Enduro Africa 2010: The Ride For Life

EA 2009 Video

2010-08-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

An exciting video from last years Enduro Africa!

2010-07-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at Jose Pistolas on Saturday. Thanks for the few who were able to come out and support us. And a big thank you to Casey Parker for making the event possible! We were able to raise another $405.00!

It's Getting Close!

2010-07-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy trying to put this trip together that neither of us have been keeping up with our blog or letting people know how we are doing with our fundraising. For this lapse in coverage i am blaming both my job and the excessive heat.

We have amazingly managed to receive over $11,000 in contributions for our cause! We couldn't be more grateful. The end of this month is approaching rapidly and with it the final due date for donations. We are asking anyone who was thinking about helping us but had not acted yet to please do so as soon as you can, any amount is really helpful. We are both about $2,500 dollars short of our mark, but are hoping to make up most of that with our end of month event and last minute donations. Details for online or mail-in donations can be found here on our blog site. Thanks Everyone!

2010-07-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Enduro Africa - Charity Cycles will be holding our July Fundraiser soon! We plan on seeing some new faces there as we've been promoting it around town. This month Jose Pistola's has come to our aid by providing their Center City bar:

Saturday July 24th, 3-7pm. There will great drink specials, music and a drawing for a gift basket of Jose Pistolas' crazy good beer.

Enduro Africa T-Shirts only $25

2010-05-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

We have sold out of Enduro T-shirts! Luckily more are on the way and we are taking special orders. Shirts are a bargain at $25 and we've made them in orange/dark blue & light blue/brown but send us your ideas and we'll see if we could do them too.

Enduro Africa T-Shirts only $25

2010-05-30T12:19:00.002-07:00

2010-05-30T12:19:00.001-07:00

Wellsville, NY

2010-05-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

Got back on Sunday night after an adventurous weekend in Wellsville. A grand total of 600 miles and 12 hours of riding -not too bad for a two day trip. A lot of windy highway, but well worth it for the last bit was through some beautiful valleys and farmland. We almost had turkey for dinner on the first night, but unfortunately Jay just couldnt quite hit any of the three that flew out in front of him.
The fundraiser at the local bar Better Days brought in $415 dollars ( THANKS ANDREW!) and we sold all but two t-shirts and a few wristbands. Jays parents helped out big time. It was great to see them again and they treated us with awesome homecooked dinner and breakfast.

2010-05-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Reminder bands just arrived today. Another fund raising idea... Hope people will want to wear them. I think they'll be the next wave in fashion, just after Enduro Africa tee shirts.

Happy Hour Fundraiser a Success!

2010-04-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone that was able to make it out last night to the fundraiser! HAD A BLAST! We were able to raise $455 which includes selling a few t shirts and getting some additional donations. Seems like everyone had a good time and we even had the opportunity to meet some great people just walking in off the street.

Jay and I would also like to thank Nate Ross and all the great help at the New Wave Cafe, Lauren Westenhiser and Emily Royer for some beautiful t-shirts, and Kaitlin Mosley at Silicon Gallery for printing our banner and flyers.

Over $7,000...

2010-04-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

...plus our happy hour event is tomorrow and is seems like a bunch of people are going to come out to it! We'll have a 50/50 raffle (winners drawn out of a helmet) and Enduro T-shirts for sale, custom made by "The Seedworks" http://www.theseedworks.com I think that we will be well over half way there by the end of this month.

2010-04-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Toby and i just had a meeting about how to keep ourselves organized and on the right path... i'm not sure how it went. Luckily we are still receiving donations and have two events coming up shortly so we must be doing something right.
I'm still working on my motorcycle that i am supposed to sell but I have to say that it is getting harder and harder to think of letting it go.

Happy Hour at the New Wave Cafe

2010-04-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

Enduro Africa Happy Hour! Save the date of Wednesday the 28th (4 -7pm) because there is going to be our first Philly Fundraiser at the New Wave Cafe (3rd & Catherine St.) We have a choice of either drink specials + small donation OR if enough people RSVP we can do a $25 open bar! Lets get enough people to come so we can do the open bar!

Over $6000

2010-04-01T14:34:00.001-07:00

Just tallied up everything and we are at exactly $6100...crazy right!

2010-03-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for everybody that has donated up until this point! We are on a good path and keeping up with our goals so far. Keep spreading the word!

2010-03-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Took a chunk out of my last paycheck to get the next two pieces of equipment for the Enduro. Dirt riding seems to become more of a reality everyday and that's really exciting. Time for some practice...maybe Colliers Mills NJ...

Over $5,000

2010-03-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

I was looking forward to reaching $5,000 because it is such a nice number and a landmark goal. However, so many donations came in all at once and now that number has come and gone.... $5,325!

2010-03-06T14:51:00.001-08:00

Our fundraiser brought in $200 last night, which brings us up to $4,875. We are almost 1/3 of the way to our minimum required goal and we've only started two months ago! Thanks everyone!

Music & Drinks: March 5 @ Better Days Pub of Wellsville, NY

2010-03-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

We have our first fund-raising event coming up this Friday night! This will be the first of three at "Better Days" Pub in Wellsville, NY. If you are in the area stop in for some music and a drink. Unfortunately i will not be in attendance due to the short notice and i can't take off from work, BUT, this is just the first event in order to get the word out and I've heard it will be appearing in the local papers too.

2010-02-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Jays mom has added more to her donation. Moms are just the best people in the world (Im still amazed they are fine with us riding dirt bikes in Africa)! Thanks Mrs. Hardman!!!

2010-02-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

My mom has been excited and surprisingly really supportive of the whole idea from the beginning. She said she wanted to help Jay and I out, but I wasn't at all prepared for what she donated. This is really going to help us make it through the next installment. Thank you so much mom!!!

We are now at $1,475.00. Only $14,525.00 left to go!

New News

2010-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

We've been incredibly active in pursuing new sponsors for our ride, and we would like to thank Phillip Johnson for doing so much on our behalf. This week the offices of; Phillip Johnson Construction, sent out a number of Enduro Africa/Charity Cycles information packages to Philadelphia businesses and individuals in which he pledged his companies financial support and urged them to do the same. Despite the ongoing recession and troubles we are very hopeful that they will be able to assist us. In the mean time, our friends and family have been generous with monetary and moral support.
We found out about this event a little late and we were able to join at the last possible moment, so our fund-raising efforts are understandably behind - in comparison to the other riders. The donations of any size, especially the $25's, are so helpful in enabling us to catch up. Thank you so much!

2010-02-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

Three more donations from Sue and Steve Westenhiser, John Koroly, and Ellie Brown. We are up to $475.00 now. Thanks everyone!

Preparing To Say Goodbye...

2010-02-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

I've been working on the my 650 cc Thumper. I'm trying to get it finished and sold by the spring to make room for a dual-sport trail bike to train with. I've got my eyes on one already.

Big Hearts

2010-01-31T20:01:00.000-08:00

Josh Walczak & Emilie Hardman donated $200 today!!! Thanks guys, very generous of you!

More Donations

2010-01-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Two more donations today from good friends Maxwell Oglesbee and Hannah Heffner, bringing our total so far to $125.00! Only $15,875.00 more to go!

2010-01-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

Nic Hollinworth, a fellow EA rider, has graciously allowed Jay and I to use his image for (bumper...?) stickers. Thought it might be an extra incentive to donate. Im working on getting them made right away. Nics got a great fundraising site too.

Our new promotional packets are ready, join our mailing list today!

2010-01-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

We've just finished our first round of promotional materials and have begun distributing them. Join our mailing list and receive them via Email or USPS. We also have copies of the 2006 Enduro Documentary on DVD. Send your request to charitycycles@gmail.com or through the blogs contact page.

SECOND DONATION!

2010-01-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

My best and long time friend Andrew Pennington donated $50! Thanks!

2010-01-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

We are making some serious progress on getting info packages together...well actually mostly Jay with HUGE help from our friend Emily Royer. Hopefully we can start sending out pamphlets first thing next week!
I've been coming up with some fund raising ideas ...but if anyone has any good creative/fun/crazy ideas, we would love to hear them.

First Donation!

2010-01-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

It's official, we've received our first donation! I'm sure there are many more to come but this is a landmark moment. Thanks!

2010-01-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

Picked up a Camelbak MULE yesterday, my first official piece of enduro equipment. I knew those good ol' Christmas gift cards could be put to proper use!

2009-12-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog! We are both very excited (and nervous) for the the challenge of the up coming year, so stay tuned for updates on our progress...