Planning to undertake a long bike ride a few years ago,  I became frustrated when  my friends’ initial reaction was always what charity was I doing it for?  The assumption that people only rode that sort of distance as a challenge for  charity was ingrained, it seemed.    I toyed with the idea of raising funds for youth in the far north and suggested sites to contribute to on my posts but the intention of my ride was to satisfy my own curiosity of what I could achieve.  I was irked at the suggestion that riding that distance without raising money was somehow selfish.

I was going to ride longer days and at a higher speed than most cross-Canada cyclists as I had only nine weeks off work to complete a route of over 8,000km. There was no personal charity that I felt would give me the spur I needed to complete my training program – the ride was my  goal.  

The modern-day plethora of sponsored bike rides for charity appears to have grown out of  earlier sponsored walk events from the 1960’s and 1970’s.  I recall as a young teenager back then undertaking a challenge walk of 20 miles in support of our village community association. We needed a playing field and hall and every mile I walked would contribute more to that fund so it was implied I would suffer more to achieve that noble goal and complete the full journey.      

The idea of suffering to ride big miles on a bike for charity bothers me.  If you are sufficiently well-trained then the distances you attempt on a bike should be achievable and the ride should be enjoyable. That does not mean the ride should be unchallenging but the challenge should not reach the point where you are actually hurting.

I have been out riding in the Fraser Valley of BC and encountered the tail end of  a charity 100km ride where the stragglers were “limping” their way to Chilliwack where they would overnight and then ride a further 100km to Hope the next day.  Saddle-sore and weary with aching muscles and joints, these riders would be put off ever riding that sort of distance again.  When well-wishers applauded their heroic arrival in Hope the following afternoon, they would be subconsciously reinforcing the myth that riding long distances is an ordeal that just needs to be endured.  

Despite my ambivalence to charity rides, I have participated in couple where I could simply contribute a fixed amount and wasn’t expected to set up a fund-raising page to drum up a minimum sponsorship.   In this way, I feel I was paying the charity for my enjoyment, not asking others to contribute for my “suffering”.   Contributors are strangely reluctant to give away their hard-earned money if they think you will actually enjoy a sponsored event.