Day 59 – Whatever It Takes

Life on The Dog Cancer Ride Across America.

This morning I did an interview with a reporter for the McCook (Nebraska) Daily Gazette – a really nice guy. During the interview, I explained to the reporter why this ride is different from most other cross country charity bicycle rides.

Most other rides are about a man riding a bicycle across country – with an occasional blog post and friends hopefully making donations to the charity of his choice.

This ride, however, isn’t about a man going cross-country with a little blog – it’s about a blog (and a website, and a Map of Heroes, and a donation page) rolling across the country – with one little man.

Because the important part about this Ride, in my mind, isn’t about me and my bicycle. It’s about figuring out what it takes to raise $100,000 to help dogs fight cancer.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the role I play in the big picture. As I explained to the reporter this morning, without me riding 4,281 miles on a bicycle I don’t get to meet with him, to share the mission of the Ride and raise awareness about dog cancer issues across the country.

The ride is a focal point – that’s why I do it each and every day, all summer long. But even though I spend 5 or 6 or 7 (or even hours a day on the bicycle – that’s just the start of things we do during the course of the day.

Let me share with you a typical day on The Dog Cancer Ride Across America.

Last night I rode until 6:00 PM, five hours and 52 miles down the road from our starting point in Benkelman, Nebraska. While on the road, I carry my voice recorder and cell phone, to start preparing the blog, writing letters to supporters, etc. And today, I’m on the phone with Ian, preparing for our 7:00 PM teleconference with some of our best supporters (to discuss sponsorship and publicity strategy issues).

I ride up to the hotel about 40 minutes before the call, spend 15 minutes washing up and the next 20 preparing for the call (making sure the website is ready for everyone to review, etc.). We’re extremely grateful to our supporters who take time out of their lives to join us on these calls to help the ride succeed. 75 minutes of brainstorming and ideas – people who really care.

But after they hang up and get ready for bed, it’s time for us to get to work. First some dinner (take out at the local 24 hour diner), then back to the room to work on the website and implement the ideas we talked about on the call. Work that will keep us going until about 2:00 AM (working on the computer is like a vortex – time just slips away)

By the time we’re done, I haven’t even begun the blog post for tomorrow’s daily ride report – but that will have to wait until morning. For now, it’s a late night walk with Angie, then off to bed by about 3:00 AM.

I keep thinking that someday I’ll wake up early and start my ride with the sunrise – and that might happen – someday – but not when I’m going to sleep at 3:00 AM. Instead we’re looking at a 10:00 AM wake up call.

10:30 AM – I’m up, showered and dressed, calling to schedule our interview with the local newspaper. The reporter and I agreed to meet downstairs in about 15 minutes.

Quickly I get on my gear and drag my bicycle down the stairs – the first part of today’s ride is going to be in the hotel lobby and I want to look the part. We spend about 45 minutes with the reporter – a nice guy – explaining to him about the ride, what we’re doing, and all the work that goes into creating an event like this – but most importantly, helping him connect with the amazing dogs (and amazing people) we’re riding for – so he can share this information with his readers and hopefully help us get a little closer to our charity fundraising goals.

At the end of the meeting, Ian announces that we need to find a mechanic to check – once again the car is leaking fluid.

11:30 AM – We hop in the car and drive to Wal Mart to get the car checked (fortunately it’s nothing to worry about – just some condensation from the air conditioner caused by the heat – finally, some good news about the car.) Then a quick run into Wal Mart to replace the bicycle rack we bought in Pocatello, which has mostly fallen apart over the course of the last 20 days.

And then…, oh yes, I still have to send out a blog post.

12:30 PM – So it’s back to the hotel lobby where I spend the next 2 hours writing the blog and talking on the telephone with ride supporters who are working on various projects with us.

Blogging is actually one of my favorite times of the day – I get to spin tales about the adventures we’d been on the day before. And create a legacy, that my sister gets to read to my niece and nephew (hi Jacob and Leeya), and that someday my grandchildren will read about – uncle/grandpa Teddy’s great adventure across America to raise money for dog cancer charities.

By now it’s 3:00 in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day is done – as is most of the sunshine, and I’m still posting the blog online as we start to figure out where we’re sleeping tonight.

Finally at 4 pm, I hit the road. Tonight I’ll ride until the sunset – 9pm in this part of the country – then come back to the room and start the process all over again.

These are the things you do when creating an event like this. Like I said, this ride is not about me riding my bike across country. If it was, I probably would be on the bicycle from 9 Am to 3 PM – then kick back to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner and cold beer at the end of the day.

No, this ride’s about using me for a greater good – to help these dogs get the care they need. And I’m proud to do it.

Like I said, whatever it takes.

I hope you’ll join us, and do whatever it takes with us, to help make this Dog Cancer Ride Across America a success, and help us raise $100,000 for dog cancer charities. Together we really can make this happen.

Bye for now, and we’re happy to have you on board…

- Ted Schneck
from Arahahoe, Nebraska along The Dog Cancer Ride Across America
www.DogCancerRide.com