When I was young I remember a T-shirt my mother used to wear that said “Don’t stare, grow your own” … A friend emailed me about a friend going through chemo who had a T-shirt “Like breasts? You can have mine, they are killing me!” Morbid but funny.

I find myself wanting a new jersey for biking. One that says something like “I bike to survive … ” or something like that … cause really, I bike to stay sane, and when I start going through chemo and doing crazy things like trying to bike Mount Hamilton during chemo (cause I wanna), then I need all the support from passing cyclists I can get!

I should also make a shout-out to a friend from our Going East tour – Jim is a real inspiration for me. When he was diagnosed as HIV positive back in the 80s (when so little was known about HIV/AIDS) he hopped on his bicycle and went on tour. He attributed his riding to his survival. Every time I get on my bike to ride now, I am reminded of our brief visit with him.