Ron's Log

Another AIDS LifeCycle Story

Pastor Laurie Manning from the Skyline United Church of Christ in Oakland tells her story of riding in AIDS LifeCycle 8 despite injuries.

Ironically, there was a great gift for me in becoming completely exhausted on the ride (from back and knee pain, lots of fear for the riders who fell and injured themselves, the hassles of camping in the rain, and my newly discovered allergies to Southern California pollen). I was wiped out, in body and mind, shaken and stripped down to the foundations, like a house trembling in a 6.0 earthquake. I was broken down, near the bottom of Maslow’s needs hierarchy. At times, I was focused largely on my own safety and security and my need for help. In the midst of this experience, however, I discovered the most amazing and beautiful thing…At various times, so was almost everyone else!

Somehow, something changed within me, and I believe in others too. Perceptions began to change. We started seeing ourselves and each other less through the predefined categories like age, job, gender, sexual orientation, race, HIV status, and more though qualities like kindness, trust worthiness, compassion, fairness, humor, competence, joy.

Many people on the ride, whether they were self-described religious or not, began to wonder what the world would be like if we all cared for one another and for those in need, the way the ride community does … if we were genuinely and continually dedicated to a better world. The kingdom of heaven, right here on earth.

Unusual AIDS LifeCycle Videos

SmileHero1 (real name "tony") rode AIDS LifeCyle 8, his (or her) first one, and did so with a camera attached to the back of his (or her) bicycle with a timed shutter release - once every six or seconds or so, I think. There are a few larger time gaps which are due to (I would guess) dead battery or camera malfunction. He (or she) then merged all those still photos into videos covering each day's entire ride. The resulting jerkiness may give you a headache, and I think I'd enjoy it more (as a former rider myself) if the camera had been facing forward, but then you'd see a lot more butts and a lot fewer faces. These bring back a lot of memories, and are a great way see California while sitting down at home.

His (or her) own website for this is at Smilehero.org. To get to each day's video you select from the little pulldown menu in the upper right corner that says "--select the date--." On that site you can type in the time of day to get a higher res frame, and you can request an even higher res image be emailed to you without the time-stamp on it.

Day 1 to Santa Cruz scampers by in only 9 minutes, 53 seconds!

Day 2 to King City - 8:41. On Day 2 the other riders have figured out what's going on and start hamming for the camera. This day includes the artichoke stop.

Day 3 to Paso Robles - everybody's going faster so it's only 6:35. The sun comes out. Quad Buster is this day.

Day 4 - no video - "had some issues," it says.

Day 5 - Santa Maria to Lompoc, Red Dress Day, 8:39. Most of this video was shot standing alongside the road, but there's a couple minutes of on-road video at the end.

Day 6 - rain - no video.

Day 7 - Ventura to Los Angeles, 7:52.

Gary's Got His AIDS LifeCycle Photos Up

Gary at the usual spot, the high point between Paso Robles and the Pacific.

I know it looks like cocktail hour and he's trying to use the tent to stabilize himself, but this is actually early morning in Santa Maria at the beginning of "Red Dress" day.

This popular sign is, I believe, the first one directly on the route that gives the distance to Los Angeles.

More of Gary's AIDS Lifecycle 8 photos here.

AIDS Lifecycle Includes Protest in Closing Ceremonies

The press release:

AIDS/LifeCycle
Leaders of L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation, with 2,150 Cyclists, Decry Proposed Cuts in HIV Funding at Conclusion of AIDS/LifeCycle 8

Participants in 545-mile trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles Raise $10.5 million

LOS ANGELES, June 6, 2009—Cheered by fans, friends, family and local residents, about 2,150 bicyclists streamed into Los Angeles today for the conclusion of the eighth annual AIDS/LifeCycle, a seven-day, 545-mile journey from San Francisco that raised $10.5 million for the HIV/AIDS-related services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

At the closing ceremony at the Veteran's Administration Center in West Los Angeles, the riders and 500 volunteer roadies from 41 states and 14 nations celebrated their heroic accomplishment. Led by San Francisco AIDS Foundation Chief Executive Officer Mark Cloutier and L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean, the participants decried the massive cuts in HIV/AIDS-related services in the governor's proposed budget and agreed to carry their message to communities across California.

"Elected leaders in our state government are poised to make massive cuts in essential health and human services, including $80 million for vitally needed HIV/AIDS services," said Jean. "We cannot allow them to balance the state budget at the expense of so many lives! We call on the elected leaders of our state to exhibit the same amazing compassion and courage that you all have shown over the past week, to appreciate the dire consequences of their proposals, and to fund the HIV/AIDS services that literally save lives."

Holding their helmets or hands over their faces during the ceremony, the cyclists and roadies represented the scores of lives that will be lost if legislators approve the proposed $80 million reduction in HIV/AIDS-related services—a roster of cuts which would deny life-saving drugs to low-income Californians, eliminate HIV testing, counseling and education programs, and turn the clock back on years of progress in fighting the AIDS epidemic.

"The proposed budget will put the most vulnerable Californians at risk and jeopardize the health and safety of communities we've long rallied to protect," said Cloutier. "The heroes of AIDS/LifeCycle 8 stand in unanimous opposition to potentially disastrous elimination of vital HIV/AIDS services."

The AIDS/LifeCycle participants ranged in age from 18 to 78 and included novice cyclists as well as event veterans, all of whom raised at least $3,000. They traveled through eight California counties, occasionally outnumbering the populations of the communities through which they rode. In many towns along the route, local residents applauded and displayed signs welcoming and encouraging the riders.

At the closing ceremony, actor Leslie Jordan, best known for his role as Beverly Leslie on the hit series Will & Grace, led a Riderless Cycle procession to commemorate all those lost to AIDS.

AIDS/LifeCycle's presenting sponsors were Shopoff Properties Trust, FedEx Corporation and Gilead Sciences.

Photographs from the AIDS/LifeCycle Closing Ceremony will be available for downloading at 8 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday, June 6 at http://www.aidslifecycle.org/press/.

Event photos and cyclists' journals can be viewed at http://experience.aidslifecycle.org. Additional information can be found on the AIDS/LifeCycle website at www.aidslifecycle.org/press-room/.

KABC 7 article here with news video.

AIDS Lifecycle 8 at Ventura

Yesterday I drove to Ventura to see friends and attend the candlelight vigil on the beach at San Buenaventura State Beach, which is the last night of camping for participants in AIDS Lifecycle 8. They'd had a bad day yesterday. They'd had some rain in camp in Lompoc in the morning, but when the route opened up some riders headed out onto the road before the weather turned worse and the Lifecycle organization stopped any more bikers from leaving Lompoc to begin the ride to Ventura. The weather did not improve. The permit they have from the California Highway Patrol has a limited time window for everybody to start riding. The window closed and the weather was still bad, plus there had been a motor vehicle accident out on the route somewhere (no cyclists involved), so CHP pulled the permit and EVERYbody had to ride the bus to Ventura.

There were 2,200 riders this year. The ones who had made it onto the road were asked, when they reached pit stop 1, to turn around and ride back to camp in Lompoc. The ride has buses along every day to handle those who can't finish the day's route, but they aren't set up to transport 2,200 riders (plus the usual 800 roadies) by bus. They were assisted, however, by the Lompoc school district. One of the riders was the principal of Lompoc high school, so he called in some favors, and the school district loaned several school buses to help with moving everybody along. Even so, it took all day to move everyone.

Everybody on staff kept pointing out that "this" had never been done before, and I suppose they were technically right if by "this" they meant an almost entire day cancelled due to rain in California. But there was that day on California AIDS Ride 3 when the ride was cancelled for a day, midday, due to heat. And, of course, there was the time I rode Texas AIDS Ride 1 when an entire day was cancelled due to rain.

I was in Ventura especially to see Gary, former Bostonian and first-time rider. I was also going to help him find a laundromat to wash and dry his stuff, but lucky him, some friends agreed to let him share in the nearby hotel room they had managed to get. It's called the "princess tour" when you stay in motels rather than camp out with everyone else.

I found him, I met his tentmate Zack, and I found Andy and Tim from Palm Springs. There were a lot of other familiar faces around camp, of course.

Gary at dinner.

Chicken Lady (AKA "Ken Thomason") has ridden California AIDS Rides 2 through 8 and every AIDS Lifecycle except #7. Last year he had a stroke and couldn't ride, but returned this year and was riding again. Other photos of Ken here.

There seemed to be a shortage of little wind protectors for the candlelight vigil, and this is the first time I can recall a breeze on that beach.

More photos here.

AIDS LifeCycle Donation Request

Many of my readers know Gary who used to live in Boston and now lives in San Francisco. He hosted me several times when I went to S.F. to start either an AIDS Ride or AIDS LifeCycle. He volunteered on the Boston-NY AIDS Ride. But somehow he has never actually ridden an AIDS ride. That will change in June when this virgin sets forth on AIDS LifeCycle, the bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Donations to support him will go to benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. When you go to the donation page you will see that highest pre-set donation amount is only $10,000 - but don't be disappointed. You can give more!

Discussion With Pallotta

A discussion (via comments) between blogger Sean Stannard-Stockton, Dan Pallotta and others about Pallotta's book Uncharitable and how lucrative the charity business should be.

Me and Dan Pallotta at the first Texas AIDS Ride in 1998.

Dan Pallotta's "Uncharitable"

AIDS Ride creator Dan Pallotta has a weblog, Uncharitable to promote his book Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential, which so far has six 5-star reviews (out of six) on Amazon. From the review by reader Michael Strong:

To my great surprise, upon reading it I find instead of earnest well-intentioned gobbeldy-gook - BOOM!!!! Gay AIDS activist meets Ayn Rand, with all the moral passion and intelligence of both. Dan is someone who has seen countless friends die and committed his life to helping to find a cure for AIDS, raising over half a billion in charitable contributions in nine years, only to discover that the philosophical constraints on non-profits and conventional attitudes towards charity and philanthropy shackled his efforts and prevented him from doing more. And then instead of simply walking away bitterly after these forces destroy his organization in 2002, he sublimates his passion into a brilliant analysis of how our existing paradigm of charitable giving and non-profit structure is itself the problem.

Oh, Dan

Lew Lasher points us to Dan Pallotta's piece on American Public Media's Marketplace. He speaks on the subject of charity, or rather charitable organizations and how they should be allowed to use the tools of capitalism.

On the one hand, there's the traditional view of charity: you give something either to those who need it or to someone who's collecting for those who need it. The usual expectation is that most of it goes to those who need it. Maybe he wants to change that expectation, but I don't think he'll succeed.

OTOH, you can run a capitalist enterprise and choose to give some (or even all) of your profits to charity. That's consistent even with super-Ayn Randian capitalism. But people will see that as a business, not a charity. Take the pharmaceutical industry for example. They do donate some drugs to those who need them, but can't afford them. So they're charitable, but no one thinks they're charities.

One can pick his spot in that gray area between traditional charities and charitable businesses and do his thing and make his money and give something to charity. No problem. Just don't whine when someone else disagrees with your name for that process: business, charity, capitalism, humanitarianism, whatever.

Mojo

Many people who were involved in the 2004 AIDS LifeCycle will recall Mojo, who was on the bike parking team with me:

Today I came across this whole set of photos of Mojo on Flickr.