Yep, that’s correct, not a misspelling. Several people have told me I should make this somewhat epic ride a “Go Fund Me” ride for a particular cause of my choice.
Frankly, I’m not a big fan of these kind of things. I would be doing the ride, regardless. Also I would not even know where to begin in selecting a cause or charity. There are many well-deserving ones and selecting one means de-selecting many.
I’m somewhat of a geek when it comes to giving to causes. I like to know what percentage goes to the cause and how much to administrative overhead. I think that’s just responsible giving.
We all want our hard earned money to go the the cause recipients not for administration or solicitation of the funds.
But here’s my thought on the bike ride. If my ride inspires any of you to be generous, make a donation to some local cause you support in the area where you live. It could be a family in need, food bank, shelter, halfway house, local Red Cross, Church program, Boys and Girls Club, College, high school band or athletic programs, humane society etc.
If you want to share it on this blog feel free. I’ll make sure to post it and keep an identity suppressed total of donations that have been given or just keep it personal. A true act of Charity is to give without seeking recognition.
I learned that from my years at Herman Miller, Inc. The company has/had a very robust corporate giving program, but never sought out recognition. Our Founder DJ DePree felt it was the right way to do things. The company’s generosity was rewarded in the success it achieved over the years. It is truly a company with a unique legacy.
Personally, I always feel better about giving to causes in my community because I can see the results. I’m a strong believer in local giving. It’s kind of a grass roots, bottom up approach to helping others,some of whom you may know personally.
On the subject of giving, I thought I would share a couple of personal stories with you.
Several years ago I attended a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting . These are iconic events and it was a bucket list item for me being a finance and investment guy.
As part of the meeting Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet sit on stage and take questions for about 1 1-2 hours.
At this particular meeting a question came up about Charlie and Warren’s charitable giving approach. Charlie said there are two approaches to giving “pay as you go and lump sum”. He explained he was inclined to pay as you go. Then he said “I’ll let Warren explain his approach”.
Buffet took the microphone and said “I view it like this”: when I was in my mother’s womb if an angel said, how much would you pay to be born a white man in America vs a low caste woman in India? Buffet said “I would have answered Everything! So my plan is to donate my entire net worth to Charity and my children know this”.
Buffet believes that he was given a tremendous opportunity to be born in this great country and wants to give back. Had he been born a low caste woman in India he would not have had the same opportunity ( I am paraphrasing this as I cannot recall the exact quote)
It was an interesting meeting to say the least
I believe it’s always a good exercise to reflect on the good fortune and opportunities we have had. If this moves us to give of ourselves either financially or with our time so be it. I have found that giving comes back to us many fold. It just may not be a direct route.
My daughter did inspire me to do something a little different many years back. After the 9-11-2001event. Katie was 12 and she wanted to do something so she made flag pins out of beads and safety pins. She started selling them for $1 and I agreed to match the $ she raised. Well my co-workers heard about this and started paying $20 and $50 for a pin knowing I had to match it. It ended up costing me $2500 but the $5000 Katie raised for our local Red Cross was one of the largest donations they received that year.
But ,interestingly, it came back to Katie as she was nominated and won a regional Kohl’s Kids Who Care award which included small college scholarship.
How the heck did I get on this subject? I’ll be glad when I start this ride and only have the days journey to write about.
On that note my training is going well. I hit 1100 miles for 2020 in Feb and have done several 50 mile rides. I developed a saddle sore from some new riding shorts so I need to resolve this before I start the big ride.
It’s kind of counter intuitive about seat comfort. Actually, the minimalist seats and less padded chamois shorts create less chafing and saddle sores. Though it’s tougher on the sit bones. So I am trying to dial in the right seat and shorts combo that will be sort of comfortable for being 5-6 hours in the saddle each day.
Sponeed shorts seem to be the answer with a thin, minimalist seat
Right now I’m using a lot of chamois butt’r to minimize the friction. Ah. The little things we deal with. It can be a pain in the a$$!
I did need a new aluminum seat post to support my travel pack. They say they are not as comfortable as carbon fiber posts. After 80 mile the past two days I can say I see no real difference. But I’m running 25’s pumped to 120psi. So I expect to feel some road vibrations.
So that’s it for now. I recently took 4 days off for a little business trip ( yeah I’m retired, sort of) and now back to training in earnest until I leave
Til next time. Smooth roads and may the wind be at your back
The Necessity of a Place- 30 years at the Water’s Edge 