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Community Corner

Trying On Different Hats

Bike advocacy came easily to us. It was a little more difficult for us to become fundraisers and ask for money. But there is one thing we'd like to ask you today ...

As we were preparing to leave for Hawaii, the final state in our journey, we were thinking back to Halloween, a holiday which gives us the opportunity to become so many things.

Some of you may have put a patch on one eye and suddenly you were a pirate.  Or a stethoscope around your neck and you were a Doctor.  Or a cowboy hat and you became a cowboy.

We celebrated Halloween by reaching our 49th state and of course we had to dress up. Zombies seemed to be a good, lightweight choice for us to carry on our bikes.

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But Halloween wasn't the only time we got to become someone new this year. We've tried on all sorts of hats this year, some we expected, others we just went with the flow. Our most important hat was our bike helmet! Everyday we snapped that helmet in place on our heads and became a bike tourist!  We even had the chin strap tan lines to prove it!

We ended up getting pretty good at bike touring: learning to deal with mechanical issues with grace instead of throwing hissy fits  on the side of a busy road, expecting a 60 mile day to turn into an 85 miler instead, and adding or subtracting clothing numerous times during the course of the day depending upon whether we were climbing a hill, or descending.

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Though a bike helmet was our most permanent hat, we had to play many parts this year. Before we even realized what was happening, we became bicycle advocates.  With every new person who stopped to talk with us, we would explain the beauty of bike touring and the ease of bike travel. On our blog (www.giveabike.com) we would share stories and pictures that celebrated the excitement of bike touring, give "how to" tips, and attach links to bike touring companies.

Bike advocacy came easily, but some hats we tried on this year were a little tougher to feel comfortable in.

This year, we played the role of fundraisers and were able to experience all the jobs that go along with that. We marketed our story to media in towns along the way, we primed ourselves for live TV interviews, we searched for contacts in hope for some help with a presentation, and we made up fundraising challenges along the way like our final 11/11/11 Challenge.Though this was the hardest hat to wear, and there were times that we faltered, we had such great support along the way that the hat finally started to fit.

I'm thinking ahead to the next hat we'll try on. Maybe it won't be a hat at all. Maybe, we'll be trying on some Hawaiian skirts in state #50!

Editor's Note: Join Adam and Christy as they celebrate Veteran's Day and thank veterans! Donate $11 to their charities ( World Bicycle Relief and Achilles International). They are so close to their fundraising goal of $25,000. http://www.giveforward.com/giveabike

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