Thursday, June 16, 2011

ride for africycle 5.0

forty-six years ago today i left england and landed in canada.
my life hasn't been the same since.
has it mum? ha!!!


as a feature of my life, i like to help raise money for worthy causes.

three causes draw my attention - pediatric cancer, huntingtons, and malawi.
each gets my attention in a different way,but the one i wish to draw your attention to here
is the piece with malawi.

it's a little country, very far away.


of course it's very poor.
but. there are people there.
people with spirit and ambition that doesn't easily compare to that of their western counterparts because the model on which their scope and expectations are based is much different.

my work to support their work is very simple and in my own view very lovely.
because it involves bikes.
visitors to the golden fish may not know that i have never owned a car driver's licence.
a strange and yet irrefutable fact that becomes more incredible when you learn that my family used to own and race vintage jaguars and has always had a taste for nice cars.

i own two bicycles.
one is a road bike.
a really good road bike that propels me around the countryside at great speed and in comfort.
that's the one i'm using to get me around lake ontario in august of this year.
the plan is to complete the 1120 km journey in nine days.
eight days of riding and one day of rest.
oh boy!

the ride for africycle is in its fifth year.

i blogged last year's ride
if you'd like to read and see that ride then you can start right here.
the ride for africycle supports africycle who in turn support the zomba shop, and grace orphan care.

my goal is to raise money, so i am posting this as a shameless request for you to consider supporting my ride and the work of africycle by heading over to my fundraising page which is right here.

if that one plays hard to get then try here.

because i choose to place no expectations on your financial support,
given that i know nothing of your circumstances,
i would ask in all humility that if you cannot or choose not to support the ride,
and would rather provide blessings and prayers
that you feel comfortable in doing so
knowing that they will be received with equal gratitude!!!

steven


12 comments:

JJ Roa Rodriguez said...

nice cause... praying for your success and support. i already did my contribution..

God bless!

JJRod'z

SG said...

Steven, I wish you the best in this noble cause.

-SG

p.s. Indeed, it is astonishing that you do not own a car driver's license.

Acornmoon said...

Good luck, I made a small donation and hope that you get lots of support for this worthy cause.

Reya Mellicker said...

You are a force for good in the world!

steven said...

jesus, thankyou man! for the prayers and support and for your financial support. when the journey begins i'll blog it again and tou can see where we go and what we do. steven

steven said...

sg thankyou very much. yep. i'm a dad, a teacher, and lots more but somehow through the support of my wife, my friends, and through my own hard work biking, i get it all done. steven

steven said...

valerie thankyou for all your kind wishes and for your support of my ride for this worthy cause. steven

steven said...

reya - goodness has known me for so very long and has sustained me through so very much and ultimately taught me to value the opportunity to bring more goodness into this world. steven

Ruth said...

This is tremendous, Steven. First, I love to hear and learn more about you in this post. Incredible that you rely on bicycles for transportation.

I don't know how you'll do nearly 100 miles a day when I could barely do 50 last month! I'm impressed, and what a great cause. I will be supporting this ride and very lovely thing you are doing for those who need it. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'm excited for you.

steven said...

ruth thankyou so much for your support in all ways. i've been riding bicycles since i was four. i usually ride to and from work(school) from september to december and then from march to june. on weekends i usually head off alone on my very nice road bike. through july i'll be ramping up the miles and the blog will reflect "the beauty" on those journeys in its visual content! i also write a cycling blog periodically where i document the bike related stuff of my life. i heard about africyle three years ago and was immediately drawn to it as a first step in adding a layer to my biking involving care for other people through fundraising. at some time in the next few years i'll be organizing my own ride to raise money for huntington's research. steven

Ruth said...

That will be incredible. I don't know much about Huntington's. One great thing about rides like you're doing is that people learn more about the ways people suffer. It can be overwhelming, but applying yourself to a goal like this helps in so many ways, including educating people.

Blessings!

steven said...

ruth thankyou for the blessings. when i get the ride organized i'll be thinking about all the layers of experience and education and of course, the practicalities. it overwhelms me at this point which is why i'm waiting until it all comes together. i'll know then that it is the right time. steven