Michael Andrew Dillon - "just mike" to those who knew him - passed away on December 2, 2020 from complications of gastrointestinal surgery.

mike would have hated this obituary, really any obituary. Bully for you, dad. This one is for us.

mike covered a lot of land in his 61 years. As the son of a Navy Captain, he and his family bisected the country a dozen times before he turned sixteen. He would go on to bike 3,600 miles from Florida to California in 2010. He set out solo, but returned with lifelong friends and a renewed appreciation for the beauty of our country and its people. In 2018, he biked the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, stretching 2,500 miles from the Canadian border to Mexico with his youngest son.

His adventures were innumerable: kayaking in Ellesmere Island, mountain biking in Moab, backpacking in the Sierras, motorcycling in Vietnam. On each trip, mike welcomed companions — new and old. It was as if, by sharing an experience with another person, he was able to immortalize life's beauty amongst their shared memories.

His deep appreciation for nature was shown in his commitment to environmental work including participating in the Enduring Ice project — a film exploring prevailing shifts in global climate.

For mike, it was always about the journey. He stopped to read historical placards on road trips, grabbed beers halfway through bike races, and always took the long route home just to see what was going on downtown. His cadence: steadfast and unique (both metaphorically and physically).

Throughout his career as general counsel of Adobe, Silver Spring Networks, Sun Microsystems, and ONI Systems, his motto was, "Get Shit Done". His method: personal, straightforward, and often in costume. He presented at an all-hands meeting costumed as a bumble bee (Ado-Bee - get it?) and addressed board members as a Legal Luchador (to thwart the patent trolls). He despised legalese and acronyms. He challenged legal departments to be fast-moving, collaborative, and approachable. In his retirement (or as he called it "re-wirement") he served as a board member of UserTesting.com and Adventure Cycling Association.

He excelled at beekeeping, growing dahlias, welding, woodworking, baking sourdough bread, weeding the yard, chipping away at the tower of books on his nightstand, cultivating more books for his nightstand, holding out hope for the Oakland A's, and creating custom playlists for every occasion. He failed miserably at growing tomatoes.

He kept lists: to-dos, gift ideas, interesting words, places he'd traveled, books he'd read, practical jokes he'd played. His practical joke list included four entries that began with "Gorilla suit", along with a hundred other entries ranging from "jar with fake dog testicle (lychee nut)" to "plastic wrap on the toilet (Mom was victim)". Victims of mike dillon pranks were always outraged, honored, and inspired to seek revenge.

Despite his illegible handwriting, mike was a published author of two books: Changing Cadence — chronicling his first cross-country bicycle ride, and Miles From Memphis — a book about fathers and daughters.

There was nothing mike loved more than his family. Liz, his beloved bride of 36 years, was his "WCC - Wife Command Central", his greatest love, navigator, and partner in parenthood. mike reveled in every moment of fatherhood: from embarrassing his kids with home videos during their birthday parties, to painting his toenails bright pink with his daughter, to writing notes to remind his kids of his love (although they were often spelled "clean your room"). One of his main points of pride and gratitude was his close relationship to his parents, brothers, niece, and nephews.

mike is survived by his wife Elizabeth Enslen Dillon, three children Declan, Emily, and Bryce, mother Lili Dillon, two brothers Kevin (Paulette) and Doug (Julie) Dillon, and in-laws Raleigh and Judy Enslen, along with thousands of bumble bees, a bubbling sourdough starter, and an appreciation for nature and adventure in so many of us.

In honor of mike's memory, the family asks that you make a contribution to the Adventure Cycling Association — an organization that empowers people to travel by bicycle.

In honor of mike's life, the family asks that if you see trash on the side of the road, pick it up. It's what mike would do.