Well, it's here. Saturday morning I fly up to SF and Sunday morning me and 2,500 other riders leave the Cow Palace en route to Los Angeles over the next 7 days.
I cannot say it enough, Thank you! Thank You! Thank you!
As I posted on Facebook earlier today, Thank you for all the support and encouragement from so many people. My friends, my family, my co-workers, and even from people whom I have never met.
Thank you for helping me not only meet my $10,000 fundraising goal, but blowing passed it. As it stands right now, you have helped me raise $10,530!! I am truly humbled.
Thank you to all the skeptics who doubted I would or could do this. By challenging me, it fed my motivation and hunger further than I thought possible.
Thank you to my extraordinary team, Team Long Beach. The many hours of training, the midnight texts, the endless emails, and whatever else along the way.
Thank you to my current cycle rep Jon and former cycle rep James who have been there with words of encouragement and just that little extra push.
Finally, I would like to offer a couple of personal thank you's for some very important people during this whole process:
To Brian Sherwood: For signing me up for this experience and lending me a bike when I did not have one.
To Melinda Elmer: For keeping the team together and pushing us to do more.
To Jay Lennox: For being a great ride buddy and good friend. You have helped me come to terms with being HIV+ more than you know.
To Allan Acevedo: For giving me the courage to talk openly about my status.
To Eric (and Rufus), Troy and Jason, James and Jordan, Robert and Matt, Brad and Brad, Shelly and Judy, Thom, Andrew and Stephen, and Trevin: For your extremely generous donations.
To my sister, Erin: Who gives me strength by showing me that with even the biggest obstacles in life, you can persevere with a smile.
To my mom and dad: You are the best parents a boy could ever want. Your love and support means more to me than I know how to express.
Finally, To Ray: You are the love of my life and my guiding light. Fpr all the late night dinners, the hours I left you alone so I could go do a training ride, the week apart because I have some crazy notion to ride my bike from SF to LA, and just being there when I have needed you most.
Thank you everyone!
With so much love and gratitude,
Eric
AIDS/LifeCycle 10 - Rider #1596
P.S. I will give a recap of the ride when I return.
P.P.S. Don't forget about closing ceremonies on Sat Jun 11 4:00 PM. VA Hosipital off Wilshire and the 405 near UCLA.