The view from the darkside…..

This week we have ridden in the dark…Every ride…that tends to skew one’s perspective just a bit…so put on you soft, plush eye covers and ride in the dark with me, the Slayer, 69, Big Ron, Rachel, Scotch Tape, Joey the Goatman and my wife… and see what the darkness has brought to us…..

Night one the darkness brought us cold.  To-the-bone cold that you have read about in the early blogs.  In that darkness we found teamwork and  hard efforts required to stay warm, to perservere and to defeat the cold inside of us and outside of us.  We didn’t do it alone, we did it together, taking turns bearing the brunt of the cold on the front and being thankful to others for providing us with the relief of tucking in at the back, even if just for a few blessed minutes.

Night two brought us the darkness of monotony. Long, straight, dark roads with no signs of forward progress, no signs of life, no signs of light,  like riding your bike on a treadmill in the dark.  But in the darkness of monotony came the light of comraderie!  We had to transform what we had, into what we needed.  So we sang, we quoted movies, told bad jokes (or at least I did), we lifted each other up. And then from an unexpected place, in an unexpected way (no really it was unexpected), help from friends.  Giving us what we needed to make it to the end of that night.

Night three brought us the darkness of pain and loss. This night we honored those who have been taken from us and those who have beaten cancer.  There were tears, lots of tears, and anger, but also glimmers, however brief, of victory and hope. In that darkness we found strength, courage,  honor and purpose inside of ourselves.  We found  we were not alone, we had angels pushing us forward, we had friends and family needing us to fight for them and we had each other to support, encourage and to push us forward.

When I think of this adventure and the view from the darkside, I remember, “There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.”  As you have read this week, there have been a lot of emotions. So let the transformations begin.

Now it is up to all of you reading this take the emotions from these blogs, these riders, this journey… I challenge you to take your emotions, your enthusiasm, your anger and use it to transform the darkness of cancer into the light of a cancer free world. Donate, volunteer, hug a survivor, visit a warrior, pray, ride, run, sell lemonade, walk, it doesn’t matter what you do…just do something.  Because you never know when your actions are the light someone needs to help them out of their darkness. Together we can take the light of love and action and destroy the darkness of cancer….

The emotion of this trip has been transforming for me and for the whole Mellow Yellow team…and tomorrow..well..tomorrow, we see the light and we are excited for what the light brings!!

RideSTRONG into the light!