I love you guys.
A Mark-Yer-Calendar Note from Fatty: One thing you may have noticed with all five of these bikes that we’re giving away with this fundraiser: they are all loaded up with top notch SRAM parts. And that ain’t cheap. At all.
Which means that of all the companies who are sponsoring this Grand Slam for Zambia: The Power of 5 fundraiser, SRAM is the biggest. Which you probably already knew.
But what you may not have known is that SRAM sponsors World Bicycle Relief in a huge way, year round.
And tomorrow, we’re going to have a nice Spreecast talk with the President of SRAM and the President of World Bicycle Relief, to talk about why they do this and how it all works. It should be an amazing chat.
So mark your calendar for 3PM ET / 12noon PT and come back to this site; I’ll have a link to the Spreecast URL at that time.
If you were right here, you’d be in massive danger of getting a big ol’ Fatty-style hug. So you’re lucky you’re not here. And I am too, I guess, because since you’re not here I don’t have to worry about the awkwardness that would ensue after this hug.
But still: consider yourself hugged, virtually, by a beloved, award-winning blogger who is currently right on the threshold of needing to start wearing his seasonal fat pants.
Let me tell you why.
Awesome Email
The first reason I’m so happy is because you people have already donated $56,616 in the Grand Slam for Zambia: The Power of 5 fundraiser. That’s a lot of money.
And as you’re donating, some of you are sending email that makes me, well, kinda proud to be a part of this. In particular, someone sent this one to Scot Nicol (Chuck Ibis) upon learning about Ibis’s participation in this fundraiser:
Hey Chuck,
Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I totally get the joys associated with riding a bike, especially with my family and friends, but I never really thought about how it could change lives until I saw this video. It really stirred up some emotions within me as I realized how fortunate I am to have always had a bike!
I immediately hit the link to donate my $5 until I realized that it only takes $134 to buy one complete bike. Heck my dream Ibis is $10,000! So I bought a bike and found great pleasure in knowing that some other awesome person is going to match that, so two bikes will now be donated!
I have asked my family to donate to this cause in lieu of any Christmas gifts for me and I am sharing your email with my community. It is my goal to get 10 bikes donated! I have always really appreciate all the charity initiatives that Ibis supports and have contributed to them all, but this one is something else!
Thanks again for sharing and Merry Christmas!
And that’s just one email. Your comments in blog posts tell similar stories. So thanks for that.
Awesome Blog Post
You may know that last winter I used Beeminder as a way to help me track and stay honest with my weight loss goals. What you may not know is that the folks at Beeminder use their own tool to make sure they hit their own product development goals, with $1000 on the line for the first time they didn’t hit their goal.
And when they didn’t, Henrik was right there to collect the $1000 premium. Which Beeminder gladly paid.
At which point, Henrik turned around and donated it in this fundraiser. Which, effectively, paid for 14 bikes for WBR (paid for 7, matched for another 7).
This story totally made my day — and I think it will make yours, too. Read the whole thing here.
And then go donate.
Comment by clayton | 12.16.2013 | 12:59 pm
If you were here (or I were there) I’d give you a big hug right back. What you do and the stories you tell have brightened many a dreary day for me and I am glad to help in any way I can. You’ll always have support from my side of the world (Florida).
Comment by PBRMEASAP | 12.16.2013 | 1:30 pm
I give great hugs.
Comment by Flat tired | 12.16.2013 | 1:58 pm
Fatty, I love to click on the donation link and do the math on dollars donated per person. It has remained very close to a bike per person and the average has actually been climbing…
I donated a full bike myself and am thrilled that others are also.
P.S. There is no such thing as an awkward hug among good friends and after reading your blog for years, I consider you one of mine.
Comment by BostonCarlos (formerly NYC) | 12.16.2013 | 2:03 pm
Finally got around to donating!
Comment by MicroTim | 12.16.2013 | 2:23 pm
We love you too! Semi-awkward-virtual hugs all around!
Comment by Davidh-Marin,ca | 12.16.2013 | 3:03 pm
We’re cyclists…..most of us. We follow European cycling…..some of us. Let’s throw in some podium kisses and take awkwardness to a whole new level!!!!
The first one’s for you honey! You know who you are. :-)
Comment by Heidi | 12.16.2013 | 3:39 pm
*Blush* Gee, Davidh-Marin,ca, I didn’t know you felt that way about me!
Comment by Christina | 12.16.2013 | 3:45 pm
I’ll only take podium kisses if Fatty’s wearing a polka dot dress.
I like these fundraisers, because if get to feel like I’m part of something really big. Plus, like I’ve said before, WBR is awesome to donate to and fundraise for because of their communication and cause.
Would you mind sharing the total number of individual donors? I see the same characters commenting here, but I know it must be nowhere near the total number of donors.
Comment by wharton_crew | 12.16.2013 | 3:51 pm
I have always wanted to hug Stanley Tucci – you could be a good proxy…
Comment by MattC | 12.16.2013 | 4:42 pm
The hugs (between us guys anyway) could be “bro-hugs”…which are way less awkard…and you can even hold a beer in the other hand while doing it. I’m in for my one bike so far, and will do a 2nd before the time closes (can’t pass up the dollar for dollar matching Fatty has arranged for us). I’ve also shifted over my year-round fundraising with all profits going to WBR vice Livestrong for 2014 (being as LS isn’t doing Davis this year, which is where all my last 5 years fundraising dollars went). Their loss…WBR’s gain. I LIKE WBR as a charitable entity!
Comment by Heidi | 12.16.2013 | 5:06 pm
KIDDING! The real honeys here are the hugely generous Henrik, and Fatty, of course. This is my favorite fundraiser, and WBR does such an excellent job of personalizing the process with their videos. If I’m fortunate enough to win one of the fabulous bikes that are being offered here, I will donate it back to Fatty for another fundraiser.
Comment by davidh-marin,ca | 12.16.2013 | 9:44 pm
$61,739
(7:43pm PST)
Comment by AKChick | 12.16.2013 | 10:24 pm
I finally made my first installment donation. :) I have to donate on paydays.
So if we are on a podium kiss/hug scenario, is it wrong for me to pull a Peter Sagan? ;-) Heh.
I wish I could make the spreecast. I’m on proposal deadline tomorrow and Wednesday at work. Pffft. They also monitor our streaming internet use. Again, Pfffft. So I’ll have to catch it later…
Hugs to you Fatty for being so freaking awesome! And to WBR, Trek, SRAM, and Ibis!!!!
Comment by cyclingjimbo | 12.17.2013 | 7:18 am
Donation done, and waiting, waiting , waiting.
@DavidH, if lightning does strike twice, I will have to deal with the quandry of which of these great bikes to choose. It’s a daunting prospect, but I think I can manage.
Fatty, the generosity of your friends is truly astounding – your bike business friends have stepped up with an amazing collection of bikes, and your FOFs are stepping up likewise with huge donations. Good people doing great things, and make the world a little better.
Comment by Dave T | 12.17.2013 | 8:48 am
Right back at you fatty, hugs. You are awesome.
Comment by MLB | 12.17.2013 | 10:22 am
Just made my donation. In keeping with the “power of 5″ theme, I made it $135.00. You know, if everyone who donates a full bike($134), rounded up $1, with matching $1, it would add up to several more bikes at the end of the fundraiser. The power of 5 at work!
Comment by Daniel Reeves | 12.17.2013 | 3:42 pm
Did you notice the part where Henrik Wist decided not to use the $1000 to pay off some debt? So clearly it wasn’t that $1000 was just chump change to him. Really amazing guy!
Comment by Christina | 12.20.2013 | 10:06 am
Instead of a last minute gift card to Starbucks for my kid’s teachers, I made it a last minute mechanic’s kit. I think it’s a good match since many kids are able to get to school because of the bikes.
Comment by Wife#.667 | 12.21.2013 | 10:28 am
When I bought my Hakkalugi last March, my local bike shop guys asked “SRAM or Shimano”. I immediately answered SRAM without any hesitation whatsoever, based solely on their generous support for all things WBR. I buy from the heart, and obviously, they give from the heart!