With Your Help  

With Your Help

I can't do this without your help. I may not be able to even with your help. But if you'll help, I'll try.

Disney named me "The Pedalin' Prof from William Jewell College" that summer I rode alone and without money from Disney World to Disneyland. One week this October I want to be that Pedalin' Prof again in this place I call Greater Liberty. I drew a circle around Liberty, my hometown, going out 125 miles in all directions. That's about how far I can ride on my best days. I hope to visit all 104 counties in parts of four states over the next few years. I want to meet local folks at the McDonald's in their town. Together we'll ride a 50-mile loop through nearby towns and come back to McDonald's, where we'll all buy ourselves something to eat and sit down together to talk.

We begin and end our ride at McDonald's for three reasons. First, McDonald's in Liberty is a longtime supporter of our Greater Liberty Riders, and the owner wrote to McDonald's in Greater Liberty county seat towns asking them to welcome us. The second reason is that most every town has a McDonald's, and many folks who live there drop in often. The third reason is that more than any other fast food restaurant, McDonald's has expanded its menu to offer foods attractive to folks of varied lifestyles and interests.

Here's how you can help. Come ride with me. Contact folks you know in these towns and ask them to come ride, come eat with us, spread the word that The Pedalin' Prof from William Jewell is coming to town. I'll be wearing a T-shirt that says on the front:

On the back:
"Too much sanity may be madness, and the greatest madness of all may be to see the world as it is and not as it should be."
Don Quixote

"The world should be a place where we can all go anyplace at anytime and talk to anyone about anything and feel safe."
The Pedalin' Prof

In my email address book, I have 224 names of riders who have ridden at least once with us on Saturday. I'm sending this message to all of you. I'm counting on you to help make this a really big deal. I'm sending email letters to newspapers in each town telling them when and why I'm coming. I'm hoping they will spread the word. But past experience persuades me that newspaper stories don't get many people to come out. That takes word of mouth from someone they know and trust. That's you.

Call your friends in these places. Send them emails. We need to find a biker in each town to plan a route, something on the order of a 50-mile loop through nearby towns. I would like to start from McDonald's about 9 AM. I don't want to be in a hurry to get back. I would like to tarry a bit in each town, at the McDonald's if they have one or at some other locally popular place. I envision getting back to our starting McDonald's somewhere between 3-5 PM. When we get back, we will buy ourselves something to eat and sit together to talk about our day. I will give everyone a HateBusters membership card and explain how we help people hurt by hate.

I also need a place to stay in each town the night before our ride. I spend much of my time raising money for two non-profits: the MS Society and HateBusters, Inc. I have no money for hotel rooms. If need be, I can sleep in my car, though I would prefer to stay with a family. I can tell them some wondrous stories as payment for their kindness.

When all these rides have been done and I am home, I will sit at my computer and tell the story of this week. Each of you will receive a copy by email. Please make yourself part of the story.