Cute Kid, Bad Disease, Good Cause

Michael "Mojo" Cosgrove's daughter Dakota has a rare condition called Langerhan’s Cell Histiocytosis. To help raise research money for the Histiocytosis Association of America and to raise awareness of the disease in general, Michael has organized a ride called The Big Fix. If all goes according to plan, about 30 riders will ride fixed gear bikes from Davis, California to Boston, Massachusetts, 3340 miles in 28 days.

Even though I pretty much share Sheldon Brown's view on charity rides, I wish I could ride with these folks. It is a bad disease and a good cause. And it really is my kind of ride. But 2006 will see me spending more of my time focusing on developing bike commuter programs in the Seattle area and spending more time with my family. I can't work in a big ride into my schedule this summer.

But I am supporting them as a virtual rider. I'll be riding at least 3340 fixed gear miles in 2006. Actually, the safe bet is that I'll be doing double or triple that number of miles. My new commute is 18 miles each way and I do have some other rides closer to home planned for 2006. I'll keep track of my fixed miles and periodically post mileage updates here.

Even though pledging money for every mile I ride fixed is kind of like paying me to drink cappuccinos (I really like riding fixed and drinking cappuccinos!) I'm hitting you up for pledges anyway. If you think it's worthwhile to pledge a penny a mile and I ride 6,000 miles that's sixty bucks going to a good cause. My friend Nat is fond of quoting Ghandi, "be the change you want to see in the world." One mile, one penny, one rider at a time we are changing the world.

Thanks for anything you can do. My pledge site is at:

http://www.active.com/donate/fixhistio/kentpeterson