Days 6 & 7

Day 6

After a light day on Day 5, it finally felt good again to get back on the bike.  Not to mention a relatively leisurely morning of getting up at 5:30, taking a shower!!!, getting my sore knee and achilles freshly Rock-Taped, 600mg of Ibuprofin for the toe, a little stretching class (also part of the all inclusive services) to get everything loose and limber, a real breakfast (the eggs aren't real, of course, way too soft and smooth for massive batches of scrambled eggs but that's another story) and by the time I get packed up and am ready to ride, on the bike by 8:15 (which puts me in the last maybe 5% of riders heading out that day.  These dudes are not messing around with the schedule.  Everyone out by 8:30 means everyone, no exceptions, out, like not inside of the grounds at all, by 8:30, not a second later).

Anyway, its nice to leave a little later because the sun is out and you get less morning fog/dew.   We get a little bogged down at the first rest stop anyway.  We are preparing to come over the Gaviota pass and there has been a bike accident on the downhill side and highway patrol closed the road.  It does make me even a little more hesitant to fly down the backside given that it is one of the steeper descents on the whole ride with a narrow shoulder, lots of truck traffic and a fairly old road.  Especially now that we are all clumped into a big group (they are releasing only a few riders at a time).  Downhills are not my strong suit anyhow.

The highlights of Day 6 include an amazing unofficial rest stop in Santa Barbara known as Paradise Pit.  For the last 15 years, a man named Ron, has donated all you can eat ice cream with all you can eat toppings and a fresh fruit bar for all of the riders on the AIDS ride.  That's a lot of ice cream.  These people can definitely eat (did I mention burning 3500 calories a day on average) and usually its pretty hot by the time the riders hit Santa Barbara (not so much this year, but in years past, or so I hear).  Anyway, good ice cream, good toppings, and amazing to wash your hands with real soap and water instead of sanitizing wipes and gel.

I met a guy on day 6 who really brought home one of the nice aspects of the ride for me.  Jewish guy (I didn't ask, but it was obvious) from Long Island (like both of my parents) in his mid to late 60's (guess).  Riding with his son and his son's boyfriend (this guy, the father, not the son or the boyfriend, was a pretty fast rider and quite smooth with the hand signals.  Apparently he does a lot of Long Island and probably Florida riding) on their way to LA where he was going to meet the boyfriend's family for the first time.  His wife was flying in that night to meet him in Ventura and then the whole mishpucha was going to gather in LA.  Anyway, pretty open minded and cool of this guy to ride to meet with his potential future in-laws like this.  He said he thought this was the One for his son and he seemed pretty psyched about the whole thing.

Finally, the night ended with a candle light vigil.  Actually, before I get to that I should mention the speakers that spoke after dinner every night in the dining tent.   The three core speakers:  Greg Sroda (head of AIDS/Lifecycle), Neil Guiliano (CEO of the SFAF) and Lorri Jean (CEO of LA LGBT center) were all great.  Every night they told stories of different riders, past and present, or of their organization or about the fight against AIDS.  All were charming, eloquent, passionate and funny.  One of the nights, an LA congressman, Adam Schiff (28th district), spoke about his decision to come along on the ride with us.  He had been a key note speaker at the closing ceremony last year (his district includes the LA LGBT center) and was so moved and inspired that he joined for the entire 545 miles this year (including sleeping in a tent with a lottery chosen tent mate).  Pretty cool.  Anyway, there was also a little talent show after the speakers one night.  As you can imagine, there was some talent on display.  Everything from stand-up comedy to cabaret singers to a great rendition of Etta James' At Last.  Even a Jerem Eddy style solo acoustic guitar and song about the day a guy announced to his friends that he was HIV positive.

So the vigil was held on Ventura Beach where we camped Day 6.  It seemed to be at least 2000 people (maybe more, who knows, it was dark after all) each holding a candle inside a little wax paper cup.  The candles were lit by some giant nun-like gentlemen (Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence maybe) and we all stood in complete silence other than the ebb and flow of the waves on the sand.  Everyone was asked to think of people they had known who had been effected by HIV/AIDS.  Pretty moving.  Really intense to be in a crowd that large that is not making a noise.  

Day 7

So, this was it.  Last day on the ride.  Last day of packing up the tent.  Last day of hauling gear.  Last day of mediocre coffee and long coffee lines (I guess those aren't really going away.  We have plenty of long coffee lines here in SF).  Also, last day, with this crazy, incredible group of people.  Last day riding my bike behind guys covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings wearing only bikini briefs.  Last day with the New Bear Republic (and their Canadian contingent the Polar Bear Posse), the B-List, Team Popular, Team Unpopular, the Funky Monkey and Team Mary.  Last day of people cheering for me every 5 miles and encouraging me at every rest stop.  Last day of all the free Cliff bars and Pop-tarts and Gatorade I would ever want to eat or drink.  Last day of beautiful California coastline, farmland, mountains and ranches at every turn.  Last day of "On your Left" 18,000 times (that's the phrase you use when passing or hear when being passed.  It gets real real old although its admittedly quite useful).  It felt good to be finishing and a little sad to be done.

The last day was mostly riding down Highway 1 from Ventura to LA.  It gets pretty crowded down there especially on a Saturday so I took it pretty slow on the bike.  All kinds of gorgeous views to take in and appreciate.  Lots of nice houses down in Malibu to ogle.  Lots of car doors opening and surfers or other beachgoers getting in and out to carefully avoid and warn the rider behind you of.  I think our lunch break this day was at Pepperdine University.  I think.  Nice grassy field to lay around in one last time and stretch the tight and weary legs and slather on another layer of sunscreen.

We rolled into LA through the beach from Santa Monica.  Up a final hill and then a mile or 2 on San Vicente to the LA vet center.  Lots of people cheering as we came through the gates and up the streets of the Veteran Center.  Clearly this AIDS ride, and the money it raises, effects the lives of thousands of people…. and their friends and supporters are happily willing to come out and cheer in the riders.  As a rider, you definitely feel like you've made a difference.  I heard one of the Moto Safety guys who help direct and control traffic throughout the ride say to a rider when they tried to thank him…."NO, thank you.  You guys have helped many of my friends live longer, better lives".  And I guess thats what its all about.  All of the work, all of the infrastructure, all of the time, all of the discomfort…..

Final Stats (for those interested)
532 miles (we lost 12 because of heavy crosswinds on day 4, or so I heard)
14.1 mph ave (my odometer thing actually died on me on the second to last day, but thats what I was averaging before she went down)
0 lbs - Net weight gained or loss - all those damn mojo bars, sports drinks and all you can eat dinners
15,000,195 dollars raised, 70% of which actually goes to the beneficiaries, a quite high percent for the fundraising world as I now understand.  
2,360 riders or, in other words, room for another 140 of you to join us!

Days 2-5

Its not as easy to write a blog these days as some of you might think.....Most days we leave camp between 7 and 7:30 and we have been rolling into camp around 5:30 or 6. First you gotta park and unload your bike.  Then find the gear tent where you go fetch your tent and your bag.  Set up your tent and at least unpack sleeping bag and pad and hang up your sweaty bike clothes.  Then if there is still the energy go take a shower, which is pretty necessary after 8 or 10 hours of sweat and sunscreen and possibly butt butter and/or Vaseline depending on where you chafe.  Then you either go to dinner or to medical/sports med/ chiropractor or try to wash a quick round of clothes so they can dry before the sun goes down, depending on whether you need food, cleanliness or medical first.  I've managed to mostly go the food route, duh, although I do have a real soar knee and Achilles which I have had each taped once.  I've also managed to stub/hairline fracture my little toe while jumping a fence so that sent me to medical for more taping and ibuprofen every 8 hours.  I do love me some ER doctors.  So cool and casual and nonchalant. Use whatever you can find....toilet paper and some scotch tape....perfect.  And these camps are all pretty gigantic with each of these pit stops potentially as far as 1/4 mile apart.

Anyway, that's all to say that a lot has gotten between me and this blog, not even mentioning sleep and nightly entertainment at camp.  I've also had a few meals out with Mike, Kimberly, Kai and Soleil.  The highlight of which was definitely last night at Jocko's, a legendary oak fired steakhouse near Santa Maria where we stayed last night.  Thanks to Mark Denham for the better late than never suggestion. Big ass tasty nicely cooked steaks with delicious oaky smoke, salad from a bag floating in a sea of blue cheese, saltines and salsa, a random collection of pickles, giant baked potatoes overflowing with butter, sour cream and chives and pistachio ice cream with real pistachios and very fake super green flavoring.

So, now let's get back to day 2.  This was the ride from Santa Cruz to King City.  Started kind of wet in the morning in Capitola and down the Monterey Bay and into the afternoon as as we rode through the gorgeous fields of Watsonville and Salinas.  Sweet unofficial pit stop to eat some fried artichoke hearts at a cafe on the side of the road.  As you will see, I'm a big fan of the unofficial pit stop especially when food related.  

Got a nice taste of the southward tailwind and her amazing powers.  Not only do you go fast, you feel strong and invincible when she follows behind you.  Nothing hurts, no distance seems too long.  Anyway, I was feeling pretty good at this point.  My training seemed to have me well prepared and feeling strong.  I felt great on the hills.  Pretty fast on the flats.  I think I did a few of the sections on this part of the ride at 18-20 average which is a lot better than the 10mph I started at 6 months ago.

  There was a great rest stop called the Otter pop stop where a group of San Francisco bears wear tutus and throw a dance party outside of a beautiful old Mission (Soledad) in the middle of nowhere.  It's also one of the many places along the ride where a local person, in this case the cookie lady, cooks 3000 or so treats for us and hands them out at a stop on the ride.  Really really nice.  Kimberly took some great pictures of the Otter Pop Stop that someday I'll figure out how to upload.  And yes, they do give out otter pops.  

Another highlight of this day along the same vein was a tiny rest stop in Capitola, unofficial this one, where a local coffee roaster was giving out free coffee. Delicious free coffee.  With real unprocessed sugar!!! And real 1/2 and 1/2!!!! Soooo my type of rest stop.  I think it was called the ugly mug, or something like that.  I love them and would love to patronize their business.

The last thing to mention about day 2 (this was a long ass day...109 miles of riding) was the last rest stop aka the Bronies.  If you don't know about my Little Bronies, you should.  Look them up.

Day 3

Each day has a few little highlights. One guy I met called them Easter Eggs.  Little unexpected discoveries that make your day.  On Day 3 there was a great lunch stop in a tiny little town, I think called Bradley.  The kids and families of the town cook us lunch, burgers and carnitas tacos, again over oak wood,(this is a good time to mention that every park, big or small, in this part of California has amazing massive barbeque pits.  Huge things with cranks to raise and lower your grate and big deep pits for cooking with live wood fire. We need more of these in the Bay Area if you ask me) to raise money for their schools extracurriculars.  In this single day they make enough money to provide their little school with sports programs, art and music for the entire year.  With 2500 riders and about 500 staff and roadies each eating a $9 lunch, I guess they do pretty well (and it's a pretty small town).  

Another highlight of this day was an epic downhill on the backside of a hill known to ALC riders as the quadbuster.  6 miles of smooth downhill through some beautiful wine country.  Don't get much better than that.  My Bianchi got up to 49 miles per hour!!!!  My other personal highlight was a coffee stop(notice a theme here?) where they served delicious iced mochas.  Again, just what the doctor ordered when it gets up to 90 or so and your riding your bike for 9 or 10 hours.  I guess I should mention here that my biggest complaint about ALC so far is the quality and inefficiency of the coffee service in camp.  Powdered Starbucks Via served in individual paper cups with a line of about 60 people every morning.  Wait 20 minutes for some really mediocre coffee and fake creamer.  No thanks.  

So, day 3 is where I started to get a little taste of the tough side of the ride.  I'm not sure if it's because I didn't get to do too many multiple day training rides, or because I pushed too hard up quadbuster and her backside, but I started to get pretty soar around the knees and Achilles in the last 20 miles of the day.  Heat, probably some dehydration and a vicious headwind may not have helped much either.  Anyway, when I got back to camp that night, I had to head straight to sports medicine to see if I could get this knee situation resolved before the next morning.  The sports med team on these rides are pretty amazing.  They are just packed from 4pm - 9pm, 6am to 8am and on the road at the lunch stop from 11-2.  They each must tape hundreds of knees, ankles, quads and shoulders plus stretching people out and giving massage/chiro care.  And it's all volunteer.  Amazing.  Anyway, I got strapped up with some Rocktape, which I guess is some new type of athletic tape that does something I don't exactly understand.   I'm sure Drew Brees knows about it.  Speaking of which, I'm thinking that if I ever get to do this again, I want a custom black one piece zip up the front shorts with short sleeves and pockets in the back Lycra suit with a big gold fleur de lis.  In case anyone was wondering.

Day 4

This was our fourth straight 80 plus mile day, so people were getting a little cranky and bitchy (hence the name cranky bitch day).  I was definitely one of them as the day began.  Fresh off my knee and ankle taping, I was a little tentative at first on the bike.  Luckily, a couple of guys we had met the day before who were from Santa Cruz kept me company on the first segment of the ride (Kimberly started the day with a flat).  A nice couple...one a boat captain and the other a real estate guy who works for Amazon in Palo Alto.

We rode from Paso Robles to Santa Maria.  We crossed the border from northern to southern California.  It seems like we have definitely entered drought territory at this point.  Lots of yellow and brown hills and fields.  I've been starting all of the days in shorts and bike sleeves and this was the first day that I felt like I really had to pull the sleeves off.  

Coming back to the coast was definitely a highlight of the day.  We went up a pretty epic climb called the Evil Twins, the top of which is the halfway point of the ride, followed by another long smooth downhill.  This one ended with a beautiful view of the ocean around Cambria followed by a lovely ride down the coast through Pismo Beach and Shell Beach.  Really pretty coastline there around Morro Bay.  And, you know, I'm a real sucker for a nice stretch of pretty coastline.  I'd go so far as to say that's one of the reasons I'm riding.  Checking out a little more of Cali's lovely coastline.

Anyway, the day turned out pretty good. Especially ending with a big old steak at Jocko's.  Put me into a serious sleep coma too, which is a good thing because there is some intense snoring going on out here.  Like loud. 

Day 5

One thing I've forgot to mention....15 million.  That's how much this Ride has raised so far.  That's a record for the AIDS ride and some pretty serious cheddar if you ask me.  Anyway, I'm proud to be a part of it. 

Today is what's known as red dress day on the ride.  You can imagine 2500 people in all forms of red outfits from Wonder Woman to little orphan Anny to a team of riders in custom Sriracha skirts.  I went with a borrowed red tutu from Kimberly and a red vest.  I'd say I did just enough.  It was especially fun this morning as we rode through rush hour traffic in the town of Santa Maria.  We rode right by a high school where all of the kids and their parents dropping them off had to wait forever as an interminable line of bikers in ridiculous and fabulous red ensembles poured through.  Hopefully an eye opener in the best possible way.

Short ride today.  I guess they feel like we deserve a little break at this point.  42 miles.  The shortest by far on the ride.  Anyway, the highlights were a nice coffee truck from the Bay Area at the first rest stop.  A beautiful grassy lunch spot in Lompoc where the boys of Rest stop 4 (the same group who put on the my little Brony show) hosted a Soul Train Twister game.  And some nice views of 1000s of riders in their red dresses winding up some switchbacks in a beautiful canyon.  Oh, and a little rest and recovery and time to recharge the phone and post some blog writings....

Day 1

After only one day of doing this, Im ready to declare that its definitely not about the riding.  I mean we did spend a good 8 or 9 hours today sitting on our bikes, but that part, to me at least is just about putting one foot in front of the other.   Just keep pedaling. It's as easy or as hard as that.  

The most amazing two parts of this adventure to me so far, is either the people or the organization.  The people are just unbelievably nice and cool and supportive and enjoying themselves and happy.  Gay, straight, old, young, all pretty damn cool.  

Then there is the amazing organizational superstucture that is the AIDS/Lifecycle.  Everything from hot, fresh meals to mobile showering units, its all impeccably organized and right where you want it, when you want it.  Rest stops galore, each one manned by about 20 people who are cheerful, often costumed, and ready, willing and able to help with whatever you need.  Except breaking the rules....do not break the rules!  Ever.  Highly, highly frowned upon.

Anyway, the riding went well.  I got to knock a few more small items off the bucket list.  Rode my bike over 92, down the 1 and all the way to Santa Cruz.  All stuff I've been wanting to do.  Nice day.  Kind of foggy for the first half but the sun finally broke out for good around Davenport.  Got to say a quick hi to my friend Erik (erok) who's running the kitchen at the Davenport Roadhouse these days.

Otherwise, not too many reportables.  Kimberly and I are all set up with our tent, both have showered and were about to move on to dinner.  Food has been good so far.  I got no complaints....and as you all know, Im pretty complainy when it comes to food.

Here's a picture of me scarfing down lunch at San Gregorio State Beach.  Or maybe not yet....my tech savvy-ness is not quite up to photos yet tonight.