If you don't know about this ride already, it's a beautiful tour through the Oakland/East Bay Hills with routes ranging from 30 to 100 miles. Now in its 6th year, it benefits the Breast cancer Fund, an organization that works to identify and prevent environmental causes of breast cancer.
I have to tell you, when I started working with this ride 6 years ago I wasn't a parent, and my appreciation for what they do was initially limited to thinking that if they work to battle breast cancer, it must be good. Like most others, my life has been touched by this disease more than once. But since becoming a mom, I've had to battle the daily challenges of trying to raise my kids in a healthy environment without lead/BPA/phalates/mercury - all without driving my family crazy by eating nothing but locally grown organic flax seed and playing with nothing but unpainted blocks carved by hand in Berkeley. Thank goodness for the farmers market and Maureen's eggs.
I'm a well educated person, and I can't keep it all straight - when my Julia was born I bought her the best Avent bottles, only to discover by the time Tristan was born (thanks to work done by the Breast Cancer Fund, in part) that they contain dangerous levels of an estrogenic chemical (BPA) that was first used as hormone replacement therapy prior to DES - in fact, despite their supposed quality, they contain higher levels than many other bottles. AND that it's known to leach into liquids. If I feel overwhelmed, how can parents much less equipped to process this kind of information make healthy choices for their families? Or afford to buy expensive bottles all over again? It shouldn't be this way - it doesn't have to be this way -and the Breast Cancer Fund is working to make companies and governments change the way they operate. This year, the EPA finally released a groundbreaking report on the dangers of BPA. Good thing I knew about the problem beforehand since there was a shortage of BPA-free bottles following the reportÉ.
If you are a cyclist, I strongly encourage you to look into registering for this ride. It's a lot of fun with great food and beautiful views--for a great cause. (Harrison and Max rode it one year, although we don't have that particular route any longer.) You can get more information and register here.
If you are not a cyclist but you'd like to support me and this ride, click here to sponsor me.