|
heroes | jersey boy | logistics | ride Heroes Dear Austin LiveStrong Challenge donors, At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me thank you again for your contribution. As promised, as (another) gesture of thanks, I'd like to share a bit more about my cycling world ... off the bike. There are lots of heroes that touch our lives--friends, mentors, teachers, even strangers. With a bit of thought, I could probably compile a pretty long list. Some of you would even make that list, for instance for what you've done to help children in many different types of need. Topping my list of heroes The strike-through above acknowledges the unfortunate reality that however much good Mortenson did, there was a LOT of fraud that went with it. For details, see the essay by "Three Cups of Deceit" author Jon Krakauer. To date, I've only read Elden Nelson's blog--www.fatcyclist.com--and seen video clips in which he's played a part. I may have previously written a bit about Elden, but a refresher won't hurt. "Fatty," as he's known to his fans, started riding to lose weight. And while he succeeded, he got a lot more than he bargained for along the way. As Elden describes it in today's blog (in which I have a cameo!), "You see, my late wife, Susan, fought breast cancer for nearly five years. She fought with focus, courage, kindness, creativity, and outrageous endurance." Susan died in 2009, just after I started reading his blog. Elden's heroism is why I've continued to read every post he's made since. Rather than let his all-too-common tragedy defeat him, he used it as fuel. He's turned his blog and his audience into a cancer-fighting, fund-raising powerhouse. I'm honored to be a member of "Team Fatty" (which led all teams in fund-raising for the Austin Challenge). As of this weekend, I'll have done more than just read Fatty's blog--I'll have met him (and I can't wait!). This morning, I (along with a number of other team members) received a special invitation from Elden to the LiveStrong Challenge Awards Dinner on Saturday night. I look forward to shaking his hand, thanking him, and showing him my hand-written list of the names of cancer fighters you're sending along to me and that I'll be carrying in my pocket throughout the ride on Sunday. LiveStrong, Jeff back to portfolio | email me at dieffenbach @ alum.mit.edu |