I’ve been hearing radio spots lately for “Ride Without Limits”, a two-day fully supported bike tour to benefit Cerebral Palsy. The spots are fill of chipper soundbites of folks deciding how they are going to get in shape for the big weekend. They sound terribly enthusiastic.

I confess, I paid attention to these spots because I’m interested in a challenging bike ride to set my sights on. I swear every year to get in great cycling shape by the end of the summer, and always hope that this ride or that ride will provide the incentive I need. And this ride benefits a truly worthy cause, to boot.

But if you go to the Ride Without Limits website, you will notice something that is not mentioned AT ALL in the radio spots. I wonder if all those chirpy happy riders are aware that “Each rider agrees to raise a minimum of $1,800 in donations”?

$1,800?!?!? Damn, that’s a lot of money. And in order to raise it, that’s going to require a lot of whining, wheedling, bothering relatives, and going door-to-door. I’m all for helping out a good cause, but WOW.

Oh, and if you DON’T have $1,800 in your account by the start of the ride, you don’t ride. If you need to make up the difference, you can always pay the balance yourself. Ride Without Limits will also let you make a “delayed self-donation”, which in simple terms means you get four weeks to make up the balance, then they charge your credit card for the difference.

This may be a great event, and it may be a great fundraiser, but I’d be much more likely to take part in a ride that charged, say, only double what it costs to support the ride. C’mon, Cycle Oregon can put on a fully-supported tour for a whole WEEK for only $800.

So count me out. For a “Ride Without Limits”, it seems to me they are intent on pretty seriously limiting potential rider participation.