Local Spin!

You can quote me on it...

The easy way out, is always a way out!

Sometimes things come together. Somethings come together in time. Sometimes, somethings have a way of coming together!

Many don't know why or don't know how. But they are often the one's that don't know...no!

If i'm positive about one thing, it's about being an optimist!

F. Yendem
Biking Philosopher...
Cliff

Eminem Knew What he Was Saying!

Matt and i saw 8 Mile together when it originally came out. Matt was a young teen and really into his "street cred", i was into his words. My favorite rap was and is Lose Yourself. Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, totally understood the "moment he had" as he portrayed it in the movie that was supposedly from his real life. He knew he had to make it work. But clearly beyond the moment he was personally rapping about, were the "make it happen moments" we are all given. He made the "don't screw this opportunity moment" very personal and it's why the song became such a anthem.

The ride for both Matt and me is one of these moments. To see it not as a special opportunity, is to be blind, let alone miss out on the potential to have it make a real difference in our lives and hopefully others.

Lose yourself in the Moment...it is so LLLF to the fullest- because, as i know personally, most every moment has the potential to be very special, as well as, unexpectedly meaningful-both positively and not so much!
Cliff

"Mad dogs" A father-son connected by more then DNA

So there's about 7 weeks left and I've been training like a mad dog. These are the "dog" days of summer, and through the medney DNA we have come to love this weather to work out in. By the Medney "DNA" I refer to the name mad dog. In college cliff was called the mad dog, he was a much better football player then he gives himself credit for, but nevertheless; he was the mad dog. Then in High School with out any mention of it I was doubed the mad dog, funny... Father like son. So these "dog days" really are dog days for us. We love the heat and the extra grind from the work out. Medneys also love oatmeal but that's for another day. So going back to my point I was playing basketball yesterday and got a really bad charlie horse in my right thigh, and it kills but other then that the training is awsome I've down everything from running in the heat to running in the pool (much harder then T.O. makes it look on his show) and I'm also a coach now for the 2009 JCC Maccabi games which I participaed in 6 years ago for soccer. But let the dog days continue and GO B U L L D A W G S!
Matt

The Real Reason is...

In the most "FAQ" department as to "why i am doing the ride", it must be well over a 100 people who have thought my intent ranged from wanting quality time with my son to some kind of affirmation of life. Both are not wrong. But not totally right either.

The simple reason relates to what may have originated with the Kennedy's or they, like me, totally bought into the premise of and wanted to find ways to express the idea "with much given, much is expected". I know deep down just what i was given-to be here, living the life i actually have to live with my loved ones and just to be part of it all for however long. That's what the ride and life is all about-at least, to me. To be an activist in life for as long and as deeply as we can is the opportunity we all have. Unlike a lot of disposable stuff today, you don't get to do it over and get a new one. You just don't. One last thing on the "given" part- my wife Josana is supporting me 100% in everyway imaginable with helping me pay off this "expectation" i get to live up to!

That's why i am doing the ride. To fulfill an expectation that might positively influence others. Now aren't you glad you asked???

Time to ride...:)

Two a Days... 90 Degrees of Seperation!

So here's the truth...once upon a time, i was an agile (aka slow) and determined kid who overnight went from playing 2 hand-touch football in the playgrounds of Stuy Town in NYC to 8th grade football in Atlanta, GA. When my father says we were moving, he wasn't kidding.

Figuring out how to put on shoulder pads, let alone getting comfortable with the helmut thing took awhile, but running and cutting and catching a football was, at the end of the day, the same on a concrete hardtop as it was on a great smelling freshly cut football field. The two big differences-it was tackle football, not two hand touch-ouch! And, they had this thing called "two a days"-really ouch. You can't help but remember two a day-morning and afternoon- practices on hot days like today!

But like everything else, especially as a kid, you get used to it. While i am not about to get into being tackled again-for any amount of money-i have resumed "two a days" or at least the spirit of them!! Today, i ran 31/2 miles in the morning,road my bike downtown to a lunch meeting then walked 20 blocks to another meeting. Then in the late afternoon, I got on my hybrid and road almost 15 miles in Central Park. The 1400 mile plus ride to Florida will be about endurance and about going for it...smartly. Matt, Dmitriy (our incredible young event manager) and me are trying to figure all the smart things we need to do to train and be prepared to do in route to get to West Palm in one piece on Sept. 26th.

Over the weekend, we reached out to a great company in the area of "big rides and big dreams"- hopefully they will agree to work together- they would be an ideal partner! They are experts in what we are doing and work with great bike related vendors/partners. Will know in a couple of days and will report back on the blog and ofcourse, if they say YES, will name them by name. They also have incredible spirit and attitude...keep fingers in the crossed position, please!

Let me end by saying, i finally got a hang of the shoulder pad thing and even how to wear a football helmet- you actually do look through the mask! So as a Freshman at the University of Georgia, i walked on the football team and actually became the starting "split-end". My "two a days" now remind of how much fun it was back then, as well as, how i was able to "fake people out" on how incredibly slow i was.

Matt and me are gonna ride slow, but hard and it will be fun!!!
Go Dawgs!

A Month From Today...

You may be at work. You may be running to a meeting or driving over a bridge, in a tunnel, on a highway to get somewhere. Chances are Tuesday, September 8th 2009 will really be no different than the day before or the week before...

For me, my son Matt, my family, friends and supporters it will be the start of a most unlikely journey. A 1400 mile, two week bike ride to show what is possible- when you never buy into what is supposedly imposible.

It all happens one month from today! The countdown is officially on. So yes, the training is now more intense- a 100 miles a day for anyone is a real ride and the fact i'm no spring(or Fall)chicken is what makes this great. The logistical routing, where we will sleep must get more defined. The techical bike, travel gear, food needs must come together. The outreach to media in sharing our story, needs to be more focused. The asking for support, clearly needs to be more specific.

This ride is not about me. It is not about that i will be a ten year heart attack survivor come Sept. 26th or that I am a 52 year old insulin dependent diabetic. It is about life and with it comes the incredible opportunity, maybe even responsibility, to not be captive by circumstance- health, financial or any related issues.

A month from today, Matt and me will leave NYC. We will video blog, text (him, not me), share our journey along the way... all the time, everyday until we reach my father's house in Palm Beach, Florida on September 26th- the magical day i lived 10 years ago!

I truly welcome your involvement in any way you can. Again,the ride is about all of us...but pedaling, like giving, starts at home- so off i go!

LLLF,
Cliff

Pedalelphia, Pedalonia, Pedal ...

Here i went around Central Park 4 times today-4 times (fine, 2 around 7:30AM and a duce 20 minutes ago)...pedaling my 162lb butt off! I know trying to raise money for the ride, raise awareness for heart health and diabetes related health issues are my main challenges...but so is trying to get ready to ride the ride. And, while timing is tight on getting the viral word out on what we are doing- if my father lived on the top of Everest, i'd give that a shot too!- but it's not about me or him, it's about the importance of getting people to see the positive reality of being "heart active"-at any age, with virtually any health condition(s)- and partners/supporters to get behind me(maybe pushing my bike a bit up some of the hills in CP or in route to Pedalelphia) to help us change the idea of "health care" as a problem to fix to "caring about health" as a doable idea that anyone can buy into...like "Live Life Look Forward",that's what we say, what our tee shirts will say, what people will say!

NYC to Palm Beach, Florida that's a lot of pedaling...33 days from now, about 100 miles a day. If you want to send me a post, send some support (we have some real needs), whatever you want to do to be part of this journey, please know i need every bit of help i can find and i am the most grateful 52 year old still alive guy you may ever meet.

Thanks, gotta grab dinner
Cliff

So, how was your weekend?!

Dear Abby
My lovely dog, not the gossip/life writer...what a weekend. Between my wife Josana having to move us from our Apt. on the lower eastside to the 70's (Abby is so Uptown) as i was recouping from a crazy blood sugar drop that landed me in the hospital...and getting "flipped off" (a technical term) by Time Warner Cable til this Friday!!!"an error must have occurred on your end" it is enough to make a guy ride a bike out of here!

And, that is exactly what we are doing, hell or high water, high or low blood sugar, Matt, me and team are figuring it all out and the combined 73 years of Medneydom will be riding up to Palm Beach Fl. for a meet and fest with an 85 year young Medney come Sept.26!!!

I kicked butt this morning riding two laps aggressive around Central Park...look out Penn., here we come South Carolina...i know where you live GEORGIA!!! Between now and leave date 9/8/09...we'll be talking alot!

BTW, friday was my birthday...celebrating in a hospital room is not so bad:):)!
Cliff