As I trained and raised money, there were several friends and even some family members who questioned the amount of money that actually went to the beneficiaries, and Pallotta Teamworks and their involvement. All I could do was keep repeating what I had heard, that even though the percentages weren't as high as some other fund raising efforts, the AIDS Rides had provided millions of dollars to it's beneficiaries. Now I know the ride is so much more than the money. The American AIDS Ride movement is in my blood.

There are so many stories...on the ride out of camp day three I was just about to lose it when a guy came up and said he could use a hug and that hug he needed saved me from having a panic attack and I was able to gain control and ride on... When we rode into camp after riding the century the drive was lined with others clapping and chanting "Deadeye!"... After we got off our bike a woman came up and said her husband wondered why she never showed her emotions and that she wished he had been there to see her crying as we rode in. When they gave Bryan his orange band for watching the safety video...on Day Zero when Bryan & I (and I won't mention other names) rode across the Astro Arena parking lot, we turned the corner and what seemed like a hundred voices yelled "where is your helmet". It is probably the first (and definitely the last) time I rode without a helmet and I just knew I was going to be expelled from the ride...Holding another rider (who I didn't even know before training started) and crying with him when he got sick on the century. I could go on and on but I will save some stories for Bryan.

Beginning in August of 98 I chose to become semi retired. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this for about four months, and then decided that this had to change. I did not want to go back to work full-time so when Kate mentioned riding for AIDS, I started getting excited. There were, and still are, several reasons - like general mental and physical health, and I just had to do it for and with Kate since she was and is even more excited than I, and I couldn't say no. I truly believe the two most important reasons are, since so many have done so much for me, it would be a chance to give something back, and maybe what little bit I do might go a little way toward conquering this awful HIV/AIDS
situation.

TTAR2 was my first AIDS ride, but God willing it won't be my last. During training rides I began meeting a lot of very wonderful people. During the ride itself there was this flood of awe-inspiring people and it was an extraordinary place to be. I felt a genuine feeling of family with everyone helping and caring for each other. There was this atmosphere of thoroughly being alive and enjoying being with one another--it was I hope a taste of what heaven is going to be like.

I think the funniest thing was the story about the T-shirts. After the ride on day one, Ron Craw was wearing a T-shirt that had written on the front "Bryan's B*tch" and on the back it had written "Don't tell Kate she thinks we've been fishing." After I stepped from the shower I was given a T-shirt that said essentially the same thing except that I
was Ron's B*tch. Kate was given a T-shirt that had "I am Kate" written on the front and "Boy am I pissed" on the back. The people that knew us thought it was quite funny, but those who didn't know us didn't know what to think. One woman asked me "Just exactly what is ya'lls relationship?"

A very stirring thing was when a man walked up to my wife and me and introduced himself as Mark "Smith", gave us hugs, informed us he has AIDS, and told us that he couldn't begin to tell us how much he appreciated what we were doing for him and others with HIV/AIDS. Mark also said that he had heard that we were looking for a name for our bike and suggested that we name her Lazyboy, so we did.