The Fat Cyclist

The internet sucks. I mean really, the majority of it is garbage. I heard a stat somethere a while back that somewhere around 30% of the internet space is devoted to porn. And wasn't there a story a while ago of some lady being killed after responding to a babysitting ad on craigslist? It's like the news these days: there's more bad and you hear about more negative stuff than you do about the inspirational, the good stuff. They seem to use the positive as filler between all the negative. It's one of the reasons I've stopped reading the newspaper and watching the news. That and I don't understand some of the big words they use.

Anyhow.

However like looking for that perfect rock amongst all the other ones to skip across the water, if you look around long enough and keep an eye out, you'll find a good thing amongst the internet archives. About 5 1/2 years ago, I made such a discovery. Along with about 2 zillion other people. If you want a laugh while at work, you need to go check out fatcyclist.com. Even if you don't ride a bike, it is a great read each day a new post is up.

I won't sit here and give you a whole biography about the guy cause I've never met him. But through the years of reading, I, much like all the other people who regularly read, got to know him. He shared his life with tasteful discretion: enough to allow us to live the trials with him, but closed just enough to maintain his own thing with his family.

A few years ago his blog took kind of a dark turn. He revealed to all of us that his wife of many moons relapsed with breast cancer. She fought it off once before only for it to come back with vengeance. Over the next few years, we all lived each day of Fatty's fight as his wife went through treatment. We pulled and breathed a sigh of relief with each victory of the fight, and we dreaded and winced at each harsh blow the cancer turned out along the way.

It was truly amazing to me. A man who had the courage to share with a bunch of strangers this fight and doing so tactfully. You never felt sorry for him, you truly felt like you were a friend helping him along the way. Throughout it all he maintained his humor; and somehow his sanity.

He also inspired. Not only did his stories help those who were going through the same battle with loved ones, but he decided to do something about it. He joined forces with the famous LiveStrong foundation and together with a whole bunch of people literally around the world, he and his teams raised over $700,000. It was truly awesome to watch unfold.

I wish this story had a happy ending to it, but life is not always fair. One year ago today, Fatty's wife Susan lost her fight to cancer. She left behind not only her husband, but 2 boys and 2 twin girls. And the entire FatCyclist nation as well. Life moves on, whether we want it to or not, and after one hell of a punch Fatty is back up on his feet and continuing his one man crusade against this unfair and often cruel entity.

And the blog is bright again. We will never forget the story we were all privelaged to read. I thank Fatty for ratcheting up my faith in humanity by showing that strangers can truly do great things for each other. And I urge all of you the next time you have a free moment to take some time and get to know this incredible man as well. His website again is fatcyclist.com. Read the current stuff, but also look at the archived stories as well. You will NOT be disapointed. And if you ever feel like giving a few bucks here and there, LiveStrong is a great foundation to give to. The statistics don't lie: Cancer will affect everyone in some way or another during their lives.

Thanks for the stories Fatty!