WATA...

So, what's all this about?

Needed to celebrate my 50th birthday! Do something special in my life... I spent my summerdays cycling in the USA for many years. At the end of August 2008 the idea took shape: the love for cycling and being outdoors could be combined with fundraising.
Next step was setting a goal. That didn't take too long: the Flemish Alzheimer League and my school Ensorinstituut Oostende. As Sofie got enthousiastic about cycling with me this summer, we added her school, MPIGO De Vloedlijn, to the list of beneficiaries.
How will we raise money?
The party on december 12th where villains and murderers met in the farm Buitengoed, situated at the outskirts of Oostende was our first project. With the help of Céline, Friedel and Sofie we got the house ready. A quiz, a cheese plate and dance made this an ejoyable evening. Thanks to everyone who donated to our cause!

On december 19th, we joined our first session with the family group region Oostende of the Flemish Alzheimer League.

During the first months of 2009 Sofie and I got together to plan other actions. We came up with a plan to make a poster announcing our trip. We went to different shops and friends who were so generous to sponsor us.

The poster mentions that everyone who donates at least 7 EUR to us, will receive a postcard from us while we are cycling. It also shows the route we will follow: from Bozeman, MT through Yellowstone and Teton Nat'l park to Salt Lake City in Utah. From there we keep cycling south (Provo, Nephi, Manti, Richfield) and partly east in order to reach Torrey and Capitol Reef Nat'l Park. We will then head into the desert of Boulder and Escalante. Bryce is the next nat'l park on our list. The finale of our trip is a visit to the Grand Canyon,Zion Nat'l Park and a reunion with friends of Cycle America. Our last riding days will be in the surroundings of St. George, UT. In total we should be cycling around 2300 km - every 7 EUR covers 10 km of our trip.

It's now almost May... 2 months to go before we leave Belgium for 2 months. There are more actions to come: a yard sale on May 24th (but I do not have a yard), teachers of my school will initiate sportactivities (May 29th), visits to hospitals. After our trip we plan to give a presentation about our trip. That should be the conclusion of our fundraising. To be contiued...