Mike Rizzo's
Let's do this together....I need your support
A Day on the Ride April 19, 2008 Mike rides in from a day on the ride. This historic event is captured on video by his partner Wade. Watch it!
In June I will be participating in AIDS/LIFECYCLE 7. I will bravely attempt to ride my bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The ride encompasses a total of 545 miles and I will do it along with 2,500 other riders in 6 days. Why ?! When my sister-in-law told my nephew what I was doing he looked at her and said “What?! Why is he doing that?” Trust me, sometimes when I’m training and peddling up Benedict Canyon I ask myself the same question. The truth is, I’m doing the ride for both professional and personal reasons. Professional Reasons: The reality is that large numbers of people are still being infected with HIV and although treatment options have advanced the news of an HIV diagnosis can still be emotionally traumatic. As the manager of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s Crystal Meth Recovery Services I often intervene with individuals who have just received a positive result on their HIV test. Fortunately I can help them access services immediately. The wealth of services offered at the Center includes medical care at the Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic as well as counseling services through our Mental Health Services. We also offer HIV and STD testing, education and prevention. These services are vital in helping individuals who are infected with HIV lead a healthy and productive life. Personal Reasons: I also have a very personal reason for doing the ride. In March of 1989 I received a phone call that changed my life. An assistant from a local hospital informed me that the blood I recently donated in a blood drive had tested positive for HIV. I was devastated and I can’t begin to describe the flood of emotions that came over me in that moment. I didn’t know where to turn and the feelings of shame and the stigma and devastation of knowing I had the disease forced me to keep it a secret. So, I did what I do best which was to suck it up, pretend it wasn’t happening, and move forward. That worked for a little while but eventually the emotional denial lead me to abuse substances, specifically crystal meth. That was many years ago and I have taken what was a very dark period of my life, turned it around, and have found new meaning and purpose. People continue to need help: Through the work I am doing at the Center I am honored and privileged to work on the front line of the war against HIV and AIDS. It would be a cliché to say “If I could just help one person…..” But that wouldn’t be the truth—I want to help a lot of people, I want to help anyone who asks for help and there are lots of people who need the services that the Center provides. AIDS/LifeCycle makes this possible. Recent stats show a rise in HIV infection fueled by the crystal meth epidemic in our community. In 2006, the Gay & Lesbian Center found that 43% of individuals who tested positive for HIV had reported some meth use. That’s almost half! Also, individuals who use crystal meth are 5 times more likely to be HIV-positive. Goal: I have been training for this ride since October and feel confident that I can physically accomplish this massive, colossal, enormous…ok I may be overstating this for dramatic effect. My point is that I’m pretty sure I can do the ride but I need your help in raising the funds to ensure that these vital services are available to all that need them. With your generous donation the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center can continue to give help and hope to those who need it. My fundraising goal is $2500.00. Thank you in advance for your support in helping me reach this goal.
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Mike's latest blog entry:
Sunday, May 25, 2008 
I give this training ride "2 Thumbs Up"!
Mike's Goal: $2,500.00
Current Total: $4,120.00 |
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Mike's LinksL.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Experience AIDS/LifeCycle 2007
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Mike's BlogSunday, May 25, 20089:16 AMWhat Am I Forgetting ?Well a week from today we will be riding out and starting the trek back to LA. I keep reading all the instructions, making sure I have all of my ducks in a row. I'm asking a lot of questions trying to seperate out facts from the myths about the ride. I guess I won't know all the ins and outs until I have my own experience. Wade and I went shopping yesterday making sure we had everything for the ride..yikes this is not a cheap hobby. Who knew there was so much neat stuff out there. I had to keep asking myself "Do I really need this? Remeber Mike your bag can't weigh more than 70 pounds. You buy it have to carry it." I think I have everything I need. Mypartener and I are a little nervous but for different reasons. He's done the ride before and he is a little nervous he hasn't trained enough. I've never road the ride before and I get nervous when I don't know what to expect. I guess I just need to turn it over. This morning we are headed to Christ Chapel in the Valley, Pastor Jerrel is going to bless the riders heading out this week. I could use a good blessing right now. :) Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Monday, May 12, 200812:15 PM75 Miles...Longest Ride YetThis Sunday I joined the gang in Culver City for a training ride called the Lakes Tour, they call it that because we go by many water featrures none of them very glamorous. I was quite nervous stating I wasn't sure I could complete it. The description on the training ride schedule on a scale of 1-4 it was 5 and VERY challenging, it had 3 steep climbs to it. I wasn't 100% over mu bronchitious but I wanted to complete at least 75 miles before the ride and looking at the schedule this was it. I can't recall the exact route we took but we started out in Culver City, headed towards the beach, rode over Mulhouland down through Hollywood after a 24% incline onone of the hills found ourselves at the bottom of the Hollywood Sign lunch in Silverlake, headed towards the valley back over Mulholland through Franklin Canyon Park then back to Culver City ...something like that. 75 miles in total. What struck me most about this ride was that it duplicated most of the trainings rides I had done this year and it gave me an opportunity to reflect on how far I have come. As we rode through Griffith Park, my first Training Ride I recalled the first time I fell off my bike. I also remember the guy who kept calling me Calvin reading the label off my underwear that I was wearing under my bike shorts....what did I know it was my frist ride. I rememebered struggling up Benedict Canyon for the first time and now I was doing three very steep hills. As we headed back into CC I started to tear up so proud of myself and proud of my partner Wade who did Latigo the day before. We were exhasuted. They told us if we could complete this then we were ready for the ride and nothing on the ride compared to what we had done. Ready for the Ride? It dawned on me that I am actually going to do this and I can do this. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Saturday, May 10, 20085:16 PM21 DAYS AND COUNTING21 days to the ride. I feel as if I have accomplished so much and still have a lot to do... This week I completed my 6th week of boot camp, I have lost about 10 pounds but more importantly the trainer measured our body fat, when I started BC I was 29% body fat and the trainer told me I was obese. At 6'1" and 220 pound I never I needed to lose a few pounds but never considered myself obese. When I meausred a few days ago my body fat had dropped to 18%. Needless to say I am thrilled. I signed up for another 6 weeks.......(fill in exclamation) I went to the Doc this week to make sure everything was fine, I was doing well and then on Wednesday I came down with bronchitis. I so didn't need this right now, I payed attention to my body and rested for three days. Being sick is such an inconvienence I wish I could have scheduled it till after the ride. I feel better today and took a spin class, tommorow I attempt to ride 75 miles. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Saturday, May 3, 20086:24 PM63 Miles...WE ROCK!!!Today I completed my longest training ride to date, 63 miles. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. We went from Culver City to Palos Verde and even opted for the extra miles or should I say extra hills. We did them and then headed home, we rode down some steep hills and for some reason I got really spooked and had a hard time just letting go relaxing and crusing down the PV Hillsides. I made it home and although Wade and I are crashing and about to go get massages I am still very proud of us for getting it done. Only about 3 more weeks to train and then we ride from SF to LA. I love the fellowship on the rides and I am meeting some very interesting people. At one of the pit stops, the boys got to talking about their experiences in Little League and Boy Scouts we told stories of how inept we were at these sports and shared gay boy stories about being banished to left field. Then it hit me WE ARE TRAINING TO RIDE 534 MILES" you can't get anymore atheletic than that, each one of us are putting aside our beliefs that sports and atheltism was not something we are very good at and we are training like professional athletes to complete something that is bigger than ourselves. At the risk of sounding narcissitic..."WE ROCK!!!!" Tommorow I think I'm gonna hit a spin class. Well I'm off to get my achey breaky body rubbed the right way. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Friday, May 2, 20088:33 PMThis Just InMy partner has just gotten anew video camera and is first videography was taken on the Day on the Ride in LA. This iso exciting who knew you could post things like this on your web page. Take a look at it and let me know what you think. Check out the other links to youtube about AIDS/LifeCycle. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb 4:33 PMWe Did It!!!!I just checked my fundraising totals and I have reached my minimum. I am very excited. I want to thank everyone who donated and sent me messages of support. Asking for things especially money is not within my comfort zone and I knew I could raise a few bucks, but I half expected I was going to have to make up the difference some how. I am so touched at the generosity of my friends and family. Now comes the fun part, for next month I can concetrate on training, I still think I have some work to do there. Today I completed week 5 of my boot camp, one more week to go. Can you believe I signed up for another 6 weeks, we'll have a week off and then we will start up again. I know I have lost some weigth but I am not sure how much, I still have not gotten on the scale for fear I will be disappointed. I keep telling myself its not about the weight, I do feel myself getting stronger and some of the exercises I couldn't do 5 weeks ago are actually becoming easier, I still have trouble with "Bernardo's Abs", they are killer. I am looking forward to training this weekend, I think we will the the Culver City to PV ride, I swear I'm going to master that hill. I spoke with my sister today, it's her birthday she turned 50 and having a rough day. She lost her husband a few months ago to a massive heart attack, and she misses him very much. She lives in Ma. and I wish I could be with her. We don't exchange bithday gifts any more, but Wade insisited we send her something. I can't tell you what we sent it won't get there until Tuesday and she might read this. I'm going to dedicate tommorow's training ride to her and the memory of her husband, Scott. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Wednesday, April 30, 20085:37 PMMy Partner/ My Best friendLet me tell you a little bit my partner Wade one of the most amazing, beauitful, inspiring, stubborn, infuriating men I know. I wouldn't trade him in for anything. I orginally met Wade about 10 years ago, we met in a 12 step room and sat across from me and we would cruise each other. One morning I was making coffee for the meeting and Wade walked in to make coffee for the meeting downstairs, it was around the holidays and we flirted, he has the most beauitful blue eyes. We decided to meet up a New Years Eve Dance, yes our first kiss was on New Years Eve. Everything about this was perfect and divinely sent .....and only lasted 4 weeks. Neither one of us was available for the other at that time and our heated romance blew out like a candle in a hurricane. We remained friends and eventually lost track of each other. About two years ago we ran into each other at MJ's and we started talking. I totally c*** blocked him from a guy he had his eye on. We caught up with each other and what started out a great conversation lead to an amazing kiss. We have been together ever since. Last year during gay pride I was working the Center's Booth and I kept looking at the table for the AIDS/LifeCycle. Man I had always wanted to do that ride. Wade and I discussed it and we registered that day insisting we have consecutive rider numbers. I had this vision of Wade and I training together and riding together, hand in hand. I had thsi vision of how it was going to bring us closer. Wade gave me this huge speech about how I had to commit to training and how he was going to do the ride no matter what. I assured him I was going to do the ride. We have this saying in 12 step if you want to make God laugh, make plans. We started training in October. Our first training ride was the official ALC traing ride we road 12 miles around Griffith Park. I loved it, Wade didn't. " I like to do my own thing." he said. Hmmm this wasn't brininging us closer. Its been an interesting journey. But about two months ago, it looked like neither one of us was going to do the ride. My bike had broken and I was having challeneges getting it fixed, Wade hadn't been training and we hadn't even begun to fundraise. It didn't look hopeful. Last month though something shifted. I got my bike back, Wade started fundraising and raised most of his minimum in one week. We started training really hard, Wade hired a trainer and I started a boot camp and started to take spinning classes. We get up at 5 am Mon-Fri. to get ready for the gym. ( I can't tell you how much weight I lost because i refuse to get on a scale but I'm down two belt holes.) After only a month I am very close to raising my minimum, this past week I have raised close to $1400. All of our travel arrangements have been made. I have my red dress. With the ride still a month away I started to pack. I can't tell you how excited I am to do the ride. I can't wait to get on my bike each weekend and train. I can't wait to get to opening day. More importantly I have gotten closer to my partner Wade. As we negotiate and navigate our way towards doing the ride and overcome the many obstacles we have faced. I find myself more in love with him than I have ever been before. Did it look the way I wanted... no way! But our challeneges, obstacles and disagreements have bonded us. Wade thank you for sticking in there with me you are indeed my partner in life but more importantly my best friend. I love you ! Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Saturday, April 26, 20086:27 AMLifting and running and cycling...oh my!!!I have just completed four weeks of boot camp. At the begiining of boot camp, due my bike being repaired, I hadn't been on my bike in a month and was begiining to freak out. So I joined a boot camp and it has been amazing, I know I have lost weight but refuse to step on the scale for fear I will be disappointed and discouraged, but I definitely feel smaller and have more energy. Last Friday we did 45 minutes of lunges, this was the second time we did this although my legs are soar today its a lot better than the last time. So I know I am getting stronger. I realize that I had some significant denial on how out of shape I was. You know it had been two years since I worked out on a regular basis, its funny how easily distracted we can get. I keep telling myself to stay the course and instead of comparing my self to where I want to be I compare myself to how I did last week and each week I am able to do a little more. I feel comfident today that I will be up to the challenge. Oh I forgot, yesterday I got into my partners jeans(no not like that) he's actually a size smaller than me so I couldn't wait to tell him that my jean wardrobe had just doubled. I am about half way to my fundraising goal. There is a lady in my boot camp who fundraises for a living and she gave me some ideas to help me reach my goal. I created a countdown clock to the ride and the link is listed on my page, I would have liked to embedded it but the site is unable accommodate my desire. So check it out and be on the look for some fun ideas she gave me. Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Wednesday, April 16, 200810:22 AMUnexpected blessingsThe amazing thing about this ride for me is you never know how or when an expected blessing will show up. If you notice in the letter of support part of my page is an email from my sister-in -law letting me know that my 6 year old nephew,Steven, was donating $10 to supprt me, Steven even goes on to send me his own message of support. I am so touched by his generosity, $10 is almost a whole month of allowance for him. I think about all the things he could have done with that money, the toys he could have bought or the candy he could have eaten. I know its only $10 but to me its the largest donation I have recieved to date. Props to my sister-in-law and brother for raising such an insightful little boy. Who without a second thought went over to his wallet and took his allowance and donated it to support his gay uncle raise $2500 to help provide HIV/AIDS services for those in need. At six he gets it. At a time when we all to often hear about the negative aspects of our youth, or how a young man like Lawrence King loses his life for expressing his individuality, my nephew gives me hope. I am so proud of him and I can't wait to see what kind of man he grows up to be. I sit here struggling to find the words to adequately express the way I feel, and every sentence I write falls short of what I am trying to say. Perhaps this all that need to be said and I hope that you get the sence of how I feel. Perhaps I just need to leave it up to you fill in the blanks and have your own thoughts and feelings about it. If the ride were to end tommorow for me, this unexpected blessing would be enough.
Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Tuesday, April 15, 20089:27 AMNever Quit Never Give UpSo, about a month ago I was on a training ride from Culver City to Palos Verde. It was a tough day and although I took a wrong turn and didn't complete the route as planned, I had conquered a couple of hills and it looked like I was going to complete 45 miles which would have been my longest ride to date. I was on the bike path in Culver City when I shifted my gear and the bike came to screeching halt, I picked my self and inspected my bike and found that the derailer had broken off upon further inspection I notioced the chain had pulled the derailer through the forks and broke the frame. My heart sank! My new friend was injured. At the time i wasn't concerned, after all I had just bought the bike in June and was confident this was covered by the warranty. I picked the bike up and started to walk the rest of the way. I was mostly upset that i couldn't finish the ride and then my head took off. What if its not covered under the warranty? What if it can't be fixed? Well after a about a mile I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to do the ride. Some of my fears were founded. I brought the bike into IMartin where i had bought it and spoke to the assitant manager who was optimistically vague and non committal, well to make a long story a little shorter The manafacturer didn't feel it was a defect and must have been rider error or the way i transported the bike. Well I knew that wasn' t the case and argues my case to Hyme. Well Hyme went to bat for me and eventually got the company to replace the frame and he waved the fee to reassmeble the bike. Last weekend I got back on my bike after about 6 weeks of not training and road 35 miles. Let me sing the parises of the I Martin staff and Hyme who now has a loyal custtomer for life.
Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb Monday, April 14, 20083:49 PMA blog by any other name....A blog by any other name is still diffcult for me to do. I am not a blogger, but I think it would be good to update you on how I am doing. So here it goes. This is my first AIDS/ LifeCycle. Its starting to become very real for me. I guess I knew I was committed to the ride when I bought my bike last June. (Which was no small investment.)I remember as a kid my Dad told us our first bike could be any bike we wanted. He followed that comment with "So chose wisely because any bike we wanted after that we would have to purchase on our own." Not sure that black stingray would be appropriate for the ride. I have been training since October and I have to tell I fell in love with my bike, it quickly became a very important relation ship in my life, 2nd only to my partner. I love the challenge of riding and have found a new appreciation for the technical aspect of riding. My partner Wade is also doing the ride with him compared to me he is a veteran having done several rides in the past. I really wanted us to do something meaniful together and this ride has definitely brought us closer. Over the next few days I will try and catch you up on all that has happened with my training and fundrasiing so stayed tune, but for now I will sign off and atlk to you soon. I will try and keep these short because as i said earlier I am not a blogger.
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