AIDS/Lifecycle 8, the long version
For those of you that like the numbers:
29:51.03 Time on the bike
501.9 Miles (60 miles short due to closure of Day 6)
17.02 Av Speed
21870 Feet Climbed
23432 Calories Burned
I will try to keep this as short as possible.
And I will probably fail.
Anywho
ALC8. What an experience. Quite possibly one of the single most rewarding, invigorating, enjoyable, incredible, indescribable experiences I have ever experienced.
Simply put, its a traveling community filled with good, solid people. Everyone gets along. Its basically a model of a perfect society. I just wish the rest of the world could learn from it.
As for the riding, my training was definitely a little on the hard core side. I finished inside the top 20 or 30 every day, twice inside the top 10. That felt good. But really, it's not the reason I did this.
I dont have much to say off the bat, so this will be excerpts from the journal I kept all week. Sorry for it being so long, but Im a horrible editor.
Pictures will follow, but there is some bad news on that front. On the morning of Day 6, we had a massive rainstorm and I woke up in a flooded tent. (My pajamas, pillow, and sleeping bag are STILL wet) and in this adventure, my camera woke up in an inch of water. I managed to retrieve the pictures I took up to that point, but I got nothing after. Oh well.
Enjoy:
Day 1, San Francisco to Santa Cruz. 81 miles.
The wedding the night before was awesome, and I got up to Dallas place (thank you thank you thank you thank you!!) at around 11 PM. Woke up around 3:45 AM. Took the advice of a couple folks that did the ride before and skipped the first two rest stops, getting ahead of the crowd. It was REALLY foggy in the morning, which made the short section ON 280 all the more stressful. Actually, it didnt, since I couldnt see anything.
Once we were over 92 and onto Hwy 1 heading south, I got comfy with this whole thing and started to push harder. Lunch was nice, GREAT food, and it seemed out of 2150 riders in the event, there were only about 40 or 50 at lunch. I was early!
Got out, stopped for pie while the pie lady was still setting up. Good stuff, and just in the right time! A nice little sugar rush heading into Santa Cruz was well needed.
Camp is odd. 2200 people = 1100 tents. All the same. Ive already opened the wrong one on accident. Good thing no one was home.
Its nice to see so many gay folks able to just be themselves. To not hold back because society is uncomfortable with them. And they do! I think I have seen every stereotypical gay guy. Havent seen any Republican Senators yet
Tent behind me, lady comments on how nice someones queen size air mattress is. Kid comments back, We have TWO Queens, but only one mattress!
Day 2, Santa Cruz to King City. 107 miles
The century. Awesome ride. Traffic wasnt as bad as I had heard getting out of Santa Cruz, but I got an early start and pounded immediately. Once again, I skipped Rest Stop 1 and 2, stopped for lunch, skipped Rest Stop 3, and stopped at Rest Stop 4. Leaving that, I hooked up with a few riders and made the first train of the week. There was me, and tandem of a married couple from Santa Cruz, a girl who was fast as hell from Pleasanton, and a couple of guys. I felt good, so when we got to a few rolling hills before the long flat stretch in, I took off. Sprinted up a couple hills, had a good time. They caught me, and we drafted into camp together. Awesome.
News! Those ladies leg razors with the built in lube and moisturizer work pretty well!
Just saw a man near the showers WEARING a Sham-WOW! Yes, wow indeed.
Day 3, King City to Paso Robles, 63 Miles.
Quadbuster. What can I say? Im a mountain goat. 95% of my training rides consisted of me finding a mountain, riding to it, riding up it, and riding back home. So Quadbuster was really no problem. But I can definitely see how it can be very tough for a non-masochistic climber like myself. My heart definitely got going, and my legs really got some good work.
Hooked up with another train, killed some miles at 25 mph+. Really flying to lunch, which was a fundraiser in the town of Bradley for the school. I heard we raised $11,000 for them! Good food, too. Traded off drafting and pulling with an extremely strong girl from there for a while until we got to 101, which was bumpy as hell. I had a choice of vigorous, painful, rough road, or getting hit by semi after semi. I chose the bumps. Most of the time
Rest Stop 4. Ahhhhh Rest Stop 4. This time they were at Mission San Miguel. The Rest Stop 4 crew does a show each day, and this time they were flight attendants for Tran Air. Pics below. Brilliant. They also raised $2100 for the restoration of the Mission! Good job, boys! Er, girls?
Got to camp waaaaay early, and as I put my stuff down on my spot on the grid, it started to rain. Made my way to the trucks, which were just STARTING to be unloaded, so up I went, into the truck to help unload. Did that for about an hour till they finished, then went to set up the tent in the rain.
(Sitting in my tent with the front flap open) Someones tent just rolled past my door like it was tumbleweed. Ha.
Last night at dinner Laurie asked the crowd how many gay couple were able to marry last year in the short window when they could. About 20 or 30 very proud hands shot up, and that got a standing ovation. Then she asked how many straight couples did. Just 1.
The only thing bad about this ride is the incredible boredom. Finished the ride today at 11:15. Going to bed at 8:00. Thats a lot of downtime. At least this camp is set up over a very, very large area and it takes a while to walk anywhere.
These folks are absolutely incredible. They are some of the nicest, more compassionate, friendliest folks Ive ever met. Its just a joy to be here.
Day 4, Paso Robles to Santa Cruz, 94 miles:
Evil Twins. Owned. Pwnd. Took some pictured at the half way signs, and got one with Ginger Brulee. Then the 9 mile downhill. COLD. It was so foggy, my sunglasses were fogging up, and water was dripping off my helmet. Then again, I was doing 40 mph in it Pismo Beach, Cinnamon Rolls! Damn good! Ended the ride on a train with the same folks as Day 2. Seems I am settling into a certain crowd of riders around my level. Cool.
The amount of compassion around here is incredible. So many good, friendly people. They will do anything to help someone, no question, no hesitation. The tent next to me is being set up, not by its inhabitants, but by a complete stranger that noticed they had been getting in very late and tired. Quite a community.
Missed a lot of this conversation, but caught this: You dont know how the gays work! WE KEEP SECRETS!! No idea. None whatsoever.
The personal stories I am hearing are incredible. A couple of tents down a man had cancer and was given 3-4 months to live. 10 years ago. My next door neighbor was battling cancer, in the hospital, in March. IN the hospital. Thats less than 2 months ago, and now shes out here doing this thing for other people. Chicken Lady. Had a stroke before last years ride and his doctors said he would never ride again. Hes here. There must be at least 50 or 60 Poz Peds. Incredible. I cant imagine what its like
Day 5, Santa Maria to Lompoc, 69 miles.
There was once a kid who had a dream where 2 wolvers were fighting. He asked his uncle, an old Indian chief, about it, and this is what he said:
Inside all of us, there are two wolves. One stands for good, caring, love, nurturing, learning, understanding, compassion. The other stood for bad, greed, ignorance, self interest, hate. The two wolves are inside all of us, and they fight each other all our lives.
The boy asked, Which wolf will win?
To which the Uncle answered, Whichever you feed the most.
Day 6, Lompoc to Ventura, 85 miles (actually 28.6 miles)
Woke up a 2 AM to pee, that was the last moment of sanity in camp. Started to rain shortly after that, and did not stop. I woke up in puddles in the tent. My sleeping bag was soaked through, all the way to my jammies. And my camera was destroyed, temporarily.
Finally got out at 6:40, and they stopped letting people out at 7:15. The rain was just too bad. Flat tires everywhere. Helped change a few. There was a river running down the side of the road, and we could hardly see. I managed to make it up to Rest Stop 1, where they stopped everyone. We were there for about an hour before they announced the stage was being called off. We had the choice of riding back to camp in Lompoc or being bused back. I rode.
In the end, there were in excess of 160 flat tires. Everyone was soaked to the bone, and we had nothing to change into. Fortunately, the sun came out, so we just hung out at the park and sun bathed. I hung out with a few guys I was riding with in the previous days that turned out to ride the Dope Pedallers bike club. Fast, strong guys. We strung our clothing up on a jungle gym and ate lunch.
Finally got to Venture around 2:00, and I went straight to the beach. Then to In-N-Out. Then back to the beach. The candlelight vigil was this night, which was nice. Very powerful. 3000+ people walking in line silently to the beach to pay respects to those lost. Even being an outsider, it was hard to not get caught up in the emotion.
I dont know how to describe this experience. I dont think I can put into words what it is, or what it means. Its big. Bigger then me, bigger then us, bigger then anyone or everyone here. For some, its literally life or death. I passed by a woman on the side of the road today, all alone, holding a sign that simply read, Youre riding for me. Thank you.
I will never NOT do this again. I already feel like a different person, and when I ride into the Vet Center tomorrow, a part of me will be left there, only to be picked up again a year from now in San Fran.
EVERYONE should do this at least once in their lives. For three reasons.
1. Raise money and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Simply put. $10.5 MILLION is a good start.
2. The physical challenge. That was my first reason for signing up. Its hard. Very hard, no question. All the training, all the hard work leading up to the even, then the event itself, is incredible. The sense of accomplishment in the end, whether you finish every inch or get picked up every day by the SAG crew, is unmatchable.
3. The mental experience. I consider myself a better, more intelligent, more well rounded person after spending 7 days with this crowd, this group, this community, this traveling city. Absolutely, positively, incredible people.
EVERYONE should do this at least once. Period.
Day 7, Ventura to Los Angeles Vet Center, 61.5 Miles
Dry night, but my stuff is still wet. I had to sleep in a cold, wet sleeping bag in cold, wet clothing. Oh well, almost over!
Really got a chance to push extra hard today. I was in time trial mode, so the train I hooked up with after I skipped Rest Stop 2 was SUPER fast. We averaged around 25 mph all the way into lunch, which was in Malibu overlooking the ocean. Gorgeous.
Closing ceremonies were nice. It was a little different this year, from what I hear. They made a few comments of protest towards the state budget cutting nearly ALL AIDS funding, which would realistically simply kill a whole lot of people. There are things that can get cut, but peoples lives? Really?
And now its all over. Its a little weird to be back in the regular world. To be back in this constant barrage of advertising, of money, of greed, of hypocrisy. Buy this, buy that. I wonder how many of these people would give you the time of day if you were no in the process of buying something from them?
And the people. I just spent 7 days with 2700 people who constantly said things like Thank you, Please, Can I help, Are you OK, On your left, Good job, Excuse me, You can do it, What can I do Now I try to continue this, and nothing. Is it that hard to say Excuse me, or Thank you, or even make eye contact? I just walked out of the bathroom as a man was walking in. I said, rather loudly, Oh, excuse me! as I held the door open for him. He quickly scuttled by me with his eyes and head pointed to the floor. Sad
We as humans seem to be so caught up in our own lives, so absorbed in our own opinions, so self centered in our interests. Its becoming so hard, maybe impossible, for us to step back and do even a small thing to make life better in general.
Oh well. The only thing we can truly change is ourselves.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi, through Chicken Lady
I'm not going to link pictures to here. Just go to my ALC 8 Flickr album.
AIDS/Lifecycle 8 Flickr photo album
For those of you that like the numbers:
29:51.03 Time on the bike
501.9 Miles (60 miles short due to closure of Day 6)
17.02 Av Speed
21870 Feet Climbed
23432 Calories Burned
I will try to keep this as short as possible.
And I will probably fail.
Anywho
ALC8. What an experience. Quite possibly one of the single most rewarding, invigorating, enjoyable, incredible, indescribable experiences I have ever experienced.
Simply put, its a traveling community filled with good, solid people. Everyone gets along. Its basically a model of a perfect society. I just wish the rest of the world could learn from it.
As for the riding, my training was definitely a little on the hard core side. I finished inside the top 20 or 30 every day, twice inside the top 10. That felt good. But really, it's not the reason I did this.
I dont have much to say off the bat, so this will be excerpts from the journal I kept all week. Sorry for it being so long, but Im a horrible editor.
Pictures will follow, but there is some bad news on that front. On the morning of Day 6, we had a massive rainstorm and I woke up in a flooded tent. (My pajamas, pillow, and sleeping bag are STILL wet) and in this adventure, my camera woke up in an inch of water. I managed to retrieve the pictures I took up to that point, but I got nothing after. Oh well.
Enjoy:
Day 1, San Francisco to Santa Cruz. 81 miles.
The wedding the night before was awesome, and I got up to Dallas place (thank you thank you thank you thank you!!) at around 11 PM. Woke up around 3:45 AM. Took the advice of a couple folks that did the ride before and skipped the first two rest stops, getting ahead of the crowd. It was REALLY foggy in the morning, which made the short section ON 280 all the more stressful. Actually, it didnt, since I couldnt see anything.
Once we were over 92 and onto Hwy 1 heading south, I got comfy with this whole thing and started to push harder. Lunch was nice, GREAT food, and it seemed out of 2150 riders in the event, there were only about 40 or 50 at lunch. I was early!
Got out, stopped for pie while the pie lady was still setting up. Good stuff, and just in the right time! A nice little sugar rush heading into Santa Cruz was well needed.
Camp is odd. 2200 people = 1100 tents. All the same. Ive already opened the wrong one on accident. Good thing no one was home.
Its nice to see so many gay folks able to just be themselves. To not hold back because society is uncomfortable with them. And they do! I think I have seen every stereotypical gay guy. Havent seen any Republican Senators yet
Tent behind me, lady comments on how nice someones queen size air mattress is. Kid comments back, We have TWO Queens, but only one mattress!
Day 2, Santa Cruz to King City. 107 miles
The century. Awesome ride. Traffic wasnt as bad as I had heard getting out of Santa Cruz, but I got an early start and pounded immediately. Once again, I skipped Rest Stop 1 and 2, stopped for lunch, skipped Rest Stop 3, and stopped at Rest Stop 4. Leaving that, I hooked up with a few riders and made the first train of the week. There was me, and tandem of a married couple from Santa Cruz, a girl who was fast as hell from Pleasanton, and a couple of guys. I felt good, so when we got to a few rolling hills before the long flat stretch in, I took off. Sprinted up a couple hills, had a good time. They caught me, and we drafted into camp together. Awesome.
News! Those ladies leg razors with the built in lube and moisturizer work pretty well!
Just saw a man near the showers WEARING a Sham-WOW! Yes, wow indeed.
Day 3, King City to Paso Robles, 63 Miles.
Quadbuster. What can I say? Im a mountain goat. 95% of my training rides consisted of me finding a mountain, riding to it, riding up it, and riding back home. So Quadbuster was really no problem. But I can definitely see how it can be very tough for a non-masochistic climber like myself. My heart definitely got going, and my legs really got some good work.
Hooked up with another train, killed some miles at 25 mph+. Really flying to lunch, which was a fundraiser in the town of Bradley for the school. I heard we raised $11,000 for them! Good food, too. Traded off drafting and pulling with an extremely strong girl from there for a while until we got to 101, which was bumpy as hell. I had a choice of vigorous, painful, rough road, or getting hit by semi after semi. I chose the bumps. Most of the time
Rest Stop 4. Ahhhhh Rest Stop 4. This time they were at Mission San Miguel. The Rest Stop 4 crew does a show each day, and this time they were flight attendants for Tran Air. Pics below. Brilliant. They also raised $2100 for the restoration of the Mission! Good job, boys! Er, girls?
Got to camp waaaaay early, and as I put my stuff down on my spot on the grid, it started to rain. Made my way to the trucks, which were just STARTING to be unloaded, so up I went, into the truck to help unload. Did that for about an hour till they finished, then went to set up the tent in the rain.
(Sitting in my tent with the front flap open) Someones tent just rolled past my door like it was tumbleweed. Ha.
Last night at dinner Laurie asked the crowd how many gay couple were able to marry last year in the short window when they could. About 20 or 30 very proud hands shot up, and that got a standing ovation. Then she asked how many straight couples did. Just 1.
The only thing bad about this ride is the incredible boredom. Finished the ride today at 11:15. Going to bed at 8:00. Thats a lot of downtime. At least this camp is set up over a very, very large area and it takes a while to walk anywhere.
These folks are absolutely incredible. They are some of the nicest, more compassionate, friendliest folks Ive ever met. Its just a joy to be here.
Day 4, Paso Robles to Santa Cruz, 94 miles:
Evil Twins. Owned. Pwnd. Took some pictured at the half way signs, and got one with Ginger Brulee. Then the 9 mile downhill. COLD. It was so foggy, my sunglasses were fogging up, and water was dripping off my helmet. Then again, I was doing 40 mph in it Pismo Beach, Cinnamon Rolls! Damn good! Ended the ride on a train with the same folks as Day 2. Seems I am settling into a certain crowd of riders around my level. Cool.
The amount of compassion around here is incredible. So many good, friendly people. They will do anything to help someone, no question, no hesitation. The tent next to me is being set up, not by its inhabitants, but by a complete stranger that noticed they had been getting in very late and tired. Quite a community.
Missed a lot of this conversation, but caught this: You dont know how the gays work! WE KEEP SECRETS!! No idea. None whatsoever.
The personal stories I am hearing are incredible. A couple of tents down a man had cancer and was given 3-4 months to live. 10 years ago. My next door neighbor was battling cancer, in the hospital, in March. IN the hospital. Thats less than 2 months ago, and now shes out here doing this thing for other people. Chicken Lady. Had a stroke before last years ride and his doctors said he would never ride again. Hes here. There must be at least 50 or 60 Poz Peds. Incredible. I cant imagine what its like
Day 5, Santa Maria to Lompoc, 69 miles.
There was once a kid who had a dream where 2 wolvers were fighting. He asked his uncle, an old Indian chief, about it, and this is what he said:
Inside all of us, there are two wolves. One stands for good, caring, love, nurturing, learning, understanding, compassion. The other stood for bad, greed, ignorance, self interest, hate. The two wolves are inside all of us, and they fight each other all our lives.
The boy asked, Which wolf will win?
To which the Uncle answered, Whichever you feed the most.
Day 6, Lompoc to Ventura, 85 miles (actually 28.6 miles)
Woke up a 2 AM to pee, that was the last moment of sanity in camp. Started to rain shortly after that, and did not stop. I woke up in puddles in the tent. My sleeping bag was soaked through, all the way to my jammies. And my camera was destroyed, temporarily.
Finally got out at 6:40, and they stopped letting people out at 7:15. The rain was just too bad. Flat tires everywhere. Helped change a few. There was a river running down the side of the road, and we could hardly see. I managed to make it up to Rest Stop 1, where they stopped everyone. We were there for about an hour before they announced the stage was being called off. We had the choice of riding back to camp in Lompoc or being bused back. I rode.
In the end, there were in excess of 160 flat tires. Everyone was soaked to the bone, and we had nothing to change into. Fortunately, the sun came out, so we just hung out at the park and sun bathed. I hung out with a few guys I was riding with in the previous days that turned out to ride the Dope Pedallers bike club. Fast, strong guys. We strung our clothing up on a jungle gym and ate lunch.
Finally got to Venture around 2:00, and I went straight to the beach. Then to In-N-Out. Then back to the beach. The candlelight vigil was this night, which was nice. Very powerful. 3000+ people walking in line silently to the beach to pay respects to those lost. Even being an outsider, it was hard to not get caught up in the emotion.
I dont know how to describe this experience. I dont think I can put into words what it is, or what it means. Its big. Bigger then me, bigger then us, bigger then anyone or everyone here. For some, its literally life or death. I passed by a woman on the side of the road today, all alone, holding a sign that simply read, Youre riding for me. Thank you.
I will never NOT do this again. I already feel like a different person, and when I ride into the Vet Center tomorrow, a part of me will be left there, only to be picked up again a year from now in San Fran.
EVERYONE should do this at least once in their lives. For three reasons.
1. Raise money and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Simply put. $10.5 MILLION is a good start.
2. The physical challenge. That was my first reason for signing up. Its hard. Very hard, no question. All the training, all the hard work leading up to the even, then the event itself, is incredible. The sense of accomplishment in the end, whether you finish every inch or get picked up every day by the SAG crew, is unmatchable.
3. The mental experience. I consider myself a better, more intelligent, more well rounded person after spending 7 days with this crowd, this group, this community, this traveling city. Absolutely, positively, incredible people.
EVERYONE should do this at least once. Period.
Day 7, Ventura to Los Angeles Vet Center, 61.5 Miles
Dry night, but my stuff is still wet. I had to sleep in a cold, wet sleeping bag in cold, wet clothing. Oh well, almost over!
Really got a chance to push extra hard today. I was in time trial mode, so the train I hooked up with after I skipped Rest Stop 2 was SUPER fast. We averaged around 25 mph all the way into lunch, which was in Malibu overlooking the ocean. Gorgeous.
Closing ceremonies were nice. It was a little different this year, from what I hear. They made a few comments of protest towards the state budget cutting nearly ALL AIDS funding, which would realistically simply kill a whole lot of people. There are things that can get cut, but peoples lives? Really?
And now its all over. Its a little weird to be back in the regular world. To be back in this constant barrage of advertising, of money, of greed, of hypocrisy. Buy this, buy that. I wonder how many of these people would give you the time of day if you were no in the process of buying something from them?
And the people. I just spent 7 days with 2700 people who constantly said things like Thank you, Please, Can I help, Are you OK, On your left, Good job, Excuse me, You can do it, What can I do Now I try to continue this, and nothing. Is it that hard to say Excuse me, or Thank you, or even make eye contact? I just walked out of the bathroom as a man was walking in. I said, rather loudly, Oh, excuse me! as I held the door open for him. He quickly scuttled by me with his eyes and head pointed to the floor. Sad
We as humans seem to be so caught up in our own lives, so absorbed in our own opinions, so self centered in our interests. Its becoming so hard, maybe impossible, for us to step back and do even a small thing to make life better in general.
Oh well. The only thing we can truly change is ourselves.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi, through Chicken Lady
I'm not going to link pictures to here. Just go to my ALC 8 Flickr album.
AIDS/Lifecycle 8 Flickr photo album
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
Me, on the other hand? Well, the drum corp is playing for two local cycling events this weekend in Portland. A nice little bike fair/street scene called Cirque du Cycling which is a fun little family thing. Then tomorrow night is the Naked Bike Ride. They expect about 2500 naked cyclists to pedal a course around the city just after midnight. I'm serious...
Here's a little guidebook if you're hesitant about going commando on the road
Linky
Okay, not as fabulous as your accomplishment, but it's about as close to bikes as this girl gets.