Robin's Ride For Women, Overcoming the Fear of Life and Helmet Hair

Please Help.Pledge now. Even $1 counts for New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Program and Grounds for Health. I rode my motorcycle alone across 44 states and parts of Canada through 20,226 incredible miles in 4-months 4-days. My site: www.robinsrideforwomen.com This trip is about following your dreams. SEE A VIDEO ABOUT MY RIDE on www.womenridersnow.com streaming video: http://www.womenridersnow.com//PublicFiles/DepartmentViewer.asp?DepartmentID=44

Monday, October 23, 2006

November 16th, 7-10pm, come have fun while helping others!



Isn't Fall Beautiful!!!

November 16th, 2006 will be the Robin's Ride For Women dinner and auction. So far there are over $10,000 worth of items to bid on! Why not spend your Christmas dollars where others who need it can benefit? There will be food, beer, wine, soda and live music, all at Harley Davidson of Seattle in Lynnwood, WA - the host of the auction. Their logo and address are on my home page.

Also, I will be giving a presentation, show images of my ride and tell you of many wonderful people I met along the way. Auction tickets will be $20 each. You can charge them through Pay Pal on my site at www.robinsrideforwomen.com and then go to the contribution page. Just write into the note section that it is for tickets. Or you can mail in for the tickets to: Robin's Ride For Women, P O Box 2073, Bothell, WA 98041. I will then have your tickets waiting for you at the door, unless you would like them mailed to you.

I hope to see you there!

Monday, October 16, 2006

So hello Barry aka Barry2 aka Get Real

Hadn't heard from you since the beginning of the ride. Needed to hear from you for a couple of times today to make sure - modern technology you know :-)
Have a good day!

There will always be a "Barry" (comments on previous blog)

Good morning Barry. No I'm not going to delete your comment. I hope what you had to say has relieved some tension you must be carrying. I have a question though Barry - why did what I'm trying to do anger you? Do you know me? You know who I am pretty well just from reading my blog if you read the whole thing, but I know nothing of you except that you found it necessary to send this note to me and everyone who might read it - and you have a right to do that - I just can't imagine doing it myself.

I need to understand though that if there is one Barry out there, probably more are wondering about this ride and how or why I did it. I just did it the best way I knew how. I will never apologize for affecting lives in a positive way. I had the courage to step out in the light and do something to try and help others. I would do it again if I thought it would help.

Yes, I spent a couple of hours visiting my grandkids since I hadn't seen them in several years. I stayed with friends, family and complete strangers some times to save money and rest up, do laundry and get a little boost from being alone. The pins seem to be an issue, but I only had 300 and I gave many away to people who were kind to me - I will take the hit on what ever penalty for not getting cash for them. I have receipts from all cash spent. If someone gets taken out for lunch in a business they are not penalized to my knowledge. But anything people did for me is that much less that would have to be taken out as an expense.

If I fail to raise enough money to cover expenses and still give money to the charities, the charities will get the money anyway - I will take the loss. I will not do something in a charities name and not take care of them, even though if I only raised one dollar extra, that is all I am required to give. Have you ever looked at the amount a non-profit uses to run the business and the small percent that gets to the people they are helping? I'm not going to do that. I don't have a staff to pay, I have friends who helped and gave their precious time because they believed in what I was doing.

Note: Auction items donated were shipped direct to Harley Davidson of Seattle to be held for the auction and they are still there.

My purpose for riding out across the country and getting exposure was to increase the odds of raising more for the charities. Instead of one donation from me, I wanted to make as many as possible aware of the need to help those who need it. I know that Grounds for Health was a totally unknown charity to almost all I met. As for New Orleans, it had become old news - except for the big coverage on the anniversary of the storm, where lots of hoopla was made while real people were trying to gut out their destroyed homes in conditions of no power, no facilities, no potable water and extreme heat and humidity. Who is going to explain that this is still going on unless they go to see it? And all I can tell you is that everyone I met in New Orleans said thanks to me for trying to get them help.

Then there was the part of this ride meant to encourage women to take control of their lives, fight fear and follow their dreams. I know that I touched some lives and made a difference and I will never feel guilty for that. I figured if women saw that someone my age, from an average life doing something totally out of the box, they would see that it's possible to change or expand their lives - even a little.

If this would have been just a nice ride around the country to visit people what a neat thing that would be. I don't know if you ride - but can you imagine driving 20,000 miles in anything - and in one trip without going back to your home to rest? I rode in the rain, hail, heat, cold, when sick, to places I had never been before, stayed with strangers and waited along the road at night for a tow truck to haul me and my broken bike to safety. I got on the web to update information on my site and give the people curious about me and my ride information after riding until I was so tired I just wanted to stop, take my boots off and rest. I went to trade shows and called companies trying to sell sponsorships to raise more money...and so on.

Yes sometimes dealerships were kind enough to cover working on my bike, but others I had to pay. The little bit from my parent’s estate went to pay my house payment and bills while I was gone and I charged the trip expenses. Bottles of water, an ice cream bar for lunch and snacks for dinner aren't very expensive, but yes it does add up.

What the "supporter" said about my finances is true, but if I lose my house over this I'm still ahead for the experience and all of the good people I met along the way. There were no Barry's out there, and there are usually not when it's face to face.

Sorry if I disappoint by defending myself and this ride, but I think that too often people don't stand up for what they think is right, and then bad things continue to go on.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

20,226 Miles - I beat the 20,000 by 226!




I did it and now I'm staying in my jammies until Monday!!! :-)
Thanks to H-D of Seattle in Lynnwood for the great return home party! Thanks for ABATE in Longview and Women on Wheels from Kitsap and the Great Northwest HOG chapter for riding me in! And thanks April - you and ABC's KOMO ch4 news have been a great source of support and help!

Now the work continues! I'll be getting more sponsorships sold and the Auction arranged. MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR NOVEMBER 16, 2006! It's a Black Leather Affair! Food, live music, silent auction, wine, beer, too much fun - and maybe even a brand new Harley Davidson for some lucky person!!
Watch my site and H-D of Seattle's site for information. You can get to them via my home page.

I'm not done yet... :-)

Friday, October 13, 2006

ONE MORE DAY! And I'll have OVER 20,000 miles!

All I have to do is make it through Friday the 13th! I can do it :-)
Any reading this out there - if you want to keep up with what I'm doing after this - keep coming to the site or send me your e-mail.
write to robin@robinsrideforwomen.com
Thanks for helping me along this journey to help the charities!

Sunday, October 08, 2006

KtDid

Can you write me on my e-mail? I may be close to where you are until Tuesday am.

995 Miles To Go! I'm going to beat 20,000!

I'm in CA and only have 995 miles to go, but I'm still showing up on the 14th. Come on out and meet me - see me back home!

And those of you who are just coming to the site - this is a fund raiser so I hope you'll check out my Contribution page where you can use PayPal - or just put a dollar in an envelope and mail it to Robin's Ride For Women, P O Box 2073, Bothell, WA 98041. Give until it feel good! Help me help these peoplw who need it so much.

And those of you who have been following me on this great ride - THANK YOU! You have helped me through both good and bad. But really nothing has been that bad. It's been quite exceptional!

Don't forget, I'll be having an aucion on November 16th at Harley Davidson of Seattle in Lynnwood with all kinds of good things companies have been donating. I even have a $2500 complete guided pheasant hunt in South Dakota on the list of auction items. More to come so don't forget to check the Sponsor List page for the list of other auction items.

Hugs and love to all!!!!!!! And don't go away yet - lots more to come. See what I'll be doing in the future - it could include you :-)

Monday, October 02, 2006

Almost Home!

It's over 18,000 miles now and I'll be back home in 12 days! Hope I see lots of you when I get back. If you are in the Seattle area check with Harley Davidson of Seattle and see what is planned for my return. I hope lots of you are there when I take that last leg home. And I'm getting pretty excited about the auction/dinner we will have soon after I return. So many people are working hard to make sure it's a memorable event and lots of fun too!

Boy yesterday was hot, hot, and hot! Riding through New Mexico and Arizona the last couple of days has almost dried me out. If ever you want to get into the habit of drinking lots of water, this is the place.

Keep watching - keep writing - keep helping each other!