Go Travis and Katie!

Posted on | 3 years, 9 months ago, in the late afternoon | No Comments

So lately you’ve seen me talking about my short story “The Heavy.” I’ve never made any secret of the fact that the eponymous protagonist is based on an old buddy of mine, a guy I know back in Tennessee; and though I don’t ordinarily run around caricaturing my friends for the printed page, I made an exception in this case.

My reasons were twofold: (1). he’s one hell of a character — much larger than life, and a million times nicer, and (2). he’s been begging me to do it for ten years.

But I say all that to say this — the very same gentleman who inspired one of the post popular characters I’ve ever written … is participating in a very good thing, The Official 24 Hour Cycling Event of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. [Editor's note: Why this event is called, "24 Hours of Booty" is a mystery to me and him both. Please don't judge the event based on its questionable marketing department.]

To make a long story short, Travis and his 11-year-old daughter, Katie, are part of a team called Southern Fried Cyclin’ — which will be riding in Asheville, North Carolina, to raise money for cancer research. This event is a 24 hour bike ride with approximately twelve thousand participants. Southern Fried Cyclin’ will ride relay-style (each rider will ride for two hours, rest for four), so that at all times during the 24 hours the team will be represented on the track.*

Here’s a portion of the email Travis passed along this afternoon:

“The organizers of the event require a minimum of $150 in donations per rider, meaning that Katie and I will need to raise a combined $300. It is my sincere hope that Katie and I can not only meet, but vastly exceed this mark.

In addition to the obvious importance of funding cancer research, I am personally overwhelmed by the fact that my daughter, at eleven years old, is mature enough to see the importance of taking something that she loves (cycling) and using it to benefit others as a part of something much greater than mere personal enjoyment. For these two reasons I hope that our fundraising efforts are a smashing success! For more information or to pledge your support for our ride, please visit the following links:

Katie Kilgore’s Sponsorship Page
Travis Kilgore’s Sponsorship Page

Please check the fundraising totals on each site, then (if you are willing and able to do so), pledge your support to whoever has the lowest amount raised so far. As Katie and I are riding together as a team, I’d like the funds raised to be as close to equal as possible. (Although I realize full well that Katie is vastly cuter than myself, and will probably raise more money for that reason alone, ha ha ha.) If I understand correctly, donations can be made online by credit/debit card, or by printing out a form and mailing in a check.

[Editor's note, redux: All donations are tax-deductible, with a confirmation form with all the necessary tax information provided once the transaction is completed.]

This is not a mileage-based event, as were the old “Ride-a-Thons”, so please don’t be concerned that we might ride 1800 miles, ha ha. Any support that you are willing and able to offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and God’s Blessings, Travis, on behalf of Katie and myself.”

Let me be quite clear — Travis is one of the finer human beings that I personally have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He’s one hell of a guy and a real hero, whether or not he appears in fictional form, and I’d really love to see him make his goal and then some.

So if you’re interested in a marvelous charity/exceptional tax deduction, please consider clicking around on Travis and Katie’s sponsorship pages and throwing a few pence in the pot and/or linking this entry around.

Thanks for your time, and thanks for reading, folks.


* Lest you worry for the little girl’s legs, it’s worth noting that Travis and Katie will be riding a tandem bike. Katie cannot ride alone. She’s been vision-impaired since birth, and is now all but fully blind; but clearly, this does not slow her down much.

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