Sorry Mom...

I've done it again, I've managed to sign myself up for another ridiculous challenge with Annie.  Exactly one year from today I will be in the midst of crossing India via rickshaw, racing against 60 other richshaws full of fellow lunatics!  I am literally so excited about this I might wet my pants!  It all started about a year ago when Annie told me there was a rickshaw race across India to which I replied "when do we sign up?"  Unfortunately, it's not that easy.  They have three races a year, in which you have to sign up a year in advance and they sell out in under a minute.  We were trying to sign up for the Winter 2011 race, but we were otherwise occupied climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro during the sign up.  We had Colby try to register us, but she said it was sold out before she could even refresh her screen. 

So that brings us to yesterday.  Sign up for the Spring 2011 Rickshaw Run, 2pm GMT. Annie and I were exchanging phone calls and emails all morning prepping ourselves to make sure we secured a spot in the Run. I had my screen pulled up just staring at it at least an hour before sign up started.  About 5 minutes 'til, I started refreshing my screen like a mad woman just waiting for that green button to pop up.  I called Annie minutes before and we both had crazy butterflies...it was a massive race against the clock.  But it paid off, Team Rickshaw Rodeo will be racing across India April 17-May 1, 2011! 

So a little more about the Rickshaw Run.  It is put on by a company called The Adventurists, which is basically is a bunch of guys who tried to think of the stupidest things you could try and do and made them possible, all in the name of adventure.  The "race" is more about the adventure you have in the two weeks between start and finish and not about who gets there first.  There really are no rules (other than if you lose or completely total their rickshaw you have to pay for it) and there is absolutely no support during the actual race, you are completely on your own.  They give you a rickshaw, a start and an end point and say "Go!"  That is it, you figure out your own route, your own accomodation, if you break down you have to find someone to fix it (which they guarantee you will break down as rickshaws are the least reliable mode of transportation).  Read their warning here, unless you are my mom...don't read it Mom...really, don't. Basically, it sounds like the most fun 2 weeks ever, to me at least! 

So not only is this in the name of adventure, but also charity.  For each Run, they select a couple of local charities in India to support, so Annie and I will have to raise £1,000  to be able to compete.  I am so excited, but I'm not so sure what I have gotten myself into this time!

You can read more about it here....http://rickshawrun.theadventurists.com/