Hello! My name is Derek.

I am an overweight and relatively sedentary 38 year old dad. But I want to change that sedentary bit. I remember how much I loved riding my bike as a kid. I'd ride everywhere-- to get ice cream with my siblings, to the McDonald's in town for 49 cent cheeseburgers on Tuesdays, to summer school (it was just the one time, okay?), and, after I crashed my first car, I'd often ride my bike to work. These were not short rides. My family lived about ten miles from anywhere, at the bottom of an escarpment; going anywhere was literally an uphill ride. Coming home was a lot of fun, though.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure if I had a bike to ride, I'd ride it. I hope I would. The problem is, because of my weight, and because my back is messed up from my Army days (I was in much better shape then), I can't ride a traditional bike. It's not even the weight, really; if I was half as fat as I am now I still wouldn't be able to ride a regular bike. I know, because 200 pounds ago, I tried.

So I've done my research, and there is a bike that can hold me that I can also ride-- the Greenspeed Magnum Recumbent Trike. It checks all my boxes, but it comes with a hefty price tag. Here's the link: https://greenspeed-trikes.com/product/magnum-smoke/

Now, I know $3000 is a lot to ask for something that I realistically don't need. And to that point, I do have some money saved up for it (about $700, which should cover the remainder of the cost plus shipping). And if this campaign isn't successful, I'll continue saving. So don't feel like you have to contribute, and don't feel bad if you can't or don't want to. I've tried to finance and my credit isn't good enough. So I have to buy the thing cash. If I can raise the funds through this campaign, I can get the trike this summer and be out on the roads soon! If it isn't successful, I'll keep saving, and hopefully will have enough by next summer to get out there.

I'll be real with you. My thoughts here are if I can get 300 people to donate 10 bucks I'm at my goal. I'm not looking for grand gestures. To be honest, as much as I feel like I want to ride now, there's a lot of days where I feel like I don't want to move. That's a huge reason why I'm one unhealthy burger away from the scale not being able to tell me how much I weigh anymore. I've been making strides toward getting my eating habits under control. This trike could go a long way toward helping me develop a healthy, more active lifestyle.

But I don't wanna make promises I'm not sure I can keep. If you put your ten dollars in the bucket, I want you to feel like you're getting something for it, even if I don't hit my funding goal, or if I don't get as much use out of the trike as I hope to. To that end, I've written a short story over on google docs for you to read. Don't worry, it's not about fat people riding bikes. Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uVBdN8MylclDZEgVtmRoI41Whr5J6AH_MDmHqwvah5I/edit

Now, I've left it open so that anyone with the link can read it. There's nothing stopping you from seeing this campaign, reading the link, and not donating, and that's fine. But I could really use your help. So even if you can't donate, maybe share this one around.

I know I'm asking for a lot. I really appreciate any support you can give me, even if it's just words of encouragement. If all you did was read the story, well, I'd appreciate your thoughts on that, too.

And regardless of whether this campaign hits its goal or not, I can promise this: if I know you personally, when I do get this trike, we can ride somewhere together, if you want.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this. And thanks again for your donation/shares/support.

PS- if your name is Elon Musk, maybe just fill the bucket? Haha.