After finishing the fundraising ride for No Kid Hungry last month, I was often asked “so, what’s next?” I had barely gotten over, recovered and processed that ride before people wanted to know what else I had planned.

It wasn’t an easy question to answer, mostly because I hadn’t at all thought about it. The No Kid Hungry ride was an experiment in doing a self/family-supported charity ride on a completely new and untested route to support a big need in our communities. On top of that, since there aren’t actual organized cycling events on the calendar, there was nothing ahead to look towards. At some level, perhaps I figured there was nothing next, but that also left me with an empty feeling.

October passed and some of November too by the time I saw a post about Movember — a charity and campaign that addresses men’s health issues: mental health and suicide prevention, testicular cancer, and prostate cancer. I vaguely remembered Movember being when men grew mustaches during November to raise awareness and support for the cause. It would turn out that the cause is especially topical for our pandemic times because there’s been a heightened concern about mental health and suicide rates this year given all the stressors we’ve experienced from the COVID, the crashing economy and the contentious cultural/political landscape the US is in.

According to Movember, the three health challenges they focus on are particularly dire for men:

“Unchecked, prostate cancer rates will double over the next 15 years. Globally, testicular cancer is the most common cancer among men aged 15-39 years of age. And across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 75% of all suicides.”

These trends are clearly urgent and impact many of us, so it feels like a good cause to support. And, as the universe would have it, it’s still November, I have an original equipment mustache and I have the day off on the last Friday of November, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving in the US, on November 27). All I needed was (a) a route, and (b) some donors.

On the first need, given Black Friday is only 10 days away, I’m looking at some options now that will be easy/quick to plan, be relatively safe and be accessible. I’m thinking that a local 50-mile route will fit that bill.

On the second need, there’s only about 10 days to fundraise, so $500 is a good, challenging goal to try to reach. It also makes for a nice $10 per mile rate if anyone wants to donate that way, all nudges, hints and winks notwithstanding.

I just need the donors and this is where you come in. If you’re shopping on Black Friday, how about sparing a few bucks to support Movember and men’s health? Your donation is tax-deductible and goes directly to Movember’s cause to help address the dire threats to men’s health (find out more about how they invest donations, here). To support my ride for this cause, just click on the DONATE button below, and thank you for supporting me once again.