Anyone who knows me knows that I like to ride. I cycle long-distances
for a lot of reasons, one of which is that I can combine my enthusiasm for the
sport with a charitable act and make the world just a little bit better.
Currently, I'm training for the 11th annual AIDS LifeCycle - an event
that raises money for HIV and AIDS while moving some 3,000 cyclists
545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles over the course of seven
days. No small feat, but AIDS is no small problem to overcome either.
For every person who rides in the AIDS LifeCycle, there's a back story. In
my case, it's because I wrote an article a few years ago. My editor sent me an
email with a point of contact for the Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride and I did a
quick interview with the executive director, Theresa Fetsch. Her boundless
enthusiasm was only the tip of the iceberg for an organization that supports
eight AIDS service organizations throughout the state. My next interview was
with someone who had participated in a number of these rides and was also
HIV-positive. He invited me to come to a training ride to meet a number of
people participating to get a better feel for what the event was all about.
At the time I had a mountain bike, but I pushed through the 37 miles of
rural Minnesota and I met all manner of people that spanned my expectations
including husband-wife teams and one guy riding a BMX bike with a fox tail
flapping from the seat...and for the first time I knew, I met people living
with HIV instead of dying from AIDS. I made a good will donation to one of the
riders I interviewed and after filing my story, I thought that would be the
last I heard of the event. I was clearly wrong. For the next several weeks,
literally everywhere I turned, I ran into people who were participating, raising
money, holding fundraisers, and somehow connected to this Red Ribbon Ride.
Clearly, the universe was speaking.
The next year, I committed to ride in the 2009 Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride. At
the risk of sounding cliché, it changed my life and my attitude toward the
disease. Oh, and I found that despite my previous assertions, I knew quite a
few people who were affected by HIV and AIDS; and some of them were friends of
mine. I rode again in 2010 before being transferred to Southern California for
work. In 2011, I met some local cyclists and rode the Orange County Ride for
AIDS a single day, 100-mile event.
And I registered for the 11th AIDS LifeCycle.
But this is not about me. That is the unwavering message that flashes before me
when I grow weary at down-shifting into low gear to go up yet another hill. It
is the thing that is branded into my brain as I drag myself out of bed early on
Saturdays when, like every other working stiff, I should be sleeping in...at
least until 8:00, right? And it is the thing I *must* remember when I'm really,
really tired from having put in so many miles I just want to quit. It's not
about me...and I need you, my faithful supporters, heroes, and friends, that
this champion saddling the two-wheeled steed cannot win the battle for those
unable to fight without your help.
Thank you to my latest supporters:
Duane Vajgrt and Jeff Benedick from the OCRA; Fred Kilby and his mother Mary;
Dr. Sarah Jerome, the best optometrist ever and my constant supporter; Kathy
Michaels (our dog's adopted aunt!); Fred Subia, my first real friend here in
the OC; Martin & Lada, my Czeck amigos (how's that for mixing things up?!);
Jay Casper, childhood buddy and little league teammate; Bobbie Kollar, my high
school classmate who extended the welcome mat when I moved into the realm of
the Orange Curtain; Jay Miller, genuinely big-hearted and long-time Minneapolis
acquaintance; Lois Elfman, editor extraordinaire; and most importantly, my
family my daughter, Nichole; my mom, Annie Thompson; my aunt Susana Jacobson;
my grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. JS Jacobson; and my sister in-law, Angela
Thomson-Brenchley.
Please donate today. It will mean the world of difference to people
living with HIV/AIDS.
This posting was originally published April 22, 2012. I've split my writing into different blogs: Opinion, The Leukemia Chronicles, and other Freelance Writing
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