A few months ago, I saw an ad for a bike ride. It's an annual ride held in the spring called Tour du Rouge. It leaves from Houston, and over five days, it works its way to New Orleans.
"Well," I thought to myself, "Houston is just a couple hours away, and it would be nice to have an excuse to see family in Louisiana. I should do it!"
As it turns out, it is a fund raiser for the American Red Cross. Participants have to raise $2,500 by April 30th. I've been donating blood and platelets to the Red Cross for years. In fact, the northern California chapter still calls me every couple of months trying to get me to donate.
Good Cause + Bike Tour + Get to See Family
It's a perfect event for me. Well, it's almost perfect. I don't actually have a bike to do it on at the moment. The fork is still busted on my touring bike. I'm already pushing the road bike I picked up for $50 way more than I should be (it's old and the frames have been known to fail - early carbon).
I was planning on getting a new bike for the 2012 race season with my tax return, but I'm still waiting on tax info to show up from the shop I worked at in DC. I've got lots of time for the Tour, but it's getting a little close with race season. The next race I want to do is the 26th of February.
I think that there's still plenty of time to iron it all out.
