Hi, Everyone!
I’ve been talking about it since this past Summer so now it’s time to get a move on. From December 8th through January 3rd I will join a group of about 50 cyclists on a 1438-mile (2300 KM) tour of Thailand, starting in Chiang Mai and ending in Phuket. Besides touring the beautiful country of Thailand, the Tour de Thailand raises funds and awareness for Thailand charities. This year the beneficiaries of the Tour are Operation Smile Thailand and Foundation for the Blind in Thailand. In fact, on Dec 18th, from Ayutthaya to Bangkok (56 Miles/90 KM), The Foundation for the Blind and Cycling Clubs from Bangkok and other surrounding areas will come out and join us as we ride around the temples of Ayutthaya and head south to Bangkok. I can barely cycle with all my capacities so to be riding with seeing-impaired cyclists will no doubt be inspirational to all!
I decided to do a tour of Thailand in this manner so that I can not only see a huge portion of Thailand but see it in a manner that helps me continue my fitness goals. Most of you know of my fitness and weight loss goals that I’ve been pursuing this year, so this is a continuation of those goals. The Tour de Thailand is a 27-day tour. We will ride about 3 or 4 days at a time and then take a day off. The rides are anywhere from 47 to 90 miles a day. I’ve been training for this in Mandeville (north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans) since mid-October. I’m not very fast but I do have good endurance. I can’t believe the start of the tour is so near! I am confident that I will be able to complete the entire 1438 miles…I’ll be at the back of the pack, no doubt, but I’m determined to stay on that bike!
I hope that I can count on all of you for a donation to one or both of the Thailand charities which will benefit. My goal is to raise US$3000, or nearly 100,000 Thai Baht. This is the 7th year of the Tour de Thailand. In prior years the cyclists have raised over 5,000,000 baht for Thailand charities.
Operation Smile Thailand has enabled me to create a donor page on which you may make donations via credit card. The webpage is http://www.support.operationsmile.org/goto/donnagauthierthailand. Regrettably The Foundation for the Blind in Thailand does not have a donor page, thus if you’d like to contribute to that, you may mail a cheque to me (please make it out to Donna Gauthier but specify the charity in the memo) in San Antonio (‘cause that’s where my bank account is) before November 29th. For my Bermuda friends, I still have a bank account there and thus if it’s easier to make a direct deposit or transfer to that bank account, please do (let me know as soon as possible so that I can send the account number to you), noting in the description either “Thailand Bike Tour” (which means you’re donating equally to both) or “Thailand Blind Fdtn” or “Thailand Op’n Smile.” If you'd like for your donation to be in honor of or in memory of a loved one, please let me know, and I will wear a bracelet (kind of like the Livestrong rubber bracelets) with his or her name on it for the entire ride, and then I'll send the bracelet to you! I can't wait to not only get started on the tour to see Thailand, but to also take photos, meet new people, make new friends, and write about it, hopefully in a daily blog (here and in Facebook).
You may see the 27-day itinerary at http://www.tourdethailand.com/tour-de-thailand-itinerary.html. I will try to blog about this experience in the same way that I blogged about my fitness camp experience earlier this year.
Thanks for all of your support earlier this year. I hope that I can make all of you proud by completing this journey across Thailand.
Much love to all of you!
Donna
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