Form & Flyer

For those of you who would like to donate via mail, we now have donation forms available. To request a mail-in donation form, send an email to joshuadarnold@bellsouth.net and write Donation Card Request in the subject line. The file is a .pdf, so Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to open the form.

Also, be on the lookout for Relay on the Ridge flyers in local businesses. We will begin our covert posting campaign this weekend.

Donation Total Thus Far: $172.00
Thanks to Jana Reid for her contribution.

Happy Birthday, Elijah

Today (Wed., February 25) is Elijah's 2nd birthday. Elijah is the son of two of our best friends, Gary and Vasiliki. Elijah was diagnosed late last year with Medulloblastoma and is currently undergoing chemotherapy at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. Prior to his diagnosis, Elijah and Gary spent Saturday nights at our house watching Long Way Down and eating pizza. Gary and I had been planning a motorcycle trip to England, Ireland, and Scotland when they received Elijah's diagnosis. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with the Seritts and my hope is that Elijah will soon be well enough to tag along when Gary and I put as much of the British Isles under two wheels as we can in a two-week trip.

Donation Total Thus Far: $162.00
Thanks to Gary Hetzel for his contribution.

If you are donating in memory of someone, we will accept photographs for the Memorial Montage that will conclude this year's Relay on the Ridge. Photos can be emailed to: joshuadarnold@bellsouth.net

Relay on the Ridge Logo

Relay on the Ridge has a new logo. The logo was designed by Kelley S. Brasher of Visionopolis Design & Photography. Kelley is a fantastic all-purpose marketer (not like those Granite people with their freaky monument) and everyone should visit the Visionopolis site (under Relay on the Ridge links) and check out her amazing portfolio.

Donation Total Thus Far: $142.00
Thanks to Cynthia Brasher for her contribution and Kelley S. Brasher & Visionopolis for the logo.

Meet the Bikes (One of them, anyway...)

Somebody once said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That guy obviously never went anywhere on a motorcycle.

The Relay on the Ridge journey continued to "begin" today with an all-out fluids change (oil & filter, brake, and coolant). Since this is how I (and Shane) spent today preparing for the RotR, I suppose I could introduce everyone to my bike.

It is a 2004 Honda CB 919 (CB900F). The stock bike is about as solid a machine as you could want. It's comfortable and fast; a good combination for a long-distance ride through the twists and turns of the Blue Ridge Parkway. To the stock bike I've added a Corbin seat, a Givi Maxia top box, a Givi windscreen, and a set of Givi throw-over panniers (not pictured). It does not have a nickname, like the bike you'll meet in the next installment of Meet the Bikes: The Bull...

The Road Warriors

As planning for the trip progresses, now is the appropriate time to introduce everyone to my fellow road warrior and resident road trip expert, Shane Epperson. Shane and I have traveled portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway before, as well as other short trips.

The above photo was taken Feb. 7, 2009 at the Georgia Guidestones, located outside Elberton, Georgia. Shane and I rode a total of 570 miles in one day (including a stop at an Atlanta Waffle House). For you conspiracy buffs out there, the Guidestones appear to advocate some sort of flowery new world order. What I noticed was the not-so-subtle advertisement for the Elberton Granite Museum at the bottom of the monument (Elberton, GA is the self-proclaimed Granite Capital of the World). If it isn't the Illuminati, it's the marketers.

The final line of the Guidestones' cryptic message says: "Be not a cancer on the Earth." I chose to take that as my motivation for raising money for Relay for Life; Let there be no cancer on Earth. And with two revolutionaries like us in the fight, Cancer and the Guidestones should both be very afraid.

Donation Total Thus Far: $132.00

Thanks to John Barrow and Denise Smith (my Aunt Neese) for their contributions.

These are the people who make good things happen

This is a photo of the 2008 South Shelby Relay For Life team. These folks raised $17,000 last year; a phenomenal effort by any standard. I am proud to be a member of the 2009 team and to be associated with such a wonderful group of people.

Donation Total Thus Far: $77.00.
Thanks to Lisa Hanner ($75.00) and Leslie Arnold ($2.00) for being the first of hopefully many donations to Relay on the Ridge 2009.

Online Donations

We can now accept online donations via PayPal's secure website. Click the link in the right-hand column to donate. Donations in any denomination are greatly appreciated. 100% of your donations go to Shelby County High School's Relay For Life fund. Thank you for supporting Relay on the Ridge 2009.

The Rationale for the Relay

The purpose of this trip is to raise money for Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society's annual fund-raising event. After passively participating in this event at Shelby County High School (Columbiana, AL) for three years, I have decided to become an active participant. Thus the Relay on the Ridge idea was born. My goal is to secure $1,500 in donations based on the 1,500-mile round trip from Chelsea, Alabama to Waynesboro, Virginia via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since Shelby County High School's donations for last year's Relay totaled $17,000, this fund-raiser will be but a small part of a much larger effort.

Details about the trip, including all the gritty details about planning this endeavor, will be forthcoming as the trip (March 23-March 28) approaches. I look forward to keeping you all posted on the trip's progress and would like to thank you in advance for donating to Shelby County High School's Relay for Life. Questions regarding donations can be sent to: joshuadarnold@bellsouth.net