His name was not Pete, and he did not care for Whiskey. His name was Geoffrey Almeida and he preferred Sailor Jerry.

One evening, when I was just in high school, a young comedian named Whiskey Pete appeared on Comedy Central, and boy did it rustle Geoff’s feathers. “How can he call himself that?! He’s not even old enough to drink!” And on and on it went. To me, it seemed as though my father may be jealous of this prestigious title. So in an effort to console him, I offered to start calling him Whiskey Pete. “If you’re that jealous, then I’ll call you Whiskey Pete”, were probably my exact words roughly 18 years ago. This only made him more upset, which pleased me very much. And so, I continued to call him Whiskey Pete. Initially, both my parents found this to be very disrespectful, eventually my friends also began to refer to him as such, and finally it was accepted as a term of endearment.

In 2009, my father was diagnosed with Mesothelioma. In January of 2011, I made a plea to family and friends to join me in the Fight for Air Climb with the American Lung Association in honor of Whiskey Pete. At this time, his battle was becoming increasingly more difficult and I often referenced my dad’s “one remaining sad little lung” to increase participation. Unfortunately, Geoffrey passed away in February of 2011 but the following month, we climbed 800 stairs and thought of him with each step.

We have continued to honour him participating in both the Fight for Air Climb and the Cycle for Air Trek over the years. After a 5 year hiatus, we are making our comeback, riding 100 miles to raise money for lung disease research and education. We are grateful for our two healthy lungs and invite you to join us in our struggle to breath as we trek across Cape Cod on two wheels!