Donate

I will admit that I am doing this ride primarily for a selfish reason – I just want to do it. However, I also owe a debt to many that helped get me to where I am today. That includes the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation.

In 1974, I was 1 of 10 Pullman Scholars from Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights, IL. Currently, applicants must submit an essay and go through a phone interview as part of the selection process. I honestly don’t remember submitting an application. I suppose one of my teachers or my counselor recommended me. I remember taking time out of class one day and meeting 2 men in suits who asked me some questions. I don’t remember any of the questions, so I certainly don’t remember any of my answers. I suppose I talked about wanting to go to college so I could get a good job. I was good at Math and Science, had played in band, was a member of National Honor Society, and worked a job as soon as I was able. I told them I had saved every dime I earned to pay for college. I might have mentioned that I would be the first in my family to go to college.
I did go on to earn a BSEE from the University of Illinois in 1978. As an Illinois State Scholar, my tuition was covered, but there was still a matter of room, board, books, supplies, etc. The Pullman grant gave me $400 my first year, $300 my second, $200 my third, and $100 my senior year. To put that in perspective, I worked 15-20 hours a week in “Food Service” (The Cafeteria) starting at at $1.80/hour going to $2.10/hour. So that grant saved me anywhere from 200 to 50 hours in the cafeteria every year. Since I worked in the summers at the same factory as my dad, I was able to graduate debt-free. My first job required me to get an apartment, buy a car, get new clothes, furniture, etc. As Groucho Marx said, ” I had worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty”. As soon as I was able, I started making contributions to the Pullman Foundation.

Around 2010, I was given the privilege to help select the winners from the pool of about 200 semi-finalists by conducting phone interviews with 3-4 of the candidates. After each interview, I came away amazed at the caliber, achievements, poise, enthusiasm, and ambition of each person I spoke with. After each call, I would tell my wife, “That kid was amazing!” When I think of how I probably did in my interview, I can’t help but wonder -“How the hell did I ever get this award?” I get such a rush of joy from interacting with the candidates. So much so, that I finally decided that I had to meet them face to face – even if I had to ride 2500 miles to get there for the Pullman Symposium in Chicago. Today’s candidates are head and shoulders above where I was at 17. Go to https://www.pullmanfoundation.org to learn what the Foundation is all about.

That brings me to the next reason I am doing this ride. As they used to say on NPR’s Car Talk, “the following message comes to you from the shameless commerce division of thelonerider.bike”: 

I am self funding the cost of the ride. I’m doing the ride because I just want to do it and while I AM STILL ABLE! I also thought it would be a good way to pay back an organization that helped me years ago. I will be asking friends, family, enemies, living bodies to kick in $25 directly to the Foundation. Since the ride is about 2500 miles, I thought a penny a mile would be good. Becky and I plan on contributing $2500 ourselves, regardless.

All donations should be made directly to the Foundation, but I would ask that when you fill out their page, [https://www.pullmanfoundation.org/support/#donate] please call out this ride by indicating something similar to the screen shots below:

Thank you in advance for any and all support of the foundation and my adventure!

The Lone Rider*

* Full disclosure – Thanks to Ron and our wives, I am for this ride, The Not So Lone Rider