TXTough – Raising money for Children’s Medical Center in Dallas by riding a single speed for 112 miles!

I really got into cycling about two years ago. One of the first challenges I set for myself was to do the Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG ride in Austin. The ride was 100 miles (at a time when the longest ride I had ever done was 40 miles). I put a lot of time and energy into training for the event; additionally, I also put a lot of effort into my fund-raising. As a result, I was able to finish the 100 mile ride in a respectable time, but more importantly, I raised almost $12,000 for the LAF. I’ve decided to use my passion for cycling one more time to raise money for a good cause.

This is the first year for TX TOUGH in Dallas. The TX TOUGH Tour is a pledge fund-raiser created exclusively to raise money for Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. The bike tour will be a 112 mile ride starting and finishing in Victory Park on Sept. 14. With two, young children any organization that helps kids has a special place in my heart. Additionally, some very close family members went through a difficult time recently that was helped by the environment that a Children’s Medical Center provides.

Since riding 100+ miles isn’t a big challenge for me anymore, I’m going to make it more interesting by riding the 112 miles on a single speed bike. For those of you that aren’t into cycling, this is a pretty daunting task. A single speed means just that, one gear. So if I want to go fast, I just keep spinning my legs even faster. If there is a big hill, no changing to a lower gear, I just stand up and grind-it-out. I’m pretty sure I’ll be the only person crazy enough to do the ride on a single speed, so you make sure my effort isn’t in vain by supporting my fund-raising efforts here. I’ve formed a team for us here at ThinkCash, with the promise of fancy, new ThinkCash kits for everyone that raises money and completes the 56 or 112 mile ride (I’ll give a sneak preview of the kits on this blog before the event).

Believe it or not, but this blog now gets a few thousand readers every month. I’m hoping that through “the power of the Internet” I can harness some of your goodwill to raise money for a great cause.  The event is only six weeks away, so I don’t have a lot of time. As always I will keep everyone updated on my training and fund-raising efforts. Hopefully the temps come down before Sept. (we’ve have 10 straight 100+ degree days here in Fort Worth).

www.active.com/donate/txtoughtour08/bencooper