Agh, so you got stuck with signed shirts you bought? That's also a thing to auction on ebay. Hmmm! Ceri's out doing something else today but I'm going to talk to him about us doing a charity auction or something here.And it never hurts to ask for bucks, no matter how small fry you are. Maybe they won't sponsor but would be willing to contribute.

Andy is in charge of the website yes...and all other things technical.those fundraising ideas are the sort of thing we are doing here currently...it would be great to have things like that along the route.auctions could work...we have a few items...i had a grand slam welsh rugby jersey signed by the whole squad reently go for 500. I work for the WRU so i MIGHT be able to get another one if you know of anybody interested stateside. I can get a signed Gwent Dragons shirt easily enough.we actually baught a few signed shirts thinking we could sell them on at a charity dinner, but the dinner was sadly cancelled as our guest speaker (Ray Gravell) passed away.As for contacting bike companies for sponsorship...we are very much smallfry in an industry of big bucks...no company as of yet has been willing to sponsor us, although recently sports brands such as samurai and under armour have shown a little interest

Great - I'll email Andy about the ebay thing and I'd be happy to help you set that up and work it out and to promote it on the internet for you - is Andy also in charge of your website?I don't know anyone who owns any of those companies but I do have old friends in LA so I'll ask them and if any of them are in a position to put you up or know of someone who does run such a business.Depending on what kind of fundraiser a person chooses, this really doesn't have to be that much work and would be a lot of fun:a "so-much-a-plate" barbecue or box lunch picnic in a public park with you all as the guests of honor (a local market or restaurant could be recruited to donate food and promote it with radio and tv PSAs and notices in newspaper and community calendars which identify the restaurant or market);a pub night in a local tavern or bar (likewise with PSAs which are free publicity for the businesses that host it);auctioning off items donated by a bike store on a local radio station; etc. If you guys were going through Oregon I'd have a great time with this Have you hit up cycling gear companies for sponsorship?

cheers gabi,we did get your email, and andy is in the process of getting a paypal account hooked up tot he one where all our charity money is going. As soon as this is done, we will let you know as i have no idea with how to get things like that off the ground. So first of all, thanks for that.we'll be flying from the UK on tuesday 17th March, to LA. At this moment in time, we have nowhere to stay in LA, but might have a link through a buisnessman here in Wales, not entirley sure yet. We depart then on the friday. We currently have possible 'stay overs' at Taos, New Mexico; Austin Texas and Mobile, Alabama. We did have key town/cities mapped out along the route as daily targets, but then again, if we can get a number of stops like these hooked up, it'd be far more interesting. Andy is the man to sort those out...he has the whole route, day by day, mile by mile profiled on his PC.What a lady in Taos is trying to do is co-ordinate a fundraiser to co-incide with us passing through. this would be fantastic, but to be honest, a lot of work for someone we have never met. The ebay 'buy a mile' site sounds tip-top. i suppose once something like that is up and running, it sells itself???!?!?!?!As for a blog...we could do a daily blog whilst on the challeneg, and a weekly one building up. this weekend, we are cycling from Pendine, to Llanwrtyd wells, and down to chippenham on the saturday (220miles), only to turn around and come back on the sunday. A good training weekend. there's also a circular newsletter called 'News from Wales and the world', which we are publicising on...but other than that, we'd be stuck for logistical help stateside.Our biggest issue stateside at the moment is accomodation (which we have finance for)and support vehicles...One large car/estate and one camper van / RV...which we have finance for, but are hoping to get them sponsored. So again, if you know of anybody who runs motels / hotels/ vehicle hire companies....massive help!!!

I sent you an earlier email suggesting that you could auction miles ridden - "We'll Ride a Mile in Your Name" - on ebay and you could announce and acknowledge donors on your site. I'd be happy to promo that all over the internet for you.Also, have a look through the members list here and the groups list and contact groups, societies and assocaitons in the states you're going through and ask if they or any of their members could assist youPut up a blow-by-blow blog here and that can be promoted daily to encourage donations -

When are you guys setting out? Where do you have places to stay already covered and who is already doing events or fundraising for you? Where do you need places to stay and where could there be fundraising done for you?

I sent you an email and was thinking that you guys could auction miles on ebay - like "We'll Ride a Mile in Your Name" and announce them on your site and on here - I'd be happy to promo that online for youAlso, do a blog on here and do a blow-by-blow and acknowledge the people who pledged or dono'ed and give updates -check our groups and members list for groups, societies and associations in the states you're going through and message them to see if they or their members can help

anybody...ideas...anybody...no??

Ladies and Gents,I am one of four cyclists aiming to cycle 3500 miles from LA to the florida coast in March 2009, raising money for the childrens hospital for Wales. We aim to complete the challenge in a 2 week window, leaving LA on the 20th March, arriving on the florida coast by the 4th April.We have a TV production company who are presently trying to get 4C to commission a documentary on the challenge and the charity.What we are hoping is that we can make enough links with people of welsh decent along the way, and pass through their villages and meet and greet along the way, even maybe organise a bit of a bash in Florida.at prsent, we have made contacts in Taos, New Mexico, Austin Texas, and Orlando Florida,If we could make another 3-4 links, it would make the trip far more enjoyable for ourselves as far as meeting other people and experiencing other cultures, as well as make the tv documentary more appealing to S4C, therefore hopefully increasing sponsorship and the profile of the charity that we are supporting.Our route is on our website... www.coast2coast-usa.org , but this route was devised solely to visit/cycle past some well known attractions, as i mentioned, if we can creat links along this route/ not too far off it, we would like to visit through your home towns.If you feel you can help, or know of any pockets of welsh communities / people along the route, please do get in touch.Many thanksGareth EvansCoast2coast-USA Team
updated by @gareth-evans2: 12/04/15 03:57:45PM