Get Personal: It Works
This part is about you and why you ride. When I worked at Housing Works, I led a monthly Advocacy 101 training session for new hires. I’d observe that while everyone in the room might have arrived at Housing Works via a different path, no one came to work in service of its mission by accident. The same is true of BRAKING AIDS®. How and why we come to the ride and the cause varies, but everyone has a unique story—a catalyst for how they connected to the fight to end AIDS. The passion and dedication you reveal are galvanizing. Asserting to everyone you know that you will ride 300 miles on a bicycle and raise $3,500 (or far more) for this mission—especially if you’re terrified and unsure you can achieve either goal—is already a pretty crazy, impressive commitment. Being authentic and specific about what got you to make that daring pledge will be what motivates the people in your life to match your commitment by supporting you.
Your willingness to share what’s most vulnerable and personal about why you do this ride is your greatest superpower here. If it’s because you lost someone, or many someones, to AIDS, tell that story. If it’s because you live with HIV yourself, tell your story. If it’s because you feel lost in the world and need a physical or emotional challenge to give you a deeper sense of meaning and purpose, tell the story of that journey. If you had a near-death experience that changed your priorities, share it. If it’s because of your lifelong fear of failure, talk about that. Whatever lights a fire under you to pursue this pair of ambitious, daunting goals—to raise a lot of money and ride 300 miles in three days, all in the name of ending AIDS—will inspire those you know to give and give generously.
The above criteria still apply even if you’ve been doing the ride for years. My overall reasons for being part of the fight to end AIDS may not have changed a ton. I still ride for those I’ve lost and for those I love who live with HIV. However, the nuances of what resonates and re-connects me to those broader ongoing reasons shift each year, and I try to convey those shades of meaning and rejuvenation to everyone I contact.
—Mika De Roo, Rider #32
