If you have been reading this blog you know that I have committed to riding in the 2010 Ride To Conquer Cancer.  I’ve signed up, pledged to ride 320 Kilometres, and committed to raising a minimum of $2500 for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation for cancer research.  You can support the cause in two ways, by signing up yourself and committing to the 200 Kilometre or 200 Mile rides, or take the easy way and support me and my ride.  If I don’t raise at least $2500 I don’t ride and all the training goes up in smoke.

So how can you support me?  Easy!

1.  Click HERE! There is no rush as you have plenty of time to donate.  Think about the donations you make in a year and whether or not you would like to redirect some of that money to support me and this cause and then donate.

2.  Select an amount to donate, I’m suggesting $1 per KM, yes that is $320 but you can split it over a few months.  Do you really think you’ll miss the $26.67 per month?  Have one less Starbucks a week and you’ll be fine :)

3.  Select payment options, you can choose to split payments over a few months.  By default you will receive a tax deduction but you can choose not to if you like.  Take the tax receipt, if you don’t, you have too much money and should be donating more :)

4.  Choose whether you want this to be an anonymous donation or enter a name to be displayed as one of my supporters.  You can also display the amount of your donation if you like.  Lastly you can leave a short note, words of encouragement or a dedication to some one.  Write something nice, I will be printing them out and carrying them with me.

5.  Click next and enter your payment information.

6.  Review your transaction and click Process!

7.  Pat yourself on the back for supporting a worthwhile cause and supporting your good friend (that’s me)!

8.  On June 12th and 13th 2010, come out and cheer all the riders on as we ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls!

As you can see I’ll be getting the ball rolling with 12 monthly payments on $104 in honour of my uncles and my grandmother.  Please think about how cancer has touched you and donate to this most worthwhile cause.

Thanks!

Cancer has touched everyone in one way or another. You know someone, maybe it was you, or a friend or family member, that has or is dealing with cancer or has lost someone to cancer.

My uncle, Hans Jonas, passed away due to cancer, another uncle is fighting it as I write this and my grandmother has done battle with cancer. Because of this I'll be riding in the 2010 Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting The Princess Margaret and cancer research in their honour.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting The Princess Margaret, is a cycling journey from Toronto to Niagara Falls that I’m embarking on to fight cancer. It will be a challenge in a number of ways, but with my bike, my helmet, and your generosity, a real impact will be made!

I am not taking the easy route either. While the ride will be nothing like dealing with cancer, 200 miles, 320 Kilometres, over two days will be no easy challenge.
It will be like riding from my house in Burlington to Windsor or from Winnipeg to Fargo, ND or Edmonton to Calgary on a bike! But it is a challenge I will face head on and conquer!

Contribute to this history-making event with a donation. Funds raised in The Ride to Conquer Cancer will support breakthrough research, exemplary teaching, and compassionate care at The Princess Margaret, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world.

To keep you informed I will be blogging about the journey as I work at getting this 36 year old body into the shape it needs to be (i.e. not round) to complete this journey. You can follow along at http://rbuike.spaces.live.com

Donate today! I thank you in advance for your support.

Rodney

Donate Here!

So the numbers have finally been calculated and the grand total of all donations was just over $52,000!!!  WOW!  Thanks again for all your support!  I found this story on Rob today that you might enjoy….

Rob Buren - First hand cyclist to participate in The Ride To Conquer Cancer

Little did long-time cyclist Rob Buren know but that his morning ride on October 5, 2008 would change his life forever. In the blink of an eye, he went over the handlebars of his mountain bike – not something he hadn’t done several times before – but this time was different. He broke his spine at vertebrae T11, leaving him without feeling from the top of his abdominals down.

On his road to recovery, a road that involved great challenges physically, emotionally and financially, Rob decided that he wanted to be the first handcyclist to participate in The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation’s Ride To Conquer Cancer. A challenge for all Riders, The Ride To Conquer Cancer would take a herculean effort by Rob. He chronicled his extraordinary experience.

Continue reading at Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation….

So it is no surprise, but Brett Favre is coming out of retirement again for a 19th NFL season.  Big deal, he wants to play, let him play, but then he decides he wants to play for the Vikings.  The arch rival, in the process burning bridges with the fans that will take a long time to rebuild, hurting a relationship with a club that stuck with him through the good and bad and making himself look like an ass.

Well to honour this “enhancement” to his legacy, Sconnie Nation brings you this commemorative t-shirt.   I ordered one today and will wear it proudly the day he slips into a purple jersey.

If he decides to stay retired, it will sit with the rest of my Packers memorabilia, including that from the first time he retired!

After all he was a Packer and I am a Packers fan!

At 10:56AM EDT on July 20th, 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped out of Apollo 11 and took the first step on the moon and uttered the famous line “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.  It was one of those world changing moments and while there was competition between the USSR and USA at the time to be the first, when it finally happened I can’t forsee any other reaction than just awe. 

They only spent 2.5 hours on the surface of the moon leaving behind some scientific instruments, an Apollo 1 patch, a US flag, a commemorative plaque, a silicon disc and footprints.  I imagine that it only felt like minutes before they were boarding the craft for their return home.

Take some time today to reflect and visit the Apollo 11 40th Anniversary website.  A lot of the research and development the created the technology to make this possible, makes what we do today possible.

Apollo 11 Image Gallery

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Apollo 11

With the 24 Hour Summer Solstice a long forgotten nightmare and over a month before the 24 Hour Hot August Nights a few restless souls have gathered together to enter the Duke’s Epic 8 relay race on July 25th.  Very similar to the 24 hour format, teams compete in a relay with the only difference being the course is a bit shorted at roughly 10KM and the race is only 8 hours, not 24.  The goals are the same, complete as many laps in 8 hours as possible, while having a good time.

The race takes place at Hardwood Hills, which I’ve never been too but which I have been told has some of the best trails in Ontario.  Unfortunately there is now heavyweight division so we’ll be fighting with the rest of the riders.  That isn’t stopping us from wearing our jerseys for the 24 Hour Hot August Nights Clydesdale team :)

The forecast is looking good with no rain for the weekend as of yet.  This is good news for my laptop which got left in the rain at the 24 Hour Summer Solstice.  It survived but it did prevent me from uploading photos, blogging and tweeting while the event was on.  I’ll be trying to do the same again, we’ll see how it goes!

Well its been a few weeks since the 24 Hour Summer Solstice ended and a few of us are feeling a little ripped off, all that effort training and we barely got a lap in before the race was called.  The only cure for that is to sign up for another one and hope for no rain!

So a group of five got together and entered a team in the 24 Hour Hot August Nights in the Clydesdale category where your 5 person team has to have a combined weight of 1000lbs.  We’ll be cutting it close as most are hovering around the 200lb mark or getting very near to it but we’ll be OK.  We even have a great team name and slogan we just need a logo!

 The Fat and the Furious: Living life a quarter-pounder at a time!