i was very disappointed to find that the company that organized the northeast aids ride has gone out of business (as you can tell by their super-informative website). but it's worse than that. not only did they go out of business, but they did so amidst a storm of controversy, being accused of taking too much money and making too high a profit at the cost of not giving enough money to the charities. now i'd heard an inkling of that when i'd actually participated in the ride back in june; they'd said that too many people were just raising the minimum donations (myself included), and therefore not really making the charities a sufficient amount of money. at the time i felt briefly guilty for that, despite the fact that my shortcomings in fundraising meant that i personally contributed a metric shitload of cash. if the $2100 i raised went mostly to the company, then that's a real problem, and it makes me sad. and i did not drink that much gatorade. seriously, though, i had a good time, and was checking their website to see about next year's ride. which there obviously won't be. and that makes me very disappointed indeed. not just because i don't get to do it again, but because it's going to make me think twice the next time i donate money to something.