The Day the Music Died

I plead guilty to watching the entire Michael Jackson memorial today with tears streaming down my face and it was good - the release that is. I avoided most of the media retrospectives throughout the week in an attempt to focus on my own memories of the man, his music and his impact on my life.

In the end, I’m glad his memorial spent a good deal of time on Michael Jackson, humanitarian. Media never focused on it much but if you paid attention to the music, it was easy to remember how his heart overflowed. Michael Jackson expected no less from the rest of us than to Heal the World.

So we must, but he could also make us dance! The magical combination perks me up in spin class and was central to a favorite story from my 2002 Breakthrough Ride.. Day 11 of 12 from Seattle to San Francisco, cycling a long, hilly stretch from Davis to Napa on a sweltering day. A crewmember asked what he could get me to make the ride more comfortable and I asked him to blare some tunes from the top of the next steep climb, maybe something from Michael Jackson. Several miles later I was well into the climb up Cardiac Hill when I heard it, oh so faintly at first but once I caught the beat, I too “Beat It” right to the top with a smile on my face.

The young man was amazed at the affect but not me. The Michael Jackson musical medley may have come to an abrupt end but I’m grateful for a robust playlist that continues to inspire my most challenging uphill climbs – to the top of a mountain, to defeat a disease, to end the discrimination and stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, to heal the world.

“Support My Cause” – A Poll

The world is full of caring, compassionate people who commonly perform heroic feats far from the media spotlight but lately, “causes” seem to be moving to the foreground. Maybe it’s our new President’s community organizer background or perhaps we simply become more empathetic when our own health or well-being is threatened. Whatever the motivation, people are responding by picking up their torch and reaching out to others to do the same.

This blog is all about my cause, my motivation and my invitation to join. Now I want to hear from you. What motivates you to take up a cause?

Today’s inbox held an email from First lady Michelle Obama with an invitation to participate in a National Health Care Day of Service event near you. Did you click to attend?

Have you ever started a Facebook cause? Why? What do you hope to achieve through that application?

How do you respond when a Facebook friend invites me to join their cause? Do you join out of friendship or go further – read the cause home page? Add a comment? Recruit others? Make a donation?

My poll (top right) refers to the Facebook model but can apply to any appeal from friend or stranger to support a cause. Please take the poll, share your comments – anonymously or otherwise – and we’ll find out the answers together.

7/07/09: There just weren't enough "clicks" to make the poll statistically valid but results received showed that 100% would join when invited, 40% would pass it on or donate $$, another 40% would go no further and a few would get personally involved. Your comments continue to be welcome!

What if I Told You

HIV was stopped in its tracks?

It was…very recently, in the small Virginia lab of Dr. Yuntao Wu, moving his research one step closer to clinical trials.

Dr. Wu’s research is innovative, his lab staff enthusiastic and they jumped a full year ahead in their timeline with proceeds from the 2008 inaugural NYCDC AIDS Research Ride.

Dr. Wu and his staff return this September to journey with me and 50 other cyclists from Manhattan to our Nation’s Capitol. When Day2, Inc. first discovered Dr. Wu, his lab needed only $200,000 to bridge their research needs while waiting to secure a much larger NIH grant. With your help, we’ll easily meet that goal.

Read this message on my blog for complete access to background links, pictures and updates throughout the year.

Many thanks for ALL your support of me and the cutting-edge HIV/AIDS research funded by this ride. YOU make the difference!

That Thing You Do

Last December a friend emailed to ask if I wanted to ride Lifecycle with her this year. She’d recently lost her job and thought it’d be good to focus on something positive.

A few months earlier, my fellow Puget Sound Riders decided to ride NYCDC in 2009 but not before a lengthy discussion about fundraising in a depressed economy. Fundraising fear isn’t new. The topic comes up more often this year but the end result has changed. I’ve talked to a half dozen riders who considered their options and instead of shying away from the asking, came away more committed than ever to the cause. That’s not just AIDS riders.

More people than usual seem to be walking and swimming, running marathons, relays and triathlons. They’re raising money in memory of loved ones and complete strangers. They do it to fill empty days and empty souls. Mostly, they do it because they can.

People are giving. Volunteering is up. Young and old are doing what they can to make a difference. Maybe it doesn’t come in the form of $$ but certainly from the heart. Givers to my rides have held bake sales and car washes, hosted dinners and auctioned treasures, forwarded my emails asking friends to join in the giving. Some mail me stamps or a note of encouragement.

Giving hasn’t declined because we have less. We see a greater need and choose to give more…because we can.

The Path to New Beginnings

Too bad most beginnings require something to end, and in my experience, the most rewarding ventures spring from the most painful endings. One could easily get trapped in the chicken & egg conundrum on this topic but suffice it to say, we humans simply can’t take on more without leaving something behind and when forced into an end, the healthiest move is to find a new beginning.

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately – living it, instead of writing about it. To bring you up to speed, in 2005 I accepted a job in Santa Clara, CA – only a few miles from my first west coast job decades ago. The opportunity was significant enough to buy an apartment and hop a 6am flight every Monday, returning on Friday afternoons. The adjustment was huge but my family & friends got in the groove soon enough.

With a self-imposed 4 year timeline, I’d initially hoped to keep my California life strictly professional. After all, it was hard enough to leave my friends when we moved from the state in 1993 and I wasn’t interested in repeating that heartache with new ones. Of course, those of you laughing hardest right now know that resolve lasted about 2 weeks! But I have no regrets.

The experience allowed me some greatly missed face time with old friends and family and exposed me to an incredibly bright, hard-working, earnest and fun group of people who valiantly ride the fast-paced, turbulent Silicon Valley wave from one change to the next with dignity and flair, in the office, at the gym, and yes, even on a bicycle. If it weren’t for the regular 6am spinners at Gold’s Gym and my many after work and weekend ride buddies, I’d have never been prepared for my last 4 rides and I’m happy to have had a couple of them join the AIDS ride effort.

Last week, after 50 months, right on schedule though not quite as planned, the job came to an end. I bought a one-way ticket to San Jose and spent the week cleaning and packing and saying good-bye. It was as wonderful to laugh over memories as it was heartbreaking to stop making them, yet beneath it all echoes the promise of a new beginning.

It’s been stirring for some time and the high cost of this ending seems the surest signal it’s time for “the next big thing”. You’ll be the first to know.


In gratitude for the mighty blessings that consistently move us thru painful endings to new beginnings, this post in particular is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Bret.
July 21, 1959 - May 5, 1995