Fun Raisers
One hundred and fifty grand.
When you throw all the activities I started, and you supported, over the last six years to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis charities, it adds up to almost $150,000. That’s about 37 cents for every mile that I have travelled raising awareness. If I wasn’t such a chicken, I would change my tagline to a million miles AND a million dollars. I am grateful for the support of my followers and sponsors who are quick to donate towards whatever crazy ideas I conjure up next. Which brings me to announcing my next world record attempt fundraising idea.
Longhaulpaul’s Nonstop to Nowhere
World Record Attempt to Raise Funds for MS
Starting at 12:00 PM (EST) on March 29th, I will attempt to establish a world record by riding a motorcycle 24 hours non-stop on a dynamometer. No sandwich beaks, gas stops or bathroom visits. The best part of this attempt is that I will be streaming it live over Facebook and Youtube, with a long list of entertaining activities while encouraging viewers to interact and make donations. I am still in the planning stages, but donors can bank on seeing some crazy costume changes, hearing some bad karaoke, enlightening interviews and watching me eat delivered pizza or playing chess, all while continually riding my Yamaha Star Venture at freeway speeds, going nowhere!
Brilliant idea, right?
A Dynamometer or Dyno as it is known in the motorsports world, is a machine that allows vehicles to test and fine tune engine performance without actually being on the road. The machine allows a controlled environment and removes the variables of riding on the street. The machine has a roller that gets spun by the force of the driven wheel, in my case the rear wheel, and the machine allows for different load inputs, to simulate rougher terrain or hills or other changes. Speed, temperature, horsepower, torque, gearing, fuel mapping, fuel economy and emissions are all variables that are controlled or measured and tweaked to get the most out of the vehicle being tested.
In my case, a request over the internet for suggestions was responded with a hundred different ride ideas and Stuart Williams suggested the Dyno 1000, 24 hours strapped to a Dyno watching Bob Ross paint.
Stuart’s idea struck me as interesting enough, but at first I thought it might be too easy. The more I thought about, I realized it wasn’t as easy at it first seemed. A long hard search of the web found there had not been any word records of this type attempted before, and the planning wheels in my head began to turn. The first question was answered easily by a call to my sponsor Rob Swartz of Rob’s Dyno Service in Massachusetts. Rob confirmed the idea was possible and better yet, that he would donate the machine and time to help run the fundraiser!
The next question was how was I going to get people to watch, and more importantly, what was I going to do to get them to open their wallets. After all, it’s supposed to be a fundraiser!
I am still working on the details, building the press launches, and media hype angles, but already I am getting prizes donated and plan to hold hourly raffles for live donations, maybe even have a paid link to watch.
You can sponsor an hour time block today HERE
Donate to hear me sing or (donate to have me stop singing), sponsors will be able to call in and be interviewed about their products or services and a scrolling list of donations as they roll in will be visible on the screen. Maybe I’ll eat a live scorpion or do the Tide Pod Challenge (For enough donations of course, I’m no idiot)
Like all my fundraisers this year, 100% of funds raised will go to the charity MS Views and News and the Ride to Reach Rural America initiative which brings education, inspiration and hope to people living with MS.
Lots of logistics for this stunt with streaming, cameras, audio, gassing up, phone calls, donations and handling all the internet interactions. I will be needing help, and I know people will step up to make my third world record attempt a success. I am excited and can’t wait to ride my bike an entire day without needing a GPS!
Tune in, ride along, because unlike my record ride, your support and donations will indeed go far.
Longhaulpaul
