Not the usual spin

The Human Resources Department at my workplace sent an email the other day encouraging employees to ride a bicycle to work today.

When I saw the email, I felt like a priest who didn't realize that it was Christmas. Today is Bike to Work Day in Los Angeles County, and it had slipped completely under my radar.

Before I got sick, I was always peddling the pedaling cause. I rode my bike to work every day and parked it near my desk. At lunch time I often went out for a short spin around the neighborhood, and then I rode it back home at night.

I haven't ridden my bike since last November. In fact, my bike is still parked on the same patch of real estate in my living room where I left it when I rode home from work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

After one of my co-workers asked me if he would see me on my bike today, I made an on-the-spot decision to do so.

Later I told my best friend that I planned to hop back in the saddle today, and he said that he wished that I wouldn't.

My friend knows me better than anyone and he often serves as a liaison between me and the doctors who treat me. He doesn't think that I'm ready to start riding just yet, and he may be right.

Out of respect to my buddy, I'm leaving my bike home today. I won't have to scramble around the apartment to find my riding shoes and a spare tube, and I won't have to worry about sputtering out of breath climbing the Cahuenga Pass –which isn't all that steep but after being idle for six months, I just might not have the strength to tackle.

Sitting out Bike to Work Day doesn't mean I can't still celebrate the cycling cause.

It gives me a great segue into making another pitch for AIDS/LifeCycle. My ALC 8 fund is inching toward my goal to raise $5,000 for the HIV services for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. Once I add in a donation that a family member mailed to the Center last week, I'm just $64 shy of my goal.

So the $64 question is: Am I gonna make it to my goal by the time AIDS/LifeCycle 8 begins?

You can help me answer that by donating to the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center on my AIDS/LifeCycle page.

I know that times are tough all over. So without spending a dime, you can also support the Center by making GoodSearch your tool for searching the internet and by selecting the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center as your favorite charity. Each and every time you perform a search from GoodSearch, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center –or any other charity you designate– gets a donation.

It's only pennies, but those coins do add up when thousands of people are pitching in.

Time to climb down from my soapbox and get to work. I'm leaving my bike behind, but it's not out of mind.

Won't be long before every day will be Bike to Work Day.

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When you're out driving –today and every day– be on the lookout for cyclists. Not all cyclists ride responsibly, unfortunately, but many do. Please share the road with all of them and help them get to their destinations safely.