Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Gordon Invitational at Lake Tahoe 2015

Have you seen Andy Gordon's Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) video yet?  If not, here it is; watch it right now, we'll be here when you get back.


(If the embed doesn't work, use this link instead.)

Now that you've watched, please join Team Andy (motto: Non semper est rectus, sed nunquam in dubium).  Here's how.  For the last four years, our friend Andy has raised money for LLS by doing a century ride (100 miles) on his bicycle around Lake Tahoe.  Andy has become an inveterate cyclist, but more importantly, the mission of LLS is to fight blood cancers.  Andy signed on with LLS because his first wife, Sue Gordon, died of multiple myeloma, a form of incurable blood cancer, in 1997.  Then, in 2009, Andy himself was also diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  After a stem cell transplant in 2010, he went into remission and became a member of Team in Training (TnT), one of LLS’s primary fundraising arms, and serves on the board of the Arizona chapter of LLS.  He’s raised over $60,000 to fight cancer – not just his and Sue’s, but all blood cancers – through the Tahoe ride.

Andy is also a leading member of our Phoenix-based bicycle group, a coed bunch of generally middle-aged cyclists known as the “Brews Brothers.”  He started riding for the exercise as part of his recovery, but he can’t help himself, and has moved into leadership (a pretty loose category with this group).  He helps organize the rides, pushing us to ride better and drink better coffee.  He was getting ready for his fifth consecutive Lake Tahoe ride, but life intervened.  After nearly 5 years in remission, his cancer has returned.  He’s in chemotherapy now, and scheduled for a second stem cell transplant in early May.  So this year, he can’t fight cancer by riding and fundraising; he has to fight it much more personally.

Some of Andy’s fellow riders thought it might be a good thing to take his place at this year’s ride, and to help him keep his streak of being one of the top national fundraisers going, so he can pick up where he left off next year.  We threw out the idea to the group, and amazingly enough, over 25 of Andy’s friends have volunteered to raise money for LLS and bicycle around Lake Tahoe not just in his honor, but because we all want to cure Andy’s cancer.  We’ll do the riding, but we need your help on the cure.

Please join Team Andy for the Gordon Invitational at Lake Tahoe by contributing what you can to help fight blood cancers and find a cure.  We’ll finish riding around Lake Tahoe in a day, but we’re hoping for additional years for our friend and colleague.  Can we count on you?  Click on the donation link, and give generously.  Remember, it’s not just in honor of Andy.  He’s fighting his cancer, and he’s counting on us.

So click on Donate Button for Team Andy, and please contribute.  Thanks.

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