The Other Side of the Coin - Down but NOT (totally) Out! Please Read to the Very End!

So the weather up here on good old Long Island has been, to put it mildly, Sehr Schlect!  All you have to do is realize we've already used up all our snow days to know we (like everyone else in the country) have ahad a really bad winter.  I haven't gotten a lot of riding done (hence the dearth of posting) since I only got to ride yesterday for the first time in two weeks.  Between the snow, the ice, the sub-freezing temperatures and the last of my graduate classes, not a lot of opportunity has been had to ride.  So as yesterday was World Cancer Day and despite the fact that the temperature was 17 degrees at 6:30 in the morning (with a wind-chill of 9) nothing was going to keep me from riding my bike to work!

However, there is an old adage that says there are two sides to every coin and I have to realize that there is probably a reason for my not riding - maybe my knee is finally supposed to heal because of the (forced) rest.

So if we are truly going to embrace the optimistic philosphy that the glass is half full then we should remember that for everything that can be construed as a down turn there is always an up turn.  Otherwise, our view of the coin having two sides might end up like this guy's;

which is most decidedly (and obviously) pessimistic.  Other great two-face individuals who are/were probably pessimists include the two-faced Roman god Janus;

and former President George W. Bush;

(A man equally adept at looking at both sides of the issue - or talking out of both sides of his mouth)

But I choose to try to look at potential down turns as opportunities to learn and perhaps learn and grow.  That doesn't mean that I won't sing the blues a bit (though not as good as Josh White);



And I'll be very honest, I'm singing the blues real hard right now - at least on the inside - but more about that later.  Right now, I have to dwell on the good side of the coin or I'll end up a human version of this coin;

(The proper term is uniface coin)

Of course with all of this talk about coins and money you would think I had turned in to a Numismatist.  But of course the paradox of that hobby is that you have to have money to collect money!  Again, another topic I will turn to later.

Despite the fact that yesterday was a day we remembered a lot of people who are fighting cancer, we also received some really incredible news!  The National Association of Secondary School Principals has named Sarah New York's top Middle School youth volunteer of the year in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards!!!! She gets $1000, a medal, and a trip (with one of us) to DC for the national awards ceremony April 30-May 3. Only one middle school student and one high school student is chosen from each state.  29,000 young volunteers participated in this years program and she's one of 102 that were chosen for this honor.

Needless to say, THIS IS HUGE!  She was nominated by Mr. Hoss, her middle school principal, and we received the news yesterday.  Its all due to the work she has been doing with Lemon Aid as she tries to raise money to replant the trees that have been cut down in our home town of Northport due to either disease or "other considerations".  We are incredibly proud of her as this is validation of all that she has been doing to put into action her conviction that everyone, no matter how old, needs to contribute to helping save and restore the environment.

And then there is the other side of today's coin toss;



I think if finally became evident today that the Connor's Army Cross Country Ride is not going to happen - at least not this year.  This has been a very hard and very emotional decision/realization for me and to tell you the truth I'm still trying to see the glass as half full but I really don't know any more how I can.  I'm trying to look at this as a learning moment but my spirit is so crushed right now that it is difficult.  I really believed that somehow we would get the funding, that somehow people's compassion would come through and help us make this difference in the world.  I've prayed, sent out positive energy, tried to do things that would cause positive Karma and I even tried to look at the fact that maybe the reason I wasn't killed in my bicycle accident this summer was becuase I was meant to do this.

For months I have been writing about how I really feel the need to do this - to give back to the world in the best way that I can.  We know that once we announce the ride to the media, people will donate to Sunrise Day Camp and we would be able to raise the $50,000 that could make such a difference in the lives of eight children.  But we don't know if we would be able to get all of that money between now and the end of August.  We just don't know anymore.

Amy and I finally had to realize that although the sponsorship money is coming in, we're still $6,000 of what we need to have commited to us to know this is possible to do.  The people at Sunrise and I both agreed that there was no reason to put a link up on their website where people could make the donations to Sunrise until we knew for certain the ride was going to have the sponsor funding we needed.  With a projected starting date to begin riding of late June, even if we had the cash in hand right now we're not sure we could get the word out enough so that people would go online and make the pledges to make our goal possible.  Since we can only do this once in a lifetime, we don't want to do it and end up only raising five or ten thousand dollars.  If we're going to do it, we have to do it right and really reach (or at least get darn close) to our goal.

I am literally in tears right now as I write this because of the frustration and the sadness I feel about making this decision.  Much of it is my own damn fault for not getting myself into gear at the beginning of last summer to get sponsorships in place.  But I wasn't sure.  I needed to know that the place for which I was going to raise the money was the right place.  After spending the summer there, I know in my heart that Sunrise is truly the right place and I WILL RAISE THE MONEY!  This money would make such a difference in the camper's lives and I know from having worked with them that they appreciate what they get from Sunrise each summer.

So we are going to continue soliciting sponsors and asking people to join our facebook page and to keep pushing to make this happen - its just going to have to happen in the summer of 2012 instead.

If I didn't have a family and I was younger with no responsibilities I would have no qualms with just taking a plane out to California and starting to pedal east biking for eight hours a day and sleeping in a corn field somewhere.  But I have people that depend on me now and I just can't take those risks anymore.  Don't get me wrong, the plan has never been to travel in luxury - far from it.  I'm hoping to save as much of the sponsorship money as we can so that anything that is not used will then be added to the $50,000 we'll raise in pledges.

But if we're going to do it we have to do it right - we owe it to the kids of Sunrise because they deserve nothing less.

I will keep riding to get my body ready.  I will keep blogging to tell you how things are going (besides, we have another cycling event to benefit Sunrise coming up in June), and we'll keep soliciting sponsors so that as soon as we know we have the monies in place we will start contacting the media, doing e-mail blasts, posting on facebook and reaching out in any way we can to make this happen!   You can follow all of this on the Connor's Army Facebook page or by becoming a follower to this blog (all you have to do is go to the right and follow the directions to become a follower).

If there are any of you out there who have ANY connections whatsoever to any businesses or corporations who might be willing to make a charitable donation or engage in a corporate partnership - PLEASE give us their information and contact us on Facebook.  We only have $6,000 to raise so with enough leads perhaps we can reach our goal soon!

So here is the bottom line (AND YOU CAN'T PUT THIS IN THE BANK!)  Connor's Army WILL be crossing America in the summer of 2012 and we WILL raise $50,000 for the kids of Sunrise!

Meanwhile, stay well my friends and I will see you on the road!