I thought I might start another good idea as the Big Bike Bash and the Southampton Bike Park are both up and running and fully handed over to others.
"The Ride without End" which is basically like a death march but on a bike.
You send me your approximate location with a committed donation to charity and I stick a pin in the map to record it. I use Google Maps to show the recommended cycling route from where I am to that location and show the mileage and route. As (hopefully) more people sponsor me, there will be more route locations so I will be going from place to place rather than just to and from Southampton. I cycle in the real world on a real bike and record my real mileage on something like Strava. I will update the route map regularly to show my virtual progress between the locations of all people who sponsor me.
The map below sort of shows the idea. The route won't be fully optimised as more people add their locations after I have ridden past them and I need to double back on myself etc
This could go one of two ways.
1) A Disaster. I could get a few people sponsoring me from opposite ends of the country which means I would be riding for miles for just a few charity pounds.
2) A Total Disaster. The idea catches on and I get lots of sponsors all over the country and I raise lots of money but die of exhaustion.
Possible alternative route
I reckon I could do a review of progress at perhaps every thousand miles or so to try and keep the interest up. Virtual interviews with the people/business's I am virtually riding to etc. Let the people sponsoring really be involved in the process rather than just money in the kitty.
An interesting idea. A bit like the million pound web page if it takes off. However, as you say, all it takes is for a few enterprising individuals with a sense of humour, and you could be doing Southampton - Stornoway - Norwich for £20. I however would chip in a tenner where you to commit to the alternative route outlined above
[i]Southampton – Stornoway – Norwich for £20[/i]
I will be setting the route so hopefully controlling some of the silliness.
I am quite tempted to write something large in Strava across the country. Each letter could be a separate ride so less joined up that my example but also clearer and actual physical rides. Hmm.. that might be fun for a STW group participation idea.
Looks like these guys already had that idea : https://road.cc/content/news/refugees-welcome-worlds-biggest-piece-gps-art-286099
Sponsorship tiers + Route freeze date.
I'm in Shetland, you maybe don't want me to sponsor you?🤔
Sounds like a fun idea, but would it be a rolling organic thing, or would you set an end date for locations and then plan a route?
A rolling thing would continue to get sponsored locations as you went along and be potentially endless, where as a end date for locations might be more practical.
Excellent idea, any thoughts on which charity? I'd happily donate £30/£40 for that sort of effort, I'm on the Kent/Surrey boarder.
I too wondered about a cut-off date or when to actually freeze the route. I would need to get enough people spread around to get to meet Longdog up in Shetland as I don't fancy that as the first leg of the ride so was thinking of doing it in phase, a bit like sirromj suggests.
Perhaps build up the route 500 miles at a time as that would give me a get out clause if I ever decide to stop and also mean the people on the current phase can actually remain interested.
Regarding the charity, I am moving away from the idea of the NHS for various reasons discussed on this accidental duplicate thread ( https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/anyone-set-up-a-just-giving-or-similar-page/#post-12106225).
I am now thinking that homelessness / poverty might be something I can seek to highlight and assist. I think it is disgusting that we have people stuck in poverty in this country with little practical help available. I know that the righteous rich can say that it is all self inflicted and that these people are just scrounging lazy sods who should get up and get a job but I don't agree with that view. It is a national (disgrace) problem that local efforts can really improve.
I had a quick Google and there are 48 ceremonial counties in England - I will have to look further for the rest of the UK - so perhaps I could select a relevant charity in each country for people to donate to. This means that everyone is donating to a cause close to them geographically but with a common national theme. Might even get some inter-county rivalry.
Probably not the biggest relief to you, but I'll be moving down to Angus in the New Year, not quite so distant LOL! But I wouldn't base any plans on me anyway!
Anyway I was listening to a podcast about a guy who ran around the States the other day. To avoid donating to some big charity where a chunk would be 'absorbed' by the organisation he donated directly to the childrens hospital in each State. I presume he did promo for each State in advance to generate the interest. He also dressed as a super hero.
Link
Maybe you could raise money to donate to a homeless shelter/kids home/refuge sort of thing in each LA area or similar?
Hi - that is the way I am beginning to think. National effort but local rewards and benefits.
I am still struggling with the charity selection. There are lots of things that I care about and that I think should be made better but I don't want to be seen as some kind of virtue signaller who has picked a charity at random because it is good for the publicity.
This means it should be something that is directly relevant to me which is why I thought of the NHS initially and I am a regular facility user. The homeless / poverty cause is something that I care about but cannot really claim any personal experience of.
I am veering back towards the health area as it is applicable to me and everyone else in the nation. The one that I am currently investigating is obesity. This, like poverty, is something that too many people suffer with and too many others blame the victims for the condition. Yes, there is a large part of personal responsibility involved but just shouting "Exercise fatty!" is not likely to help.
It ties in well with my personal situation as, since my ankle injury, I have put on lots of weight and become obese. I am currently trying to address this and the cycling is one key lever in this process.
There seems to be a good synergy between the cause and my personal situation, people can see that correlation, I can show my progress out of obesity as I ride to hopefully inspire others and help people realise it is not an overnight fix.
Unless I find some negatives, I suspect that I will be discussing options with Obesity UK.
