I have nothing to say

Nothing on my mind right now, no words to share.

So I think I will post some pictures from the ride.

- But FIRST a video from last year - highlighting events from the ride

A video from ALC 6, which was last years ride

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Some pictures form this year's ride

a picture from inside the Cow Palace - Opening ceremonies - in the corner of the picture is a cycling helmet with Wonder Woman on it, My Friend Emily's helmet


A partial shot of our sleeping quarters - Tent City


Our luggage trucks - every morning we load our luggage and our tents back in the trucks, and then we unload them at the end of the day in our new location and put our tents back up.


SUPERFRIENDS - we all have action figures on the tops of our cycling helmets - here we are unmasked
I was Green Lantern - it did not match my bike


My Friend Beau - His action figure is Animal Man - he had to have a Super Hero that matched his bike


My Friend John - His action figure is Superman - and his Superman matches his bike too, which is black & red


the ever present porta-potties - what funny is when you first use them you feel funny because you don't flush them - but when you get home you have to remember your not using a porta-potty anymore.


here am I standing in front of the Rock of Morro Bay - I had to stop just for a picture to send my friend KIM


this was RestStop4 the 4th and Final Rest Stop of each day - they go over the top to present new themes - that entertain and delight us.


the First Rest stop of RED DRESS DAY - it starts out, of course when people leave their tents in the morning and then we laugh all the day long...


Me in my Red Dress - I bought it at Ross two years ago, last year I wore red arm warmers and gloves but this year I thought I'd dress it up a bit, with white gloves, arm-warmers and pearls - I threw it away when I was done with it this year.


My Friend Luis and I, He had a red tutto on, which you can not see in this shot


And some others go all out - do themes with their friends - I think these are the St Pauli Girls


and sometimes action figures and movie characters come to life - Meet the Incredibles


Some people surprise other friends with recognition of their incredible feats - here they are recognizing and congratulating David Duncan for his tenth ride - that is my head sticking out


The Incredible Rest Stop 4 again - this is our version of Studio 54 - notice Andy Warhol on the Left


And well - here is an example of how well we can read after seven days on the bike

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and now another video from last year

and then a video from a roadies point of view

Experience the Ride!

7 Days on a bike condensed down to 7 minutes


View from my Handlebars from littlesteph on Vimeo.

Why I ride

The Ride is done

at least for another year...

We now rest, slowly unpacking and returning to our old lives that we might have forgotten...

We slowly become accustomed to regular toilets and showers again, learning to start cooking for ourselves and not having to get completely dressed to use the bathroom in the middle of night.

We clean our bikes, and think back at the days when we hated it... groaning every time we had to get back on it and ride to the next rest stop... getting used to eating indoors again, and our legs not groaning from riding day after day...

Slowly we pick back up our lives, looking at TV, and checking our email... we send out thank you and congratulations to roadies and our fellow riders - new friends that we met on the ride, we start to type up thank you letters and notes to send to our donors.

We upload our camera's into our computers and wonder why I didn't take as many photos I wanted, or why I took so damn many...

We laugh and cry, remembering moments that were personal, send emails to friends asking about people who were hurt on the ride, hoping that they are okay.

We wonder, some of us, will we do this again next year? and if we don't what about the year after that?

For some of us, one year is enough, for others, they never feel really alive unless they can connect to this big family of love that we call the Life-Cycle.

So we join the discussion boards and plan rides together, and once again we start to plan next year's red dress.

Training season starts in five months, and the ride does not end until AIDS does.

Day 7 - Ventura to Los Angeles

it is the last day, bittersweet, sweet because finally you get to get off that damn bike! Bitter, because this incredible community is done for another year.

The last day, we pack our tents one last time, and get on the road, you have made new friends, though some of them you won't see them again until next year, some you will see on training rides.

when we roll out there is relief, because it is the last day of riding, but there is a quietness too, for the sorrow of the parting that is to come at the end of this day...

At this time I want to thank all my fellow riders, thank you for the encouragement up each and every damn hill. I want to thank all the roadies for all the hard work , and support that you give us the makes this ride physically and emotionally possible.

I want to thank my spouse Cowboy, for being there, for putting up with me being gone on all my training rides and the incessant chatter about rides and bikes.

Most of all I want to thank my Donors - you made a difference this day - I may have rode, but you saved lives

Day 6 – Lompoc to Ventura

Red Dress day is over, some folks just throw their dresses away afterward, some are packed away, and some go to Goodwill.

Now get up and ride!
Day 6 is upon us.

Pack up your tent, and get on your clothes for this day’s ride. It will be cold in the morning like it always is, so arm warmers are the rule, maybe leg warmers too. Later if it gets warmer you stash them in the back of your jersey.

We head out from the Campsite on a back road that is between Highways 246 & Highway 1 – we ride for miles, slight upgrade and subtle down slopes, it all meshes together, finally we each rest stop 1.

Then we have a hill to climb, always after a rest stop we have a hill to climb that just the way it is. However after this hill, the down slope is a long one, and we ride until we reach the coast. Would be really nice, but we are on the Highway and picking up speed, the crazies pass “let them go I say” I’m all about getting there in 1 piece.

Finally we are at the coast and I can relax. We ride right on the highway there is wide shoulder here that are built just for riding bikes, it is great, though a little bit cold. Being the beach I want it to be warmer, after all that’s what us Northern California boys hear all the time, about the southern California beaches and how nice it is.

So we ride, into rest stop 2, it's on the beach, but the last two years it was chilly so I don’t stay long, I’m not tempted to get in the water. I’m all about getting on the bike and riding.

Somewhere before Santa Barbara, we head inland to our lunch spot. And we dine in the park, tables, which we haven’t had much of on this ride (for lunch) are abundant as well as regular rest rooms, oh we still have port-potties just in case you are missing them.

We have ministers, Drag queens, muscle boys, Dykes on bikes, heavy folk, old folk, skinny folk basically from every walk of life, and we all just love each other for what we are doing, and what it means. Last year, Beau’s partner’s parents showed up (he died of AIDS the year before) and I think all the riders and the fact that 60% were straight overwhelmed them.

After lunch we head back to the coast & Santa Barbara. Here it gets nicer, not real warm yet (in my experience) But, still it is awesome, the views and the houses. It is not hard to imagine living here on the coast. It is a nice ride, though one must watch for cars, as it seems the more expensive the car, the less the driver pays attention to their surroundings.

Going through town is a series of up & down hills, though none are really considered hills, just climbs, not the rollers, which I like, but a series of up and downs separated by stoplights.

Some people stop for coffee, and the like, but I’m always wanting to ride ahead for the free ice cream that is on the other side of Santa Barbara. I don’t eat ice cream very much, but while on the ride I can eat as much as I want, and it’s free. The city of Santa Barbara and an ice cream shop generously donate it.

After that , yes you guessed it, back on the bike once again, I always look for the Channel Islands when we are on the coast, but most of the time the fog prevents me from seeing them. Soon we arrive in Ventura, oh there is more sidewalk riding and the like before we get there, but the Candlelight ceremony on Ventura State Beach is the highlight of Day 6.

After we get into camp, and turn in our bikes, go to the hotel (I am always ready for a hotel on Day six and Cowboy is always there on day six) then eat dinner, we return to the campsite for the candlelight ceremony.

The Candlelight ceremony, first they turn off the camp generators and lights, then they hand all 2500 riders and 500 roadies a candle, then we all process to the beach in silent procession, lighting our candles as we enter the beach. Then we have a maybe a hour of silence (it takes that long for us all to get on the beach)

You have that time; to be alone with your thoughts, your thoughts of your loved ones, your lost ones, and thoughts for any friends that are living with AIDS – you have time to reflect on what you have done, what difference you are making in someone’s life, that maybe you saved someone’s life this week, that maybe you prevented someone from getting sick and dieing, that maybe you made helped pay for someone’s drugs this year.


Then we blow out our candles and return to camp to sleep. Tomorrow we ride again

Day 5 – Santa Maria to Lompoc

Red Dress Day

Yes I said Red Dress.

It started out as dress “red” day, but well, you know queens, it became “Red Dress Day”

There is this hill, that at the top if you look down, when you see the riders working their way up the hill it looks like a ribbon, so we thought if we all dressed red it would look like a red ribbon. So it was born.

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Now, go to bed, sleep and in the morning, everyone in camp coming out of their tents in red dresses, you laugh to see what outrageous items people are wearing. Some people have grouped together and have themes, like cheerleaders or the Minnie Mouse’s (Mice), some have long evening gowns. Even the roadies at the trucks and breakfast have red on. Even Ben, who only wears black, wears red this day, but he has not worn a dress yet.

The first year I just put on red tutu over a red tank top, but after awhile I felt like I was missing out on some fun, so the second year I actually went to Cross Dress for Less ((Ross)) and bought a dress. I tell you, that they only make the pretty dresses for the thin girls, and though I can fit into size 30 Levis, I do not fit into some of those pretty dresses.

It took me awhile to get over the fact that I was dress shopping and actually trying them on in the store right there in the aisle. The most embarrassing moment was when I was trying this dress on and this little old lady came up to me and asked if she could zip up the back for me, I had to tell her “Honey, this thing is not going to zip up” She laughed and said “And it is so pretty”.

So whatever dress you wear, you have to ride your bike in it, and Santa Maria is a small city, the first year, the Director of the LA Center told us this story; while she was in getting some coffee, she overheard a guy to say to another guy “Bill, you are not going to believe me, but I just saw a guy wearing a tutu, ride by on a bike”

So we ride out almost the same way we came into Santa Maria, our first rest stop is not even out of town yet, just a park on the outskirts, I guess we need time to check our dresses and make sure we can ride in them. But we all stop and take pictures of each other before we get going to far.

Then we head out of town and over hill and dale, to Casmalia, rest stop 2, and another fundraiser for their school, except this one they throw a dance party right there in the street. It is a hoot, and yes, even I danced last year.



After this rest stop, it is up a hill, and though it is relatively short it a bugger of a climb, but at the top, we are actually in Vandenburg Airforce Base (a back entrance), so sometimes, there are airman looking at all the guys in dresses riding their bikes.

At the top of this hill like the top of many hills, is a rider that brings an iPod, and a loud speaker, that rides up ahead, stops and dances for hours, to encourage you up that hill.

Ginger Brewlay is there too, and well as Mom & Dad, not my Mom & Dad, but a couple that lost their son to AIDS many years ago, and has been at every ride, every hill top and just express their love and gratefulness that people are doing something to spread awareness and stop the spread of AIDS. They like many others are a cherished part of the AIDS Lifecycle Community.

Anyway up that hill and down the other side, then it is up red ribbon hill, a long windy road. At the top, stop and look back – see you’re not the last. Laugh and ride on, soon it is time to stop for lunch, and then off again, it is short day only 43 miles so we are pretty much grouped together.

The ride this day is a relatively short day, 43 miles, so we get into camp early, and we relax, last year Cowboy and his Son showed up then, so we go out to our motel and then out to dinner. Then we go back to camp, to get pictures taken and see the talent show.

The talent show is not to be missed, these people have real talent, singers and dancers, however the highlight of this show is the people who have prepared a simple song or poem about someone that they have lost – the pain they still feel, and the closure that the ride has given them, the sense that they are no longer alone…

that this community understands and welcomes their grief with open arms.

Day 4 – Paso Robles to Santa Maria

Getting up out of Paso Robles is nothing special the roads are all good, there usually isn’t too much wind that early in the morning, the climb isn’t that hard, slow and steady going. Rest stop just where it starts to get steep, we rest and try to avoid going on, for the Evil Twins are next

Ah, the Evil Twins, we call them the “Evil Twins” because first of all there isn’t two of them, there are three, well maybe more than that I’ll let you know, but every time you think you have reached the top, you discover you haven’t.

That’s’ what makes them evil.

Once you finally reach the top, only short way to go and what do you know, there is a big open area where you can see the coast (on a clear day) and that is;

Halfway to LA

Halfway to Los Angeles - we joke that we made it halfway, might as well go on – I’m known for saying, “I’m over this ride, I think I’ll go back”

But we stop and take pictures, standing on rocks with the coast in the background – Long lines, everyone wants to get their picture taken, maybe this year I will actually get up on that rock myself.

Coffee trucks sometimes wait for us there –and fans that have brought us cookies and candy, it is really an unofficial rest stop.

After awhile it is long ride downhill, and I mean long, the speed you can get going is pretty scary, so I feather my brakes and take it easy. Sometimes there is a freaky side winds that can blow you about a bit. Once you reach the bottom, you head south, and that side wind if present is now a tail wind, so you can really fly.

Down the coast a bit is our second rest stop, last year it was Sailor Boys, nice, but as nice as the scenery is, we have miles to go before we rest, and the wind was blowing. So back on our bikes we go, heading south to Morro Bay. When you see the rock, we start heading inland; we are heading to the college at San Luis Obispo, where we have lunch. They have another fundraiser there that the college kids put on the supports AIDS Awareness & Prevention, on Campus is also a Memorial Grove.

After Lunch we head south & east to end up in Santa Maria. The roads tend to blur together after awhile, but after San Luis Obispo is where we get on the Highway 101 for awhile ((it is our second time really, we got on before Bradley (yesterday), but it were on the freeway for just for 500 feet)), and it is really scary when a semi goes traveling past you at seventy and there you are on a bicycle on the freeway, sure you are riding on the shoulder, but that shoulder has those bumps that are every 15 feet to wake up sleepy drivers, so cyclists try to ride in that 4 inch groove that is close to the edge of the pavement and the shoulder that is smooth.

After we get done with our few miles of freeway, we get back to the farmlands, we make a circuit of Santa Maria, and come in and get to camp.

Actually this day is longer than I’m telling you, it is our second longest day of the ride, and the last part of it is windy and dusty, we see Llamas and get terrible side winds. I hate this day, it just seems so long and you pray that a rest stop is soon. Once you actually get to rest stop 4, you are grateful, for that side wind turns into a tailwind. And though you have been on the bike for a long time, and are tired, that tail wind allows you to rest while riding.

Last year my brother came and picked me up before rest-stop 4. He came down to see the ride, and stopped and helped people fix their bikes, fix their flats, etc. After we checked in at camp (one must turn in your bike at the end of every day) he treated me to a motel room. I was so happy to get a shower, and to sleep in real bed.

We went to get dinner, and then watched TV for bit, then I fell asleep.

Day 3 – King City to Paso Robles

Quadbuster…

That dreaded hill itself, one long hill, though if truth were told; it isn’t that long or that steep. It just seems that way.

We start out in King City, and in the past, the roads were terrible, full of potholes and the roughest road I’d ever been on. But that is supposed to be fixed this year (I’ll report back later) this road is so rough that we worry about hitting the holes wrong and falling over or even worse bending our wheels.

Once we safely get past all that and are on the road, I always manage to hit a sweet spot in my riding, this road we are on; is straight and level, so I slowly pick up speed, soon I am fly by people I have gotten to know on training rides and over the years. - This is where I have picked up a reputation for being faster than some of the friends that I normally ride with. These long straight stretches where I can push and let the awesome bike that my brother loaned me shine.

Too soon we are done with this road, and we turn off facing west towards the hill itself. The approach to the hill is naturally uphill, and the wind blows against us as well, as if it was Mount Doom, know we are coming to conquer it. We ride, trying to wear ourselves out on the approach, but the rollers at the base say to us, “Come conquer me” so we ride, using our energy, then a rest stop appears, and we stop and rest, refresh.

The hill comes next – it waist for us, silent, and you see a long line of riders inching their way up the hill.

Hundreds of riders stretched out single file, pedaling one leg after the other. Push pull, keep going, keep going, you can do it. Slower riders, dread the sound of a stronger rider behind them, thinking that they wish you were faster, so they don’t lose their rhythm.

If you are a stronger rider, you must pull out into the road to pass a slower rider. Immediately you hear the call “Car Back” which means you must back pull into the line of riders.

Three-fourths of the way up, is water, do you stop or keep going, it is tempting to stop, and the first year I did. The second year, I said, “This mountain is not going to get me to stop, all the way with no stopping is my goal”. So I kept going, and at the top; Ginger Brewlay and cheering crowds.

We stop and congratulate each other – and we can’t believe our ears when we hear that Ben Armstrong has done the hill ten times this very day to encourage people up it. And there he is, riding down it one more time to encourage another batch of riders up the hill.

After the top, we ride down the hill, the backside of Camp Hunter Liggett, after we are level or it seems like level we have many more straight miles of long roads, the kind I shine on. So I work the bike up to 25 miles an hour, and ride, I zoom past other riders who are happy with 18 miles an hour.

All too soon, once again we start up the small little hills, none too hard, but enough to work your average speed down to 14 or 15 again. The day heats up, we arrive at rest stop 2, it is in this little tiny town place of 3 buildings of which two are for sale. We rest and we look for shade, after awhile, we get on our bikes and head south again.

Soon we reach Bradley; Bradley is a small town, but people of Bradley make the most of the ride coming through their town. Their school sells hamburgers and hot dogs, it is their biggest fundraiser of the year, and we support them by buying our lunches from them – we also buy t-shirts and homemade buttons from them.

Last year in Paso Robles, we learned how much it means to them; a teacher from their school came and talked to us at dinner. The day we ride through their town pays for all of the school field trips to museums; it pays for all of their children partial college scholarships. It pays for all their art supplies and sports equipment. The teacher was so grateful, that she cried – and that made all of us cry.

After Bradley, we get back on the road, and we have more farmlands and open fields to ride until we get to town.

Rest stop 4 is not to be missed – typically rest stop 4 each day is the rest stop you don’t want to miss – It is usually the last stop of the day, and though each rest stop (every day) has a theme and the roadies are dressed up in costumes – Rest Stop 4 is usually the most festive.

Prom Night, Hugh Hefner Playmates, Sailors, Merman/maids under the Sea, Dante’s Inferno, Cowboys, Leather, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc etc.

After rest stop 4 the ride into Paso Robles is a series of rollers that I just love. I can get some nice speed, and rest on the down hills – We ride into town, in Paso Robles we camp at the fairgrounds, so we have a covered eating area, which is nice for a change, no wind and warmer. However we are still in tents, usually this is the town where people start going out to eat dinner, they are anxious to eat something different and to be served, instead of waiting in line.

After dinner, after any speakers, is the first of our shows, the roadies have a fashion show that is hilarious.

Now, off to bed

Tomorrow,

WE RIDE AGAIN

Day 2 – Santa Cruz to King City

Yawn, Moan, God, I need to pee, what time is it?

3am, Argh, maybe if I lie here for a bit I will go back to sleep and I won’t have to get up to go pee.

Nope, I’m still awake, and I still need to pee, quick throw on some clothes, find your shoes and find a flashlight.

Quick turn on your outside tents lights so you can find your way back. My first year they were a gift, from a buddy, a little set of battery operated Christmas lights that were just 5 feet long, great for hanging on the outside of your tent. You would turn them on when you went to pee, so it was easer to find your tent on the way back from the porta-potties.

Now back to bed and in your sleeping bag, can you fall asleep? Wait what’s that noise, damn it the guy next door snoring, well you hope he is snoring. Okay get out your earplugs, pop them in and then sleep until 5 am.

Now it is time to get up and pee again, why, because you have been “hydrating” all day on the bike, so you have to pee all night. The first year, after a few days my tent mate called it my alarm clock. He’d say, “Don’t forget to set your alarm clock”

Now it is time for breakfast, you always have to decide if you want to put on your cycling clothes or head to breakfast in your regular clothes. If you out on your cycling clothes, you don’t have to change again, but you are a little bit cold until you get on the bike

So oatmeal and bacon, for me, sometimes I just can’t stand eggs, and on the ride I really find them disgusting. I need cheese and Salsa or Tabasco sauce to make eggs edible. So I’m just happy with lots of cereal.

Now back to the tent, back your bag, take down your tent and drag everything over to the trucks, are you still hungry, you can eat again if you are. I usually go back for more bacon and a banana; maybe some hot chocolate, really just a reason to not get on the bike.

Now it is time to go the bikes, check your air pressure, and pull off your seat cover, (shower cap otherwise you start with a wet butt) reset your mileage, and then go!

Our longest day, “The Century”, 105 miles actually, for some riders it is the first time that they have ridden more than 100 miles in a day.

But that isn’t what I think about as I do this day’s ride, this is hometown area. My Army days, grandparents & family, this is what I think about.

We ride from Santa Cruz to King City, and we go inland, skirt the coast near Seaside, then head towards Salinas. I went to basic training at Ford Ord, I also spent two years there later, every town we ride through I remember old times and old faces. We stop for artichokes, just like I used to before I would head to San Jose for the weekend.

I was born in Salinas, which is where we spend lunch, my grandparents lived in Gonzales, and as we ride the road that leads almost to Gonzales, and then turn off right before we get there I wonder is this the year I get off the road and go see it again?

We ride through fields, mostly strawberries now, potatoes and lettuce when my Grandma worked in the fields. I often wonder as I ride, are these the fields my grandmother worked in? Was she as bent over as some of these workers seem now?

When I visited my grandparents in the summer, we often would go to visit someone who owned or was the manager of a farm. I think about that as I travel by farms that look familiar. We also went to the junkyard, you could in those days, you never knew what Grandpa would find useful.

My grandfather was a garage-shop inventor; he solved many problems, using left over items. A lathe machine made out of an old sewing machine. A drill-press made out of something just as strange. Automatic screen door closers, 1 lever that would close all the screens on the patio at once, tables that would convert into chairs. He even figured out how to make the milk machine labeler stop if it ran out of labels.

We would have been rich if he had thought of patenting some of his ideas. But that doesn’t matter, it is family that I think about. How much I love them and how much they mean to me.

Soon though we are past all that, and it becomes another long ride.

Soon we reach the bridge, the bridge that if you’re early enough, you strip off all your clothes and jump naked into the water. (In years past it has always been warm enough, I hope so again) If you’re lucky no one will get a picture of your balding head from up above.

After you cool off, head back to shore and try to get your clothes on without getting any sand between your shorts and your riding parts.

Now up that hill, for the Cookie Lady is at the top, she started cooking 3 months ago to have enough cookies for all you riders. And you mustn’t disappoint her. Chocolate Chip, oatmeal & raisin, peanut butter too.

Where are we now I could not tell you, but somewhere between Salinas and King City, south of Soledad, on the back roads, farmland.

Rest Stop 3 is set up at a Mission, ice cold pops, and our regular snacks is all set up.

But this ride is about those we have lost to AIDS, so the Mission is setup as a sanctuary where the altar is covered with a white cloth where you can write something about your loved ones, sometimes someone breaks down, and hugs are tendered. It is a quiet time, time for reflection. Everyone coming out of the Mission is quiet, and reflective, and soon we are back on our bikes.

We ride on, more farmlands and fields, and finally we get to King City.

Tent City again, King City is usually windy so I hope you brought your tent pegs.

Shower, eat, sleep

Tomorrow…

WE RIDE AGAIN

Day 1 – San Francisco to Santa Cruz

You wake up wondering, did I set the alarm clock, what if I oversleep? What if I’m late?

Now finally, you are at day 1 – Ride Out. The Day you have been training for months

Finish stuffing everything into your bag, that same bag that you have packed 4 or 5 times, checking each time to see if you forgot something.

Well it’s too late now, what is in your bag that’s it, maybe you can stop on your ride through town somewhere to get that thing you are missing.

Damn it’s early (and cold)

Turn your bag into the truck, they will ask you;

Have your helmet, windbreaker, gloves, sun-block, sunglasses, shoes?

Once it’s on this truck, you are not going to see it again until you ride in Santa Cruz.

Now go check on your bike, what they won’t let you visit your bike? ARGH… But it’s okay everything is fine, breathe, relax, they will let you in a second, its opening ceremony time.

First year I did it, hot as hell in the that room with 1000 people inside, that all there is room for, but we have another 800 riders in the halls outside. Last year, 1000 people in the hall, with 1200 people outside, this year it will be 1000 people inside with 1500 riders in the halls outside, and we are not counting the people who came to see you off or the roadies. Its is just too hot and crowded in there for me, I wait outside.

After the ceremonies, we are released to our bikes, and we start to line up, check our tires, our gear, make sure our helmets and gloves are all on, fix that last minute flat, and reset your mileage.

Start to shuffle out, Positive Pedalers go first, look for your friends in the crowd, time to stop and take a picture? Quick, get on the bike, but don’t clip in, you’re not moving fast enough.

Finally you make it to the street, and you take a deep breath and you start out. Single file? Hah! Not for a few block anyway, we are too many for single file, but we try.

Watch out, we are still going to slow too clip in, watch for people falling over.

Finally, a few streets down (actually up), we are climbing a hill, but it is so slow and so slight you don’t notice, you are too busy checking out the cops (well I am). You yell “thanks” for them being here, for being out here, for supporting the ride. They are sitting directing traffic and it is cold, you are moving.

Thank the nice (hunky) policeman.

We finally get in single file, and slowly work our way out to the Great Highway (actually its called Skyline Blvd at this point) and we start on our first real hill, just a little ways after reaching the crest is our first rest stop.

First year, just a rest stop, last year they had the riders all cover their helmets with a red helmet cover, at the first rest stop you could write the name of a loved one on the helmet cover and turn it in, they were going to be used at the closing ceremonies. This year?

After the rest stop, we really get on the way. We ride up Skyline Blvd, and ride until we reach almost reach Highway 280, we then take a left, then a right and skirt the highway, then we ride up to Crystal Springs.

This is our second rest stop. It’s usually clear, so we while we are stopped, take pictures.

Then back on the road, Highway 92 awaits.

The first year after reaching the top, we stayed on Highway 92 all the way to Half Moon Bay, it was slow going and traffic was at a standstill the bikes were going faster than the cars, sometimes when skirting a big truck it was a bit scary. Naturally the Semi’s would give you as much room as they could, but the yahoos in their hopped-up trucks would not move an inch. The second year instead of going to Half Moon Bay we climbed up Highway 84, ten miles of sloped uphill, not a hard climb, but a long climb that seems to go on forever. (And ever and ever, we were not prepared, it wore out a lot of us, I had problems with my knee, later I found out it was because I had not been stretching my quads enough.)

After reaching the top, we take this amazing curving road that leads to the coast and comes out at San Gregorio.

What way are we going this year, no one will tell us.

After reaching Half Moon Bay, people would stop for coffee, and then get on Highway 1 heading south; we ride until San Gregorio Beach. There are lots of small hills, and amazing downhill’s, where you can get some amazing speed, but watch out for cars exiting the beaches, they don’t’ always see you.

SO SLOW DOWN, if you see cars on the right getting ready to pull out on the highway.

San Gregorio Beach was our lunch spot the last two years I assume it will be so again. Be careful where you place your bike sometimes there are sticker weeds that can give you a flat.

Lunch is packed lunches, usually turkey or chicken breast, Potato Chips, fruit, and the ever-present Gator-aide. We all look for friends to sit with, or if you can’t find anyone that you know, sit down with someone you don’t and make a friend.

Just a bit of sunshine there on the coast warms you up and makes lying down in the sun great, there is usually a little bit of breeze, so lying down is the only way to avoid that cooling factor.

After a bit of a rest, it’s back on the bike, and on your way to Santa Cruz. It is a beach side ride all the way until you get to town. Up rolling hills and long stretches of road. Usually the wind is with you, so it isn’t too bad of a ride.

Finally you arrive in Santa Cruz, we ride into town right on the main drag, oh not the beach Boardwalk, but the road that goes through town, it’s Highway 1, so now you are riding right next to cars and stopping for lights again, we start to bunch up and we wonder how much further to go?

After a while there are signs and people, turn this way and that, you are going in a big circle, but the second year you realize; it is to get to you camp the easiest way, the least amount of traffic.

Then you arrive, you weren’t first, and you’re not last. The fast riders are there, cheering you in, you made it. You are glad to get off that bike. You turn your bike in, and try to remember what the name of the row, is where you left your bike.

Then you see it for the first time…

A Sea of tents… all the same… (Well two different style tents) but 1250 tents all the same, set up on a grid, the only tent not up, is yours. Go get your tent and your bag, and then find your spot on the grid.

Set up your tent, and get your bags all set, find your clothes, and go to the shower vans, wait in line and then take your nice warm shower. Get all clean, and then go take your clothes back to your tent, if you forget anything at the shower tent, it can be found at lost and found later.

Now you are done, find your friends and go eat, eat twice if you feel like it. Stay in the covered eating areas to listen to camp announcements, good news, fun news, weather tomorrow, encouragement from the organizations we are riding for, words of thanks for various organizations that this ride helps.

Now it is time for bed, light and noise all done by 9 pm, for tomorrow…

WE RIDE AGAIN.

Day Zero Approaches

Saturday - May 31st

Day Zero or Orientation Day, first turn in your bike then – you did bring your bike? Now look lost and glassy eyed, get in line somewhere - they check you in and tell you stuff – like where you have to go next, and did you bring your Orientation ticket? If not go to another line and pick that up.

This list tells you what you have to complete, in order to ride.

Turn in your last minute pledges, pick up incentives if you have earned any, and fill out any forms you might have missed such as your medical waiver.

View the safety video, get your wrist band, this lets you proceed to tent assignment, if you have a tent buddy, look for him and then sign up together, get your handy dandy chain with your tent number and row assignment, and save your other tag for your tent, when you pick that up at the end of day 1.

It actually doesn’t take too long, but all the people, line here and line there, a makes a bit overwhelming. There are riders & roadies all checking in, all getting their tent assignments and greeting friends, hugs and kisses traded.

After 4 hours, yes 4 hours, it is all done. Then you can go home or to your hotel. Don’t stay up too late, but if you do, it doesn’t matter, most people don’t sleep that well anyway.

Ready to ride

I'm all packed, just waiting for a new pair of red cycling shorts to come in...

My brass discs are in as well, this year I had brass discs engraved for friends and donors that wished to remember someone.



I will wear these every mile of the ride and then mail them to my friends / donors.

I'm getting excited

Ride YOUR ride

We ride to raise money to help defeat this disease we call AIDS, but the ride itself, does not last for just 7 days.

There is training to do and volunteers that put lots of effort into making sure that everyone arrives safe and in good spirits, the ride itself is very emotional, for the riders the roadies and everyone connected with the ride.

I was blessed with this a copy of this email, from one of my fellow training ride leaders to his first year riders, and I just had to share it with you. If you are able, please follow the link and make a donation

There is a reason we say "Don't worry about riding EVERY mile, but rather riding every mile you CAN."

There are a host of reasons even the best of riders may not be able to finish a ride -- exhaustion, injury, dehydration, bonking, a broken wheel, torrential downpour, an emergency calling him away, a proposal from John Stamos, -- and it is frustrating to have to admit to ourselves we may have to stop for the day.

But it is the reason that you SET out to ride in the first place that really counts and counts far more, and that reason endures no matter what happens out on the route.

That reason is personal and only yours, and it will ride with you every mile you ride, and will rest with you even for the miles you can't.

Ride every mile you can, and when you can't ride anymore, remember the reason you ride and love yourself enough to take a deep breath and say "perhaps tomorrow."

"This is a ride not a race."

We say that ALL the frikkin' time, and usually we think of it as meaning we shouldn't kill ourselves attempting to out-speed one another on the route.

While that's true, I think there's another struggle we often have, not necessarily in comparing our speed with other riders', but in comparing ourselves as complete riders or even worthy people against one another.

It's hard not to do.

My first year, I found myself feeling ashamed of being outpaced by others, watching comrades I'd started training with become fast and strong and soon I'd never see them until the end of the ride, where they'd arrived long before I did and with more ease and gusto.

I remember almost hurting myself by pushing way too hard in order to keep up lest my vanity be bruised.

But the entire training process is also not a race, the whole experience is a personal ride of sorts.

We may start training with someone, then watch her develop faster as she takes spin classes or is able to make room in her schedule for extra training, or her tax return allows her to afford an amazingly lighter and faster bike, or her years of long-distance running pay off in learning a new endurance sport. That is HER ride.

On the other hand, my work life may explode during the winter months, a family tragedy forces me to miss weeks of training, I get lingering bronchitis that won't let me get on the bike for a month at a time, my bike is stolen and I have to wait a couple of paydays until I can afford a new one, I have an accident and the doctor says it will be six weeks until I can ride again if at all... and mean while I watch other new riders grow and develop while I wonder if I'll ever be able to make it at all.

But this is MY ride.

Perhaps it's in our culture to compare ourselves, but as soon as we hear pride or vanity complain that we fall short in comparison with another rider, or if we notice we are pushing ourselves dangerously hard to stay apace of someone who is stronger or faster than we are for whatever reason...

STOP… Breathe…

This Ride of ours, the Ride-with-a-capital-R, may be for all of us and for those we dream to help; but once you are in the saddle it is your ride-with-a-little-r, and it is for nobody else but your own wee self.

Nobody else is straining against your own beliefs and doubts for you to train.

Nobody else is juggling all your needs and responsibilities.

Nobody else has your constellation of aches and conditions and strengths and challenges.

Nobody else has made the commitment you have made for the reason you made it and against the odds you face.

Out on the road, nobody else is pressing that pedal for you.

Ride YOUR ride.

Do not try to ride anyone else's.

Alrighty then, my lovelies. I wish you all a wonderful May and I hope you're getting good and excited about your Ride. Perhaps I'll see you on another training ride, or at Orientation, or sometime on the road or in camp.

Feel free to stop me and let me know how your ride is going, how you're liking camp life, how you feel your training helped or hindered, what you think of my scruples in forcing you to ride such wicked hills and through such icky winds and rain, what you think of my hair, whatever.

Until then, good luck and good riding!

Mettle to the pedal,

kurt

The ride route

Well, this was last year's ride, and we are probably not going to go up Skyline this year, but it is mostly the same as last year I think!