SpencerWon

I attended the Smoke-free Texas rally at the Austin Capitol today.

I am a member of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and a supporter/volunteer at the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I prepared by putting on a Vote Yellow shirt under a LIVESTRONG long sleeve shirt. Ready for whatever temperature Austin would choose.
Got there a bit early and chatted with LAF folks and my new friend Jon, who drove up from San Antonio for the rally, bicycle maintenance, and a visit to the LAF. A few opponents of the pair of bills (URLs for House 5 and Senate 544 to come later) showed up and positioned themselves to be in the background of media shots. Mostly Libertarian property rights rhetoric with one clueless “Go back to France Lance” poster.
Speakers included bill sponsors and talk was about how second hand smoke is a long term health risk and workers shouldn’t have to choose between their job and their health.
Lance went right before the wrap up and reiterated those messages. He made a huge impact on getting Prop 15 through the Texas legislature and ballot process. We need another spokesperson for this since Lance will be busy at the Giro in Italy as our legislative session draws to a close. I plan to actively advocate, but I’m not exactly as visible as Lance.
More here as the session goes on.
To support some of these efforts, you can donate to fight cancer and support my cancer survivor son’s insane bicycling plans.

Today, we were down at a studio helping tape a public service announcement and take pictures for a media campaign promoting the LIVESTRONG Challenge. As usual, it was fun and inspiring. This time I didn’t bring clothes for me, so I didn’t wind up in the shoot. In order to work with a bunch of amateurs, Mat from Alpheus Media, just talks with the subject while the camera rolls. He asks questions, asks them to repeat lines back at him, and asks them to move in specific ways.

I get into a bit of a trance when we do these, as I did at the LAF Manifesto video shoot almost three years ago. The theme for this PSA was “what would you say to cancer” and Mat helped Spencer a lot in delivering some good material. This is a kid who, shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia when he was four years old, set the goal to raise $25K, ride with Lance Armstrong, and do a 40 mile bike ride with me. Then he achieved the goal. He’s got some opinions about cancer. It’s just a matter of getting him to speak. On camera. With his Dad lurking around the set.

Me? I got pissed at cancer. I wanted to put on a jersey and bike shorts, join Spencer on the set, and give cancer a piece of my mind. So, I tweeted (@sartin if you want to follow me) my first thought about what I want to say to cancer:

Cancer, you took this fight into MY house and tried to take MY son. I’m taking it back to you and I’m not stopping. Ever.

When I got home I was still mad, so I wrote a short note to cancer. Since I’ve not got the b*****d’s address, I will post it here as an open letter:

Spencer and I will be riding in the Seattle and Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge events this year. We’ve upped the stakes a little. We are targeting 100 miles on the tandem in Seattle in June and 90 miles on single bikes in Austin in October. I encourage you to donate to fight cancer or join us at one of the LIVESTRONG Challenge events.