AIDS Lifecycle

A person once accused me of jumping on the hippie-cause-du-jour bandwagon. I’ll admit that’s partially true. I do send email about issues I find important. However, my latest cause involved a bicycle, not a wagon, and it was for 7 days, not for one. This bike also went 585 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It helped raise $4673 for people living with HIV and AIDS. It was one of the best things that I have done with my life. Now I’m waiting for some bitter person to tell me how lame I am because I donated my time and a LOT of energy to helping others. I’m not sure if I’ll laugh or feel sorry for them when it happens. It’s sad how clueless some people can be.

Anyway, I came, I rode, and my bike seat kicked my ass with every bump, but it was the most enjoyable butt whoppin’ I’ve ever had. I had a few problems with my bike, but I made it to LA with no injuries and lots of cool pictures. It was awesome. Something about hundreds of men in red dresses dancing to “YMCA” in front of the Casmailia General Store (Where? Exactly!) just warms the heart. There were quad-burning climbs followed by screaming downhill runs. “On your Left!!” is my new favorite phrase, and at the end of the day, it was all for something bigger than 1800 cyclists having a great ride. It's to really help people get the care they need; in the words of a poem that was written about the ride, it was to provide “another chance, another sunset” to those living with HIV and AIDS.

Like I said, I was the best thing I have ever done. I’m definitely going again next year, and I encourage anyone who has the slightest interest to do the same. A year ago, if someone would have told me that I would be riding a bike from SF to LA, I would have asked them to please quit smoking whatever they were smoking. But I friend convinced me to go. He didn’t convince me with words. He returned with an estatic look on his sun-burnt face that told me had experienced something I hadn’t. Then I knew I had to go. I bought a bike, raised the money, trained a lot, and had an awesome experience. Ironically, the coolness of it all seems to affect me more each day, and the ride is over. It was truly moving.

If you need help training, I’ll help you. If you need advice about bikes, I’ll tell you where to get it. I would be more than happy to help anyone I can experience the AIDS ride. And unlike Burning Man, it doesn’t suck!! Please come, the more the merrier!!

More details and pics to follow about the ride. For now, I’m rolling.