Hot off the Press!

NOTE: Formal fundraising on Snowcatcher has been paused. I haven't had time to create a new snowflake pattern booklet, and we don't know if or when we will be able to participate in organized charity rides again. If things favorably change, I will announce such in a new Snowflake Monday blog post. In the meantime, the previous eight booklets are still available, and I will do my best to respond to requests for them in a timely manner.

I recently finished putting together a PDF booklet of the most popular snowflake patterns on this website, and after a couple of weeks, I finally received the correct link to join my team for this year's MS-150 (now called BikeMS). Then I decided to hold off on releasing the PDF booklet until The Lizard registered, hoping to help his fundraising efforts as well my own.

I got to register early because I'm a Premium Pedaler, which means I raised in excess of $1,000 last year. My dear, sweet husband does not design patterns (yet!), and he doesn't have access to the wide variety of potential donors I do, so he has never been a Premium Pedaler and has sometimes had to donate money of his own when he has been unable to raise the required amount. Now both of us are registered, and we must each raise $400, although my personal goal is $2,000.

I began riding the MS-150 about ten years ago because a very close friend of mine invited me. I had no idea her sister was battling MS. By the time that first ride was over, I'd learned I work with two people who have MS, two people I work with have relatives with MS, and three more friends have relatives with MS. That was nearly a decade ago. Since then, I've found out about even more people in my circle who are afflicted with this disease, and now I'm married to someone who has two relatives with MS. Colorado has the highest incidence of MS in the country, and that's why I ride.

Yes, I love to ride. I love the hilly challenge of riding 75 miles a day twice in a row, back to back. I love meeting the volunteers (many of whom have MS), I love my team (Team Great-West; Great-West Life sponsors the Colorado ride), and I love meeting other cyclists who put as much effort into raising as much money as they can as I do. It's exhilarating knowing so many people care about something so important. And then I get to the finish line and find out some of those people who were riding right alongside me have MS, too, and they don't know how many more rides they'll be able to do.

That's why I ride.

The MS-150 is open to the first 2,500 people who sign up. The only requirement is to raise $400 by the first day of the ride. Because the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society depends primarily on donations to be able to serve the vast number of people affected by MS, there are numerous incentives to encourage people like me to raise more than just the basic $400. Businesses donate merchandise, bike tune-ups and other services that are then given as prizes to top donation collectors.

The best prize, in my opinion, is being named a High Roller, which means raising $2,000. Those who achieve this don't have to wait in line at the portable toilets at rest stops. One stall is always reserved for the High Rollers. If you could see the line at some of the rest stops, you'd understand why that's always a goal of mine. One stall also is reserved at each stop for the team that raises the most money, which for the last couple of years has been the RawHinies. Some teams have most unusual names! Ain't Too Proud to Sag, Purple Steep Hill Eaters, Saddle Soar, Some Nerve, Are We There Yet?, Penguin Roadkill...

Humor aside, the MS-150 is where a big chunk of my heart lives. And sometimes where my heart breaks the most. To see a volunteer in a wheelchair who wasn't in one the year before...

So, in an effort to try to raise as much money as I can to help put an end to this disease, I've put together my top 20 snowflake patterns (according to Google Analytics), two brand new, never-before-published patterns (Baker's Dozen and Buried Treasure), the Rainbows of Hope scarf pattern I designed to raise money last year and the Plarn Snowman pattern (because we all have way too many white plastic grocery bags, and the snowman is a great way to get rid of them). The PDF booklet is formatted to be spiral bound or three-ring hole-punched on the left side.

All of our charitable fundraising efforts are now directed toward the battle against Parkinson's Disease.

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