Three days in, and holy cats – $380 received from 13 generous people I’ve never met, plus another $200 pledged. Along with Elden’s match, that puts us over 2/3rds of the way to the Fatty Rules Jersey. Which brings me to another point: I’m not exactly a, whaddayacallit, graphic artist. So if anybody out there wants to help me design the thing, please get in touch (jls at jls dot cx will work fine).
Also, I’m going to need about three weeks’ lead time to get the jersey done. If you want to have a chance at taking it home, please donate now. I promise not to stink it up too much.

Today, Elden acknowledged my callout. And, to my great satisfaction, my fellow FC readers responded. In the first few hours we’ve raised another $160, which will be matched by both me and Elden. Thanks to everybody who donated, and to those of you who left comments over at FC to let everybody know just how big a deal the PMC is. We’ve got a ways to go before we hit the “Fatty Rules” jersey level, and even further before – ulp – I have to figure out how I’m going to survive nearly 200 miles without coasting. But I hope we get there. Really. So if you want to join the fun, step right up.

6/27 update: Welcome, fellow Fat Cyclist readers!
So PMC is a mere eight weeks away, and I’ve raised only 10% of the minimum I for the ride. “Plenty of time,” part of me says. “You need to get on the stick,” responds the other part. I’ve started reaching out to everybody I know – friends, classmates, co-workers, people who stand too close to me on the T. If I haven’t asked you yet, consider this fair warning. You could just save me the trouble and go pledge.
But the part of me that’s saying “get on the stick” is whispering a few other things, too, such as “you don’t actually know all that many people.” Now the people I do happen to know are mostly generous (or at least they were before I started posting on the Internet about the voices in my head), so I’m confident that they’ll come through. But this isn’t an exercise in meeting the minimum. I want to raise as much money as I can, and I’m not terribly concerned about looking ridiculous in the process.
I happen to know another guy who likes to ride bike and knows a thing or two about cancer. Coincidentally he’s also got a big ride coming up in August, and his flair for looking ridiculous is well known in certain circles.
That’s right; I’m calling out the Fat Cyclist. I’m shamelessly attempting to use his miniscule celebrity as a lever for my microscopic celebrity, all in the name of cancer fundraising.
So, here’s what I propose:
1. I will match dollar-for-dollar, up to $1000, any donation from a Fat Cyclist blog reader or FC himself. Just put “Fatty Rules” in the comments when you donate.
2. If FC readers give me up to $1500 in donations, I’ll have the folks at Voler make me up a custom “Fatty Rules” jersey to wear on the second day. We are, ahem, encouraged to wear the official PMC jersey on the first day. In turn, I encourage anyone with embarrasing vector art or extremely high resoluton photos of FC to email me. One caveat here: I will need three weeks or so to get the jersey done, so don’t wait.
4. If FC readers shoot the moon and donate $2000 or more, I’ll do the whole route – 192 miles – on my fixed gear. While wearing the jersey.
5. Since this is, of course, all about the Fat Cyclist: If Fatty makes his goal weight for the Leadville 100 by the time I go to the start on the evening of August 4th, I’ll throw in another $500. Of course I will require suitable documentation of this achievement. And if he doesn’t make his goal, maybe I’ll do the ride on his fixie.
Of course, I’m open to counter-suggestions from the man himself, so this list may expand.
A little bit about PMC – this ride has a low profile outside of New England, but it’s a massive charity event. Last year, about 4,000 riders raised $23 million for Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, one of the premiere pediatric and adult cancer research centers in the United States. Ninety-nine percent of the money raised goes to cancer research, so this is an extremely efficent way to help out. This year the goal is $25 million – please help us get there.