Dearest Readers,

For the past three years I have taken part in an annual event called the Ride for AIDS Chicago. Ride for AIDS Chicago is a two-day, 200-mile charity cycling event that goes from Chicago, Illinois, to Elkhorne, Wisconsin.

Ride for AIDS Chicago raises money to support an AIDS service organization (ASO) here in Chicago called Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN). TPAN is Chicago's oldest peer-led organization and since 1987 has been teaching people how to live with HIV/AIDS instead of die from it.

I started doing the Ride as a personal challenge. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, at one point my life headed down a dark and dangerous path. Drug use helped fuel a deep depression that only got worse once I found out I was HIV positive in 2002. With 123 T-cells and a diagnosis of AIDS, I thought for sure I wouldn't live to see 30.

In one of those classic light bulb moments I realized that if I continued down the path I was on I wouldn't see 30 years old, not because of my HIV, but rather my partying ways!

In June of 2007 I began training for my first marathon through a charity-training program called AIDS Marathon. Thanksgiving weekend 2007 I ran my first marathon in Florence, Italy. This was to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Endurance training and fundraising helped heal my body, my soul, and my mind. Doing for others, while doing for myself was such a transformative experience for me. I continued to ride this wave through six more marathons and three charity bike rides; in 2010 I captained my own team through the 2010 Ride for AIDS Chicago. Since 2007 I have helped raise over $52,000 to support HIV & AIDS services here in Chicago.

In October of 2010 I began working for the AIDS service organization that produces the Ride for AIDS Chicago; Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) is Chicago's oldest peer-led organization in the city. Support groups, substance abuse programs, counseling, and needle exchange are just some of the services we provide here at TPAN.

I wrote this blog entry for two reasons:

1. To share with you the power of giving back to your community; when you do, you receive so much more in return. I recently met two amazing women who are part of the 2011 Ride for AIDS Chicago and they told me "we decided we wanted to be better stewards to our community." I had never heard anyone say something like that, and it was inspiring.
2. To ask you to support me in the 2011 Ride for AIDS Chicago; through a tax-deductible donation or by signing up onto my team Richard's Riders. The money raised helps support life-saving programs here in Chicago for people living with HIV/AIDS. Any amount counts!

Find more information on Test Positive Aware Network.

Learn more about the Ride for AIDS Chicago.

Lastly, to support my fundraising for the 2011 Ride, please visit my fundraising page.

Positively Yours,
Richard

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Positive Indeed

Richard finds a positive attitude and a sense of humor to be two of his most powerful weapons in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Richard is the Director of Athletic Events at TPAN, and teaches Spinning classes at a local gym in Chicago. He also answers questions on TheBody.com's "Ask the Experts" forum on Safe Sex and HIV Prevention.

He enjoys talking about himself in the third person (on occasions like these) and finding new and exciting ways to be healthier physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He has been living with HIV since 2002. Diagnosed with 123 T-cells, he is technically by government standards not HIV positive, but in fact a person living with AIDS. To that he says HA!

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