Saturday, 18 May 2013
Saturday, 20 April 2013
My hand was forced but what the hell & plenty of training time.
375 Riders
My cunning plan this year had been to register myself, then the boys, then Richard's boyfriend David depending on the levels of sponsorship.
I registered myself last year, Richard and Adam a little later and when I paid for our flights I paid in full for our flights and paid a deposit for David's flight working on the basis that at May 20th, when the balance was due, would be the Go/No-Go for David.
Obviously I wanted David to join us but the reality of $1000 for each flight plus the prospect of topping up any sponsorship shortfall meant I had to play it carefully.
However that grand plan got blow up when I saw on Facebook that the maximum numbers of rider registrations had been hit.
Panic set in, and by the skin of my teeth, a begging letter and the help of Robert and Mila at PWA I managed to register David on the ride. Failure would have been disastrous. A very generous sponsor (you know who you are - THANK YOU) gave $500 specifically for David to join us, so disappointing David would have been bad enough but to be seen to be reneging on a sponsorship commitment would have been very hard to rectify so .....
....... so ...... with 371 other riders we are all committed to the ride.
Plenty of training time .....
My contract at RB comes to an end at the end of May and normally that would signify an frantic search for a new role and security but I have decided this time to take a little time out for a change.
I plan to have June working on London Pride and then a week in Sitges with the London boys and then a two week break in the run up to the Bike Rally. That will be a 7 week period to myself to get bike training and to look for the right job to return to in August.
I have never had seven weeks off work in my life so I am looking forward to a serious recharge and re-evaluation of where my career goes next. I suspect I will return back to contract management where we I feel I perform best. I did see a job as head of contract management for an NHS Hospital Trust and that appealed to me to I suspect that is the way forward.
I have to say I am grateful to RB for giving me the kick start on the fundraising on World Aids Day that I badly needed. Also I still have load of RB dishwasher tablets &vanish to give away in return for donations. So if you are in London give me a shout ....
Book of Mormon
Following in the footsteps of my old mucker Harvey Malinsky I have got 20 tickets for the smash hit sell out show for June 27th. See the link above for details. If I sell all the tickets it should go a go a long way towards or target. **** ALL SOLD OUT **** before I could get time to advertise them.
So Where are we ?
TALLY TIME
Book of Mormon
Following in the footsteps of my old mucker Harvey Malinsky I have got 20 tickets for the smash hit sell out show for June 27th. See the link above for details. If I sell all the tickets it should go a go a long way towards or target. **** ALL SOLD OUT **** before I could get time to advertise them.
So Where are we ?
TALLY TIME
Thank you to some very generous donations we are past the point of the 3 of us being able to ride so the push is on for number 4. Thanks to the sell out success of the Book of Mormon tickets that should make a decent dent in the final run up so the end is in sight. Thank you to the suppliers of the tickets .
Not far to go ..........
As always a huge thank you to everyone helping us with donations, offers of loans of bikes and camping gear in Canadia Land.
Summer is looking good.
TTFN
David, Adam, Ricjhard & David
p.s. Thank you Edson for the stunning new graphic.....
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
The fight hasn't been won just yet .......
A seven minute film explaining the reasons for the Bike Rally
"I think there's been a cultural shift over the years as to the amount of stigma and fear there is to catching HIV. Twenty years ago, it was something you wanted to avoid and were terrified of, and there wasn't the treatments that are available now. There isn't the fear around it that there used to be." Listen to the full interview here : Radio Interview with Stewart Whoo
ITV : hiv-cases-reach-record-high (November 2012)
hiv-cases-in-australia-is-on-the-rise (October 2012)
Rise in HK cases of HIV unacceptable (March 2013)
And the list goes on ........ its a sad fact that HIV is on the rise and we have to do everything we can to educate our young people, our sons and daughters of the dangers of contracting HIV and how to look after themselves and their partners.
And whilst we need to step up the education we also need to help those men women and children who have contracted the disease to be able have decent quality of life while they deal with both the mental and physical effects of HIV. PWA does just that.
Please support us or if you fancy the challenge ......... join us!
TTFN
David, Richard, Adam & David
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
I'm not co-dependent ..... am I darling?
Hello again,
I have have been reflecting of late on the last 7 years. The reason for this reflection was the recent finalisation of my divorce. Always a sad event regardless of circumstance. No matter what the reasons no one ever goes down the aisle with divorce as the end goal.
5 years ago in January 2008 I entered into a civil-partnership. I got "married" in Brixton registry office after a row both the night before and the morning of the wedding [given that Parliament have just passed legislation that we Gays can get married I refer to our "wedding" not the poor second best option of "ceremony"].
Our marriage never really took off. I came to learn the meanings of phrases that I never understood before: "sometime's love isn't enough" and "you have to work on relationships". I naively thought that if two people loved each other then it would all work itself out in the end. It didn't, and over the years I became bored of hearing my own voice say "we are getting there". We were on/off/on/off like a nightmare reality version of the Hokey Kokey. Friends got involved then spat out in the cross-fire and it was messy. We were in relationship counselling then I was in counselling on my own. Co-dependancy became a very familiar term.
During one of the major separations I was offered the opportunity to do some work on a project in Toronto. Two weeks became two months which ultimately became a very successful two years but when I in arrived in Toronto my confidence wasn't great but with the welcome shown by everyone I met and some Skype counselling I made lots of friends who were predominately in relationships.
The longer I spent in Toronto the more I saw the normal family orientated side of gay relationships rather than the "slash and burn" experiences of the London gay scene.
My friends were in involved with the Bike Rally and encouraged/badgered/dared me to take on the challenge of the 600 km bicycle ride. With trepidation/bravado/alcohol I agreed, bought a bike and started the training. After many falls and setbacks my self confidence and sense of achievement started to grow. I got fitter, my self esteem returned, I was raising money for a good cause and I felt good both physically and mentally. After 1 year of separation I contacted Edson.
We communicated and he came to Canada and made a fantastic film of the rally. It was one of the few "shared" experiences we had. This was probably the happiest time we spent together. We reconciled and he came to Toronto to live but alas the problems started again.
We returned to London via Singapore and with a heavy heart in March last year divorce was instigated. We had been trying to "get there" for 4 years: it was time to accept the inevitable, we weren't going to "get there". July 2012 arrives and once again, this time with my sons, head off for the 600 km challenge.
It was so good spending time with my boys. No TV, no computers. We had such a special time even if the little buggers were so fast and far ahead of me I insisted on a go-slow day. I think it fair to say we grew very much closer and I saw my "boys" as the young men that I was very proud of. A big accomplishment and a re-connection with those you love can help you keep things in perspective.
Everyone on the rally has a story. Some sad and of loss, some of survival and inspiration. Some issues and memories of long ago and some individuals dealing with very current developments in their lives. The rally is such a supportive place where everyone looks out for everyone else and consequentially, irrespective of the reason they are involved, many come back year after year. It is a very healing experience.
The point I am trying to make is that without the FFL Bike Rally and the friendships made there, I may well still be locked into the one/off destructive cycle of a co-dependent relationship or be maudlin about the last few years.
The sense of achievement, the ability to say "600 km - bring it on" and the accomplishment of raising over $20,000 is a very big stepping stone along the way to self respect, self reliance and towards the future with a grown up, emotionally equal relationship. If you don't respect yourself how can you expect someone else to, so do yourself a favour and give yourself reasons to respect and like YOU.
I said at the candle lit vigil last year that "the ride allows me to remember my friend and to educate my children". I need to add "and helped ME get back on the right path!"
The ride isn't just for the people PWA helps ... it also helps the riders and crew to help themselves. I wish both Edson, and myself, all the best for our respective futures.
Onward and upwards. As always, onward and upwards.
Please hit the big RED Button and sponsor us today: every $ counts.
TTFN
David
I have have been reflecting of late on the last 7 years. The reason for this reflection was the recent finalisation of my divorce. Always a sad event regardless of circumstance. No matter what the reasons no one ever goes down the aisle with divorce as the end goal.
5 years ago in January 2008 I entered into a civil-partnership. I got "married" in Brixton registry office after a row both the night before and the morning of the wedding [given that Parliament have just passed legislation that we Gays can get married I refer to our "wedding" not the poor second best option of "ceremony"].
Our marriage never really took off. I came to learn the meanings of phrases that I never understood before: "sometime's love isn't enough" and "you have to work on relationships". I naively thought that if two people loved each other then it would all work itself out in the end. It didn't, and over the years I became bored of hearing my own voice say "we are getting there". We were on/off/on/off like a nightmare reality version of the Hokey Kokey. Friends got involved then spat out in the cross-fire and it was messy. We were in relationship counselling then I was in counselling on my own. Co-dependancy became a very familiar term.
During one of the major separations I was offered the opportunity to do some work on a project in Toronto. Two weeks became two months which ultimately became a very successful two years but when I in arrived in Toronto my confidence wasn't great but with the welcome shown by everyone I met and some Skype counselling I made lots of friends who were predominately in relationships.
The longer I spent in Toronto the more I saw the normal family orientated side of gay relationships rather than the "slash and burn" experiences of the London gay scene.
My friends were in involved with the Bike Rally and encouraged/badgered/dared me to take on the challenge of the 600 km bicycle ride. With trepidation/bravado/alcohol I agreed, bought a bike and started the training. After many falls and setbacks my self confidence and sense of achievement started to grow. I got fitter, my self esteem returned, I was raising money for a good cause and I felt good both physically and mentally. After 1 year of separation I contacted Edson.
We returned to London via Singapore and with a heavy heart in March last year divorce was instigated. We had been trying to "get there" for 4 years: it was time to accept the inevitable, we weren't going to "get there". July 2012 arrives and once again, this time with my sons, head off for the 600 km challenge.
It was so good spending time with my boys. No TV, no computers. We had such a special time even if the little buggers were so fast and far ahead of me I insisted on a go-slow day. I think it fair to say we grew very much closer and I saw my "boys" as the young men that I was very proud of. A big accomplishment and a re-connection with those you love can help you keep things in perspective.
Everyone on the rally has a story. Some sad and of loss, some of survival and inspiration. Some issues and memories of long ago and some individuals dealing with very current developments in their lives. The rally is such a supportive place where everyone looks out for everyone else and consequentially, irrespective of the reason they are involved, many come back year after year. It is a very healing experience.
The point I am trying to make is that without the FFL Bike Rally and the friendships made there, I may well still be locked into the one/off destructive cycle of a co-dependent relationship or be maudlin about the last few years.
The sense of achievement, the ability to say "600 km - bring it on" and the accomplishment of raising over $20,000 is a very big stepping stone along the way to self respect, self reliance and towards the future with a grown up, emotionally equal relationship. If you don't respect yourself how can you expect someone else to, so do yourself a favour and give yourself reasons to respect and like YOU.
I said at the candle lit vigil last year that "the ride allows me to remember my friend and to educate my children". I need to add "and helped ME get back on the right path!"
The ride isn't just for the people PWA helps ... it also helps the riders and crew to help themselves. I wish both Edson, and myself, all the best for our respective futures.
Onward and upwards. As always, onward and upwards.
Please hit the big RED Button and sponsor us today: every $ counts.
TTFN
David
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Well, I did ask for some dancing ........
Evening all,
Shana, aka Minny Malinsky, suggested that to make the blog EVEN MORE interesting, that the boys might like to do a little video ...... well Shana, you asked for it and here it is .........
All their own work from start to finish - no help at all from Dad.
Hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to see more form the boys (or anything else) then feel free to leave comments.
TTFN
David, Adam, Richard & David xx
Today's featured PWA Service:
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| PWA Services |
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
A whole summer of hurt .......
Since becoming involved in the bike rally in 2010 my "social conscience" has gone into overdrive and after returning from Canada/Singapore in March last year I have taken on two major commitments bringing my "good cause" quota up to three.
No 1. First and foremost the bike rally, in the last 2 years I have raised almost $15,000 and this year I need to raise $10,000 to enable myself, my 2 sons and my eldest son's boyfriend to be able to ride. Big challenge on raising the sponsorship as well as the personal costs of flights etc (approx. £3000 which come out of my pocket NOT any sponsorship). Bigger still is get the training kilometers in - I need to do about 1000km.
No 2. I was asked to be a trustee of the Aids Memorial Campaign. This is charity whose aim is to get and AIDS memorial in London. We met for the first time before Christmas and after much had wringing and debate it was decided that the memorial should be a national memorial in London. We have revamped the logos, mission statement and regrouped ready for a big launch of the competition to find the design.
No 3. I was approached to be on the board of London LGBT Community Pride who submitted a bid for the GLA funding for London Pride for the next 5 years. As was announced just last week, we won, so now have the challenge of delivering a Pride Event in 2013 under the very tight timescales caused by the selection process. 2013 will the beginning of a journey to raise London Pride to a world class event over the next 5 years.
No 1. First and foremost the bike rally, in the last 2 years I have raised almost $15,000 and this year I need to raise $10,000 to enable myself, my 2 sons and my eldest son's boyfriend to be able to ride. Big challenge on raising the sponsorship as well as the personal costs of flights etc (approx. £3000 which come out of my pocket NOT any sponsorship). Bigger still is get the training kilometers in - I need to do about 1000km.
No 2. I was asked to be a trustee of the Aids Memorial Campaign. This is charity whose aim is to get and AIDS memorial in London. We met for the first time before Christmas and after much had wringing and debate it was decided that the memorial should be a national memorial in London. We have revamped the logos, mission statement and regrouped ready for a big launch of the competition to find the design.
No 3. I was approached to be on the board of London LGBT Community Pride who submitted a bid for the GLA funding for London Pride for the next 5 years. As was announced just last week, we won, so now have the challenge of delivering a Pride Event in 2013 under the very tight timescales caused by the selection process. 2013 will the beginning of a journey to raise London Pride to a world class event over the next 5 years.
Pride to be delivered by June 29th,
Aids Memorial Campaign to be launched at Pride
$10,000 sponsorship to be raised
1000km in training rides
600km Friends For Life Bike Rally ride in July
I think this is going to be be a busy 6 months.
TTFN David, Adam, Richard & David
TTFN David, Adam, Richard & David
Sunday, 6 January 2013
It all starts now ......
Happy New Year to everyone and we hope everyone has a very happy and prosperous 2013.
I started a new job in September at Reckitt Benckiser in Slough, very different from my old job building TV broadcast facilities but back to my roots in FMCG.
SO ... if you are in London and want to support us please let me know and I will give you RRP £30 worth of Vanish, Finish and Durex for a £20 donation. I will even deliver. You get something in return for you donation and we all win.
With our fundraising minimum at $7500 and some real fears that we wouldn't be able to make it, I inquired about the companies sponsorship matching scheme. I was surprised to find that not only that company has a generous scheme but also that sexual health charities are looked upon favorably due to the fact that the company owns Durex.
On December 1st, World Aids Day, the company flyer'd all the desks with the 1-4-1 safe sex campaign leaflets and Red Ribbons so, ever the opportunist, I contacted Corporate Comms and asked if, given the Bike Rally is an HIV/Aids charity event, I could e-mail some colleagues appealing for support.
 |
| Teri and Sandra |
Not only did they agree that I could e-mail I also got a visit from Sandra and Teri from Corporate Comms who were touched by the e-mail and on behalf of RB made a donation. My boss also promised that there would more opportunities for me to fund raise. How heartening is that? With the the help of RB and my new colleagues we are at 40% of our minimum which is superb. I can't express how pleased and grateful I was to Sandra and Teri.
Also RB has regular staff sales where I can buy RB Products. All the money raised in the staff sales go to the company charity, Save the Children. We are fortunate that we can buy a fair amount and I am happy to pass on the (limited amount of) products that I have bought in return for a donation to our Friends for Life Bike Rally page. That way the products bought doubles-up in helping charities. Again thanks to RB for letting me do this.
SO ... if you are in London and want to support us please let me know and I will give you RRP £30 worth of Vanish, Finish and Durex for a £20 donation. I will even deliver. You get something in return for you donation and we all win.
Even Christmas was all about the Bike Rally
In prep for doing the ride the Grandparent's Christmas presents this year were bike bags and Christmas morning was spent building and testing the bike bags which will make life so much easier for us compared to the cardboard boxes we used last year.
I would like to introduce a young man who is the boyfriend of my eldest son son Richard.
His name is David and he has been going out with Richard for over a year. His family are from Columbia and moved to Spain 7 years ago where he where he lives with his mother. They are not in any way an affluent family in a very financially depressed Spain.
By anyone's definition David is a "good" boy. He studies and also worked as a kitchen assistant in a bar since he was 15. He gives half his pay to his mother and the other half pays for his studies. He rarely has a weekend off.
Until very recently his mother had been in denial about him being gay and has never acknowledged Richard as being part of his life.
Things changed this year when David came to London for New Year to be with Richard. He saved and paid for his own flights, refusing my offer to pay by saying he must "pay for his own things". He rang his mother on New Years Eve and his mother, to everyones surprise, asked to speak to Richard. She wished him Happy New year and explained she just wanted David to be happy and asked Richard to look after him. Tears and Vodkas all round.
So here is the deal .......
I would like David to come to the bike rally so that we give an opportunity to a young man who deserves it and would benefit enormously from the experience. He will buy his own bike and I will pay for his flights but we need help on the sponsorship as raising sponsorship money in Spain at the moment is impossible.
Therefore I am asking:-
If you are a supporter, please sponsor us and repost this blog to your friends or
if you are a rider who is fortunate enough to get past your minimum, please help us by publicizing what it is we are trying to do or
If you are a top fund raiser and already have 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 gold jerseys, please divert some of your sponsors to help us get David over to Canada to experience the Bike Rally and get the HIV/Aids education that we hope to propagate among the younger members of our community.
One more young, HIV accepting, safe sex advocate has to be a big part of what the Bike Rally is all about!
We have raised our target to $10,000 and I have put a deposit on David's flight and we will make a call at the end of March on whether or not we think his sponsorship will be covered.
If you would like more info on trying to get David on the Rally then email me at DavidEmbleton@gmail.com or press the "Make a Donation" button above. Every little helps.
TTFN
David, Richard, Adam and hopefully David. xxxx
We can do a good deed but we need your help....
I would like to introduce a young man who is the boyfriend of my eldest son son Richard. His name is David and he has been going out with Richard for over a year. His family are from Columbia and moved to Spain 7 years ago where he where he lives with his mother. They are not in any way an affluent family in a very financially depressed Spain.
By anyone's definition David is a "good" boy. He studies and also worked as a kitchen assistant in a bar since he was 15. He gives half his pay to his mother and the other half pays for his studies. He rarely has a weekend off.
Until very recently his mother had been in denial about him being gay and has never acknowledged Richard as being part of his life.
Things changed this year when David came to London for New Year to be with Richard. He saved and paid for his own flights, refusing my offer to pay by saying he must "pay for his own things". He rang his mother on New Years Eve and his mother, to everyones surprise, asked to speak to Richard. She wished him Happy New year and explained she just wanted David to be happy and asked Richard to look after him. Tears and Vodkas all round.
So here is the deal .......
I would like David to come to the bike rally so that we give an opportunity to a young man who deserves it and would benefit enormously from the experience. He will buy his own bike and I will pay for his flights but we need help on the sponsorship as raising sponsorship money in Spain at the moment is impossible.
Therefore I am asking:-
If you are a supporter, please sponsor us and repost this blog to your friends or
if you are a rider who is fortunate enough to get past your minimum, please help us by publicizing what it is we are trying to do or
If you are a top fund raiser and already have 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 gold jerseys, please divert some of your sponsors to help us get David over to Canada to experience the Bike Rally and get the HIV/Aids education that we hope to propagate among the younger members of our community.
One more young, HIV accepting, safe sex advocate has to be a big part of what the Bike Rally is all about!
We have raised our target to $10,000 and I have put a deposit on David's flight and we will make a call at the end of March on whether or not we think his sponsorship will be covered.
If you would like more info on trying to get David on the Rally then email me at DavidEmbleton@gmail.com or press the "Make a Donation" button above. Every little helps.
TTFN
David, Richard, Adam and hopefully David. xxxx
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
2012 Photos....
Thank you very much everyone ... we raised .. $7051 out of a total of almost $1.3million.
Thanks again to everyone who helped us get to our minimum and beyond.
This years rally was SUPERB (or AWESOME for my Canadia Land friends) we arrived to a welcome party from our team. No sooner had we arrived at Harvey And Chris's ( who had very kindly offered us beds in Toronto ) when the first guests arrived. What a team - a lovely bunch of people who lent us tents, mattresses, sleeping bags and who made us most welcome right from the start.
Over the week the boys did me proud. Their politeness and helpfulness enamoured then to the women and their speed and cycling proficiency enamoured them to the speedsters and the guys.
I spoke at the candlelit ceremony about wanting my boys to see the human face of HIV and not be afraid of those infected but also to see the cost of HIV and so to be very wary of becoming infected themselves. This seemed to enamour us as a family to everyone.
Everyone was so kind, so thoughtful, so friendly and supportive that as we rode into Montreal both boys were very clear they wanted to do this again next year.
They say pictures paint a thousand words ......... well here is over one hundred thousand words for you ........ thanks to Brian Lawrence, Frank Lemire and everyone who has shared their photographs with us and thank you very much to everyone who made us welcome.
And if you want to help us get on our way for next year - Donate for 2013 Bike Rally
ROLL ON 2013
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