Hello friends. This is Cliff's brother Russ. I've been waiting to post something here until i got this photo scanned, but also because i haven't been able to read all the way through this outpouring of sentiment without falling apart. the photo is from the summer of 2005 when my girlfriend and i visited him in hollister. that's me in the tandem. on my 21st birthday (jan 20th 2001 the day bush was sworn into office) cliff and my cousin craig took me out drinking. my brother bought me my first Maker's Mark. after seven more we wandered out of the bar dissapointed that the whiskey was too good to make us sick. there was a huge blizzard that night. complete whiteout. we had a snowball fight and then craig called it an evening. cliff said we hadn't done things right unless we puked and he steered us to another bar for fucking margheritas. that did the trick. if you have never puked on newly fallen snow, both Cliff and I recommend it. Cliff tought me how to pick locks, starting in second grade when I stole the diary of the girl who sat next to me in class. He somehow made giving you the finger into the warmest gesture possible. you knew cliff liked you if he gave you the finger. Cliff is the one who told me that everything they teach you in school about drugs is a lie. and he was right. he was also right about your grades in junior high school being meaningless. who else will tell you these things when you need to know them? Cliff got me a nintendo in the late 80's when he realized that my parents wouldn't. he would not let me get left behind on a technology that defined my generation. cliff had an ipod case that looked like a tank tread. i have never seen anyone else with it, and it is overwhelmingly apparent that it is the best one ever made. the same is true about virtually every accessory i have ever seen him with. his bang & olufsen headphones. his watches, his coffee machines. his Russian imperial stout microbrew. his badass kevlar motorcycle gloves that he left at home when he stopped cylcling and i now proudly wear. everything. so elite. I have never felt a loss so profound. i really thought my brother was invincible. i am sure right now he would be arrogantly citing the statistics that prove how unlikely it would be for him to have died. this sucks people. this sucks real bad. I woud appreciate if everyone can send me pictures or video of cliff (especially with his voice), skydiving or otherwise. i am in the difficult process of scanning and collecting photos of him that i will make available to anyone who wants them. you can email me directly at 'magnumruss' on gmail my # is 9!74288456 thank you all for sharing what cliff shared with you. love russ
