Bobby Mac: Up Close and Personal

Peddling for a Good Cause
Chef prepares cyclists for the AIDSRide

BY WARREN RUDER
When I came to MIT, I expected to encounter men and women who would serve as examples of what mankind can achieve. As one of the greatest universities in the world, with some of the most accomplished faculty members anywhere, I was sure MIT would provide me with great role models and mentors. Indeed, I’ve met some wonderful and helpful faculty. But, most unexpectedly, one of the people whom I admire most is my fraternity’s cook, Robert McMurray, or as he is popularly known, Bobby Mac. His story is one of compassion and life-altering change that can be universally respected.

As a fraternity house cook, Bobby Mac has the charisma and character you might expect from somebody who has to put up with the whims and idiosyncrasies of fifty MIT students every day. In the overworked, depressed world of MIT, he’s always ready to greet you with a smile, salutation, and the offer of a free ear to hear your grievances. While I love his food, the most impressive thing about Bobby is what he does in his free time. During any given year, Bobby Mac cycles 6,000–7,000 miles while helping organize, recruit, and train about thirty novice riders for the Northeast AIDSRide.

If you haven’t heard of it, the Northeast AIDSRide is a four-day, 350- mile ride from Bear Mountain, NY, to Boston, MA. Each rider provides his own bike and transportation in addition to a $2,100 dollar minimum in donor pledges, the net proceeds of which directly benefit the New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center and the Boston Fenway Community Health Center.

Since his first AIDSRide, Bobby has become an accomplished competitive cyclist, known throughout the New England biking community for his work on behalf of the AIDSRide, especially his training rides.

Bobby Mac’s dedication and his training rides provide a special opportunity for dozens of people looking to challenge themselves in a new way. Most of his recruits are unsure about the Ride, but Bobby’s own life story, coupled with his energy and magic, are enough to placate any self-doubt on the part of his riders.

To understand his uniqueness completely, you’ve got to understand the struggle this man faced in getting to this point in cycling. Bobby Mac was not always the ripped, lean, and super-fast cyclist he is today. In fact, his life was much different.

Thirteen years ago, Bobby Mac was so obese that doctors considered his condition life-threatening. At forty years old, he was told that if he didn’t lose the weight, he would be dead in a few years. Instead of giving up hope, the then three-hundred pound cook pulled an old ten-speed out of his basement and rode five miles down a stretch of recently constructed bike path near his home. He finished, collapsing under a tree with a bottle of orange juice and, “something just clicked.” Bobby started riding more frequently, falling in love with cycling and losing over a hundred pounds. He eventually became competitive enough to be professionally ranked.

Having faced death and conquered this first battle, Bobby Mac is continually upbeat and positive. This fire coupled with his natural charisma is the recipe for his leadership in recruiting and training novice AIDSRiders.

As I mentioned, Bobby is fairly recognizable in the Boston biking community, and most of this recognition comes as a result of his work with the AIDSRide. But Bobby’s fame isn’t a result of biking talent. Instead, it’s based on something more tangible—his involvement in building a community of novice cyclists that participates in the Northeast AIDSRide each year.

For beginning bikers, the AIDSRide is a challenge on many levels. Riders question if they’ll be physically up to the 350-mile trip or if they’ll be able to gather the $2,100 minimum in sponsorship. As a result, recruitment is an integral part of Bobby Mac’s involvement with the AIDSRide. Bobby constantly recruits for the AIDSRide, spending many evenings during the course of a month at different events for the Ride. Coupled with the AIDSRide’s inspiring recruitment videos (on which he’s frequently featured), tales of his own transformation frequently leave the room in tears.

Bobby Mac’s greatest contribution is the training he provides for his many novice recruits. Before the annual AIDSRide, he spends about three months cycling with them every weekend.

His group meets at Quad Cycles bike shop in Arlington every Saturday morning and then departs for a forty-mile bike ride. The ride is scaleable with respect to both pace and distance, allowing riders to work at their own level.

When I joined his group for a ride on a recent Saturday morning, Bobby’s reputation as an enthusiastic, motivating trainer was solidified. Having caught an early T up to Alewife, I rode my borrowed bike for a little bit and shortly before 9am, I reached the Quad Cycles bike shop in Arlington. As I approached, I could already see several bikers assembling outside the shop. At the center of the group, Bobby conversed with a few of the pros that were joining us for the ride.

The twenty or so cyclists represented a diverse population in terms of cycling experience and ability. The ages in the group ranged from college students like myself to middle-aged individuals attempting to take up cycling. All the riders I met that morning were encouraging and sympathetic to my complete lack of recent bicycling experience.

After 9am, Bobby let us into the shop and began going over the specifics of the day's ride. When he finished, several of the bikers had problems with their bikes they wanted to fix before the ride, and he began directing them to the appropriate areas in the bike shop. One of the employees was also there and began performing some small repairs on different bikes. This all occurred in a whirlwind of activity as we rushed to leave on the morning’s ride. In the midst of all of this, Bobby greeted and hugged the majority of the bikers and calmly guided each to a solution to their individual problems. Each person’s face lit up when they got a chance to talk to Bobby and share their thoughts of the ride that day. Clearly, Bobby Mac owned the room.

But my experiences that day only echoed what I already knew from the
many thank-you notes and newspaper clippings I’d been shown by Bobby. The notes clearly indicated the importance and magnitude of Bobby’s involvement with the AIDSRide. In one note, Stephen Bennet, President of PallottaWorks, the company that organizes all the AIDSRides world-wide, tells Bobby that “you inspire us all to keep going. My dear friend . . . keeps singing your praises as does everyone who has contact with you.” But the most important praise comes from the actual riders. As one rider who successfully trained and completed the AIDSRide wrote, “thank you again for being . . . such an amazing leader to me. Your training rides prepared me for the ride and it was because of your wonderful, spirited attitude that I showed up every Saturday and Sunday to Alewife to train.” Amazingly enough, these letters are only able to represent a small sampling of the many thankful riders who have trained with Bobby.

The work of Bobby Mac raises thousands of dollars for AIDS relief in the Boston area community. His dedication to the AIDSRide and its participants crystallize an image of a caring man with a great purpose. To make a donation under Bobby’s name, log into www.bethepeople.com. Bobby Mac is rider #1055.

Warren Ruder MIT ’02 (wcruder@mit.edu) is racing
in the Tour de France in 2012.