Ridin' For Rotary Overview

"Ridin' For Rotary" is a 3-summer, fundraising coast-to-coast bicycle tour that is set to begin June 19th, 2008 by 9-year old Riley Ferrero, 7-year old Dylan Ferrero and crazy dad, Ryan Ferrero (39 for those keeping score).

Route:
Between June 19th and July 3rd, the boys will be dipping the traditional rear-tire in the Pacific in Astoria, Oregon, then the Ferreros will ride a self-supported 800-mile solo tour through the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range, through Boise and completing their first of three legs in Sun Valley, Idaho. Summer 2009 and 2010 will complete the journey in Washington DC where the front wheel will be dipped in the Atlantic.

Purpose:
Every third-grader in the Thompson R2-J School District receives a beautiful color dictionary courtesy of the Loveland Rotary Club. Ridin' for Rotary will be a charitable ride that will seek donations to support this dictionary project, with a goal of more than $5,000. Coordinated through the Loveland Rotary Club ( www.lovelandrotary.org ), we will raise money to ensure that every 3rd Grader receives the New Heritage full-color hard-backed Dictionary.

The Riders:
Riley Ferrero is a third grader, 9 years old, likes skiing, snowboarding, reading, Wii and baseball. Dylan Ferrero is a first grader, 7 years old, likes skiing, reading, basketball and guitar. Ryan Ferrero loves his kids, but will reassess his feelings after 800 miles on their bike together.

The Hardware:
German company Hase, is currently producing a special tandem hybrid bike for this event. The bike is called a Pino Tour. The front child sits in a recumbent fashion (the stoker), while Dad sits in a traditional tour geometry (captain). Tailing along is the Hase Trets recumbent trailer. This bike gives great safety and allows riders to hold easier conversations.

Niwot Cycles, www.NiwotCycles.com, is helping sponsor our event.

We need you!
We need your support and a little bit of luck!

We need to know if your company wants to donate to this great (and test of wills) event. Several newspapers are interested in covering the tour, along with tour photo blogs and blogs written by the boys. We are hoping that 9News will also feature the event as a featured children's fitness story. But who knows, the point is to really ride, survive and support kids, through our dictionaries.

So, no rules here. Call me with any questions or if you have a way to talk me out of this. If you want to support "Ridin' for Rotary" send your donations to:

Ridin' for Rotary
4040 Byrd Drive
Loveland, Colorado 80538