By:Angela Marshall
Gary Miller didn't get an ugly tie for Father's Day this year. Instead, his family bought him tight, black bicycle shorts. They knew he was going to need them.
In less than a month, Miller will be taking an extensive bike ride, one that will take him four days and span 325 miles. As one of roughly 3,000 participants in Tanqueray's Northeast AIDSRide, the Baldwinite will ride from Bear Mountain, N.Y. to Boston, Mass.
Miller, 54, doesn't really know why he felt so compelled to take on the rigors of the ride.
"Perhaps, this is some sort of mid-life crisis, or an attempt to recapture the rigors of my enthusiastically misspent youth," he said, "or, perhaps, I am simply trying to express my gratitude for a healthy life and a healthy family."
A little more than a month ago, Miller was standing on the 7th Avenue Subway heading to work when he saw a poster for the trip. A bevy of ideas flew through his head. "Hmmm," he thought, "Bear Mountain to Boston on a bike, AIDS benefit, gotta get into shape, where's the downside?"
He checked the charity's Web site, talked with his wife, Lee, and decided to go for it.
Miller said he is decidedly not a gym person and hasn't worked out regularly since he gave up a landscaping business a few years ago.
"Obviously, I needed to do some serious work," he said. "I still do."
And adding to the challenge is that Miller hasn't been much of a bike rider since he was a teenager. "Along came the driver's license and that was that," he said.
While his bike shorts might be new, Miller's companion on this journey will be a trusted, old 10-speed. "I figure, old man, old bike, it fits."
He has been putting the bike back into shape with the help of Carl at Baldwin Cycle.
Miller is turning 23 miles a day now, not nearly the grueling 70 to 100 that will be expected on the ride. Most mornings, he peddles from his Harvard Avenue home to Merrick Road and takes the Cedar Creek Park bike path to the Jones Beach Tower. "This is my favorite route," he said. "The view is spectacular across the bays and I still love the smell of the bays. ... It's peaceful."
Miller, who graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in 1965, jokes about his ability to complete the challenge, but beneath the laughter is a serious determination to go the distance. "In my opinion, stamina is a learned response. The more you do, the more stamina you develop."
The adventure will commence on July 19. At the end of each long day of riding, Miller and the other riders will arrive at a Mobile City, where acres of tents will be set up so that participants can get a good night's sleep.
In addition to providing a two-person tent complete with roommate, AIDSride organizers provide a multitude of volunteer services like massages and chiropractic sessions.
Riders don't have to worry about their luggage. It's hauled with the tents from location to location.
As for Miller, one item he won't leave home without is his camera. He wants to be able to capture some of the long hours on the road. Instead of the multiple bodies and lenses he usually brings, Miller is packing light with just a digital camera.
Each participant is required to raise more than $2,000 for the event's charities, Fenway Community Health, the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. Each organization is dedicated to finding a cure to AIDS.
"I hope many of my friends in Baldwin will help validate my efforts with their financial support and make pledges," Miller said.
Although he doesn't have a traveling companion, he knows he won't be alone. "I know I will make many close friends on this ride," Miller said. "People who challenge life together, grow together in sharing the challenge."
AIDS touched Miller's life when a close friend was diagnosed early in the disease's history. But even beyond his own experiences, the Baldwinite believes that AIDS is a "disease that has very global implications and that we are all sailing in the same lifeboat. No one is immune and no one can take good health for granted."
This Father's Day, Miller celebrated the good fortune he and his wife have had as a family. They have four daughters, of whom he is very proud. He is making this ride to help ensure that other families have similar experiences.
"I am thankful that thus far my family and I have been blessed with good health, so I wanted to do something to pay it back. Obviously, that is impossible, but maybe this is a small measure, and if one life is helped, then it's worth it."
Anyone interested in helping Miller reach his goal can make an online donation at www.aidsride.org. by entering Miller's rider number, 4527.
