Welcome to my fundraising page! I am participating in the Tour Da Yoop, Eh and Biking 4 Childhood Cancer. The funds I raise through my pledge will be used to aid families in the Upper Peninsula in their fight against childhood cancer.
In 2020, my quest for beautiful, quiet road cycling routes led me to the discovery of the Tour Da Yoop, Eh, a 10-day, 1200-mile epic cycling journey around the perimiter of Michigan's upper peninsula. I rode the tour for the first time in 2021, and loved the area for its unique culture, friendly and welcoming communities, and relative isolation.
That isolation, I learned, is great for road cycling but very tough on families in medical crisis. Kids with a cancer diagnosis in the UP have to travel hundreds of miles for medical care. One family we met, whose two-year-old daughter had been diagnosed a year earlier, explained that a simple checkup meant taking three days off work. The Lions Club in the UP has done a great job of locating these families and has teamed up with the TDY to raise funds to help them out with expenses and find ways to come alongside them in their fight against childhood cancer.
Ten straight days of 120-mile rides is a lot, and after I finished the tour in 2022 I was pretty sure I was done with that intensity of riding. Call me crazy, but I'm going back to do it again, this time in the hope of raising money to not only help families with grocery and gas money, but perhaps even to help fund a satellite clinic so they don't have such a heavy burden of travel.
I would be honored if you made a donation in support of this cause!
Tour Da Yoop, Eh™ 2023
<p>Meet the pinnacle of road biking.</p><p>Tour Da Yoop, Eh is more than a 1,200 mile circuit through some of the most beautiful terrain in the United States. Tour Da Yoop, Eh offers some of the finest road biking in the world. Our little peninsula is covered with expansive roads, free of dangerous traffic, and littered with sparkling waterfalls, unique landmarks, and awe-inspiring lake views. Join us in riding and raising money for U.P. families battling childhood cancer. Come see what it truly means to tour da yoop, eh?</p><p>We start and end in Manistique, taking a clockwise tour around the Upper Peninsula. Each day is around 120 miles. At 8 A.M. each day, we meet in the parking lot of our host hotel before embarking on the next section. Riders form groups based on their desired speed and follow our route through vast quiet roads until eventually arriving at the next host location.</p><p>Our Support and Gear Team transports your luggage from location to location. We also provide tools, first aid, food, and water. We also have water stops every 30-40 miles or so depending on the day. SAG vehicles follow the last rider group and other vehicles keep tabs on riders throughout.</p><p>You can sign up for all 10 days with The Full Experience package, enjoy half of the bike tour with the Western Loop package, dip your toes into Tour Da Yoop, Eh with the Eastern Loop package, or build your own package with individual sections. Your adventure is up to you. Whether you do it all in one go or take it a few sections at a time, the completion of all sections earns you the the right to wear Plaid. The Plaid Jersey marks the finale of an incredible accomplishment.</p><p> </p>
Our mission is to help children and families from the Upper Peninsula that are battling childhood cancer with funds for travel, medical and household bills. Families from the U.P. are challenged with multiple costs since kids need to travel downstate or to Wisconsin for treatments. Medical treatment can go on for many years, sometimes leaving kids with physical, emotional, and sensory deficits.
Our program assembles initiatives to help these families meet financial needs for travel, medical, and household bills.
We provide these families with other resources for getting care.
We share information and connect families to other nonprofits that may help, either in-person or remotely, such as:
Camp Quality, a nationwide camp designed for children with cancer and their families. The Upper Peninsula Lions are now partnering with them and Bay Cliff Health Camp and have started Camp Quality Upper Peninsula for kids with cancer and their families. Our goal is to support CQUP camps several times a year at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay, Michigan.
Kids Kicking Cancer, an organization that teaches children with cancer the tools to manage pain and maintain strength through martial arts and meditation. Kids Kicking Cancer also teaches kids to be victors and not victims. Virtual classes are now available to children in the Upper Peninsula.
Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids of Michigan. Children receive hair and skin restoration after hair loss at no cost to the families. This organization supports all children living in Michigan and Maggie's has helped several children from the Upper Peninsula.