#PlacesChange Tour

My name is Chas Wiederhold, and simply, I am going on a bike ride to learn more about the region I call home: The Midwest. I need help gathering gear and supplies for what may be up to a 2,600 mile bike ride so that I can tell a story.

As any good fundraiser should add: this is not just a donation -- it's an investment. It really is. I am not only taking this trip as a cyclist. I am taking this trip as a writer, as a photographer, as a someone with a keen eye for pride for place.

This trip will become a small magazine. High quality. Beautiful paper. Beautiful pictures. Beautiful people. It’s nice to hold something in your hands. To have a tangible object in this age of digitization and cloud storage. Photography, Poetry, Essays and Artifacts from the trip meant to inspire exploration and deepening of roots.

There will also be a digital experience that features the places, people, and scenery I encounter. This will have a similar finish as the magazine with interactive profiles, images, and essays.

--

I've lived my life wondering why everyone who is smart, talented, and creative moves away from a place I love. I've lived my life wondering why everyone who stays in a place is negative about the place without resolve.

I want an audience to grasp my fixation on this subject of passion for place. I don’t want to be an alien anymore. An alien who says “I love where I’m from. It hurts me when you criticize it without intent to improve it. I love its problems just as much as I love its successes. I am change. I am progress. You can be change. You can be progress. You can love its problems. Care for its problems. Look there are others. We’re not aliens. We believe in roots.”

I hope you can help.