The local burrito shop puts their burritos in these brown paper bags for take-out. Recently, the bags started touting an advertisement for Tri State Trek, a 270-mile bike ride from Boston to New York (through three states). When I saw this for the first time earlier today, I thought “wow, cool. I’m looking for something to train for this summer, why not a bike ride?”

So I went to the website and checked it out. That’s when I found out that it’s a fundraising event, which then immediately turned me off to the race. Registration for this event is $135, and each rider must raise a minimum of $1650. The cause is a good one, Lou Gehrig’s Disease … but I just don’t do well with fundraisers.

This makes me think about recent solicitations I have gotten from friends in the past doing raises for a cause, asking for donations. If I remember (and I try to remember), I do almost always go and contribute some small amount. So why am I so skittish about doing one of these things myself? I’m not sure. I guess I’m afraid of bugging people; I don’t want to make people feel obligated.

So I think, did I feel obligated to give to my friends in the past? To be fair, I think I did feel a certain level of obligation; I probably wouldn’t have ever contributed to these charities otherwise. This latter point is probably why these races happen: the charities really can raise money from it, and from people who otherwise wouldn’t have given anything but do because their friends and family are bugging them.

I don’t know … maybe one of these days, I’ll get over whatever complex I have against these things. In the meantime, I’ll just continue my small donations to friends undertaking ginormous tasks of raising money for charity through completion of feats of endurance and strength.