When Brother Gal Greenberg (San Jose State, 2012) begins a six-day, 600-mile cycling journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, he will carry more than the equipment needed to climb approximately 30,000 feet along the California coast.
He will carry the memory of Brother Amir Margittai.
Amir’s name will be printed on Gal’s Fireflies West ride jersey, alongside the names of family members whose experiences with cancer have also inspired him. When the miles become difficult and his legs tell him to stop, Gal knows the memory of his AEPi brother will help him continue.
“His thought will definitely be with me,” Gal said. “His spirit will definitely be with me.”
Gal and Amir met nearly two decades ago when both were approached to help establish Alpha Epsilon Pi at San Jose State University. They became founding fathers together and were initiated together.
The two quickly discovered that they had more in common than their new fraternity. Both were Israeli, both spoke Hebrew, and both understood the experience of building a Jewish home away from home.
They also shared a love of being together.
“Amir was very much a ‘what you saw is what you got’ kind of person,” Gal said. “He was extremely authentic.”
Amir had a great sense of humor and an ability to make the people around him feel welcome. He would eventually serve as the chapter’s master and became one of the brothers everyone seemed to know and love.
When Gal became increasingly interested in cycling, Amir decided to give it a try, too. They rode during their college years, including on AEPi chapter trips to Lake Tahoe. They traveled to Las Vegas together, spent time with their brothers and built the kinds of memories that remain vivid long after graduation.
“It was always just enjoyable to go riding with him,” Gal said. “He was always just a fun guy to be around.”
After college, life took them to different sides of the country. Amir moved to the East Coast, while Gal eventually relocated from Northern California to Los Angeles. Their conversations became less frequent, as sometimes happens when friends and brothers are separated by distance, careers and life. Still, Gal always considered Amir one of his closest friends and AEPi brothers.
Then, on New Year’s Day in 2019, Gal received a call from another brother.
Amir had passed away the previous day after battling cancer.
Gal had not known Amir was sick.
Only a small circle of people knew about the diagnosis. Amir had hoped to complete his treatment, regain his strength and return as the same energetic, authentic person his family and friends knew. He did not want people to pity him or treat him differently.
For Gal, the news was devastating. In addition to mourning his friend, he struggled with knowing that he had not been able to stand beside Amir during his illness.
“You can’t even be there to support somebody,” Gal said. “The fact that I wasn’t able to be there to provide him with that support just didn’t sit right with me.”
Turning Grief Into Action
Gal has been an avid cyclist since approximately 2008. After stepping away from the sport for several years, he returned to it around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and found a close-knit cycling community in Southern California.
A friend from that community introduced him to Fireflies West, a volunteer organization whose riders raise money for cancer research and care at City of Hope. Gal considered participating previously, but the timing was difficult after he and his wife welcomed their daughter to the world.
When applications opened again, Gal spoke with his wife and she encouraged him to take on the challenge.
The ride will be Gal’s first Fireflies West tour and the most demanding multiday event he has attempted. Over six days, the riders will travel approximately 600 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, completing about 30,000 feet of climbing before arriving at City of Hope.
Gal has completed century rides before but riding that distance day after day will present a new physical and psychological test. He has been preparing through group rides, indoor training sessions, nutrition planning and workshops focused on injury prevention, descending and other skills needed to complete the journey safely.
But Gal knows the difficulty he will experience on the bicycle is slight compared with what cancer patients and their families endure.
“Riding 600 miles is the least I can do,” he said. “It sounds excruciating and grueling, but for somebody going through chemo, the pain is minimal compared to what some of these people go through.”
The ride also gives Gal an opportunity to offer the backing he wishes he could have given to his brother, Amir.
“I wasn’t able to provide him that support,” Gal said. “But, if I can even contribute an iota of a percentage to helping support an organization that maybe eventually will find a cure for this, then I will do whatever I can.”