Why I ride...

Today I added the name of Jim Bryan to the list of people whose stories I will carry with me on Big Ride Alaska. Jim started smoking when he was eleven years old and quit in his early 60s. Now at 78, emphysema makes it difficult for him to walk from his chair to the bathroom.

It's easy to assume that kids started smoking "in those days" because they didn't know about the dangers of nicotine. But, consider this: even today, fifty-five young people in Washington State become lifelong smokers every day. The average age of a youngster who picks up that first cigarette is twelve. Nationwide, tobacco causes more deaths than cocaine, heroin, alcohol, homicide, suicide, traffic accidents, fires and AIDS combined.

The American Lung Association has developed impressive programs to prevent young people from starting to smoke and to help them quit if they already smoke. This is one of the reasons I ride for the American Lung Association.

Fundraising update #3

The donations just keep rolling in! In the last few days, thanks to contributions from Barbara and Gerry Porter, Patricia and Paul Mitchell (matched by Microsoft), Hank and Bunny Searls, Al Bork, Chris Myers, and Judith Kenigson Kristy, my fundraising is now up to $5108.48!

It means so much to me that all of these contributors have supported my previous rides. The American Lung Association and I thank you again for your continued generosity.

Bug off?

The Helstern-Walsh family has enthusiastically supported my Big Rides from the very beginning with generous monetary contributions (matched by Microsoft) and by getting up early in the morning to see me off.

This year Marcus and Daniel thought long and hard about an appropriate gift for me to take on Big Ride Alaska and they came up with...

BADGER ANTI-BUG BALM

It looks great, and I hope it works!

(After reading some positive reviews, I'm also trying Ex Officio Buzz Off clothing this year -- currently on sale at the Seattle Retail Outlet.)

Fundraising update #2

Generous contributions yesterday from Michael Broschat, Rene Siegenthaler, Robert Chertkof, John Shaklee, Sharon Current, and Mimi MacLeod bumped my fundraising to $4308.38! Thanks so much, everyone.

This will go a long way to make this first Big Ride Alaska a worthwhile fundraiser for the American Lung Association.

Fundraising update

Yesterday I sent out a message announcing this blog, and already I have received three donations to Big Ride Alaska. Thanks to extremely generous contributions from translator Anne Vincent, interpreter Julie Byron and ride-director extraordinaire Jeff Schlieper, my total jumped overnight to $3,908.48 putting me in first place for now!

This blogging thing is more fun than I thought it would be! And I love how fundraising keeps me connected to friends and collegues I might otherwise not hear from for years.

Big Ride Alaska -- 2008 fundraising update

My goal for Big Ride Alaska is to raise $5000 by May 31st. It would also be really neat if I were to come in as the number one fundraiser this year! Right now I'm in second place. Click here for the fundraising overview.

As of today I have raised $3633.48 thanks the generous donations of: Allan & Anne Affleck, Nancy Anderson, Allan Beattie, Christine Hudson, The Better Breathers Lung Group, John Calnan, Connie Clark-Redmond, Martha Cohen, Steven Schmidt, Mary Jane Francis, Maia Costa, Joy & Bill Goodenough, Marian Greenfield, Bootsie Harris, Carl & Dixie Heckel, Ann & Sam Houston, Connie & Earle Leonard, Michelle LaSourd, Jennifer Longstaff, Tom McCarthy, Mary McQuire & Brian Steiner, Harvey & Elena Meltzer, Jochen Liesche, Leslie Mulford, Mollie Peters, Jeanette Rogers, Christian & Gail Schmitz, Hank & Bunny Searls, Peter Searls, Ann Sherwin, Jerry Shigaki, Alfred Helstern & Cait Walsh, John Weller. Thanks, too, for matching funds from Microsoft and Xilinx.

If your name is not on this list, and you are planning to contribute, please consider making your donation before May 31. Click here to sponsor me.

Why I ride for the American Lung Association

I am riding my fourth Big Ride to raise money for the American Lung Association and to celebrate the lives of people like Asher McGirt, now 13 years old, who suffered severe lung damage after contracting Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Asher had a double lung transplant at Texas Children’s Hospital in July 2007 and has made a remarkable recovery. He is now back home in North Carolina.

And I ride to honor the following men and women who have also battled lung disease:

Russell Alexander who suffered from reactive airway disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and died in 2006 from Islet Cell pancreatic cancer;
Maggie Bach who has had two lung transplants in a successful attempt to stay alive after being diagnosed with severe emphysema;
Peggy Berdoulay who died of lung cancer in 2006;

Jim Bryan who started smoking when he was eleven years old and quit in his early 60s. Now at 78, emphysema makes it difficult for him to walk from his chair to the bathroom;
Howard Curtis, Jr. who died of emphysema in 1999;
Robert Curtis, 60-year-old son of Howard, who is suffering from emphysema and still addicted to nicotine;
Connie who recently stopped smoking;
Nana Cooper who died of emphysema many years ago;
Rose DiBona who has been rendered disabled by severe asthma and had to quit her government job when her bosses, in blatant disregard of the Clean Indoor Air Act in her state, opened a smoking lounge in the “green” building in which she worked;
Liz Dols, 28-years-old, who underwent a pneumonectomy on 2/6/07 for advanced lung cancer and is now considered cured;
Joyce who is fighting advanced lung cancer and continuing to surprise her doctors by beating the odds;
Phyllis Gill diagnosed in 2005 with lung cancer and back to normal life after surgery;
Miriam Gordon who died of cystic fibrosis at 15 years old, Frieda Gordon Dillo who suffers from asthma and loves the outdoors, and Wilhelmine Dillo who died of emphysema at age 69 (three generations of women suffering from lung disease);
Dot Grimm who lost her battle with lung cancer in 2007;
Ron Hudson who is suffering from emphysema and lymphoma;
Lester Irvin who died of COPD (emphysema);
José Maria Jordá who died of lung cancer at a young age;
Dieter Liesche, a lifelong heavy smoker, who died at age 53;
Jennifer Longstaff who has Alpha-1Antitrypsin Deficiency and completed the 2004 Big Ride Across America and 2006 Big Ride Glacier with only 60% lung capacity;
Roger Nelman who died of lung cancer;
Bill Reid who died of lung cancer on March 9, 2005;
Jackie Reimer, who is suffering from lung cancer;
John Rosell, who is currently being treated for lung cancer;
Jim Ross recently diagnosed with lung cancer;
Betty Shaw, who died of lung cancer that spread to her brain;
Susana Stettri Sawrey diagnosed in 2005 with lung cancer and leading a normal life after surgery and chemo;
Jeanette Thomas who suffers from exercise-induced asthma and completed the 2004 Big Ride Across America and the 2006 Big Ride Pacific Coast;
Mary Virginia Tisue who died of lung cancer at 55;
Toshiko Wagner undergoing chemo and radiation for a cancerous lymphoma preventing her from her from breathing naturally;
Bert Walsh whose long battle against lung disease ended in 2005;
Laura Wolfson who is fighting lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease striking women in childbearing age.