. He and his family is now very much part of all our families.
Fatty, your ‘mom’ (we say ‘mum’ down under) is awesome.
Comment by buckythedonkey | 12.10.2008 | 3:47 am
What a great video! I love the way Lance really has a really good look at his new jersey. :-)
MoF, go girl!
WIN SUSAN!!