More on the days to come...

Day 3-   QUADBUSTER and of course the BBQ lunch in the town of Bradley...  Quadbuster... a long hill.  Not steep but a steady climb.  Its actually one of the more fun climbs because all along the way there are people cheering you on up the hill.  Enjoy it.  The first time I rode,  I burst into tears when I got to the top as everything I had trained for brought me to that point. (little did I know I'd have more tearful goals reached that week).   

Day 3 is also the day we ride on Highway 101.  YES, THE FREEWAY.  Keep this in mind:  you may NOT pass another rider unless you are both well within the white line.  And the road on the shoulder totally sucks with deep cracks and buckles in the asphalt.  So PAY ATTENTION and listen for someone saying "on your left" because you'll need to move over to the right for them.  NO ONE MAY PASS OUTSIDE THE WHITE LINE. And if you are going to pass then SHOUT : "ON YOUR LEFT" BEFORE YOU GET TO THEM so they have time to mover over.

It's funny, once you climb Quadbuster you think your all done for the day.LOL!  Day 3 is usually a very warm day, right now it's forecast for 85 to 90 degrees so wear layers and plan accordingly.  

Day 4-  Paso Robles to Santa Maria:  This is the day we reach the halfway point in our ride.  The pull off for taking a picture with the "halfway to L.A." sign is on the left side of the highway so be extremely careful when you pull off.  Unofficially, many people stop in Cayucos for coffee (or if you get there 'round 11:30 you can have burgers and fries as it comes just before the lunch stop).  Also on Day 4 is an unofficial stop in Pismo Beach for World Famous Cinnamon Rolls.  I used to stop and eat a cinnamon roll and iced coffee so that I would BLAZE through the rest of the route.  Just remember that, THAT kind of sugar rush drops with a thud.. so make sure you still stop at each rest stop to grab a small snack.  

Thoughts per day...

Day Zero aka Orientation Day:  don't get there at the break of dawn, or even at 10am when we start. It's waaay too crowded and will annoy the heck out of you.  Come around noon or 1 (in fact be sure to eat first!).  The lines are the worst first thing in the morning.  Do, however, be sure to give yourself at least 2-3 hours to get it all done (depending on what your E-ticket says we still need from you).  Bring along some water too, not a bad idea to start pre-hydrating before Day 1!!  If you have additional donations to bring, then print up your donor forms (they're in your participant center!), make sure you have one or each donor and have them all filled out ahead of time.  This will save you from having to fill each one out while you're there.  And no, the pledge office will not do it for you. 

Day 1:  DO get there BEFORE the crack of dawn.  Give you bag to your gear truck roadie but make sure you have EVERYTHING you'll need for that days ride like:  your cycling shoes, gloves, sunglasses, water bottles, etc.

Stretch!

Eat something... you will likely get up at oh, say 4am or earlier?  You'll eat breakfast then and by the time we ride out (7 or so) you will be hungry again.  Bring a little snack (I bring PB& J sandwich) to eat just before ride out.

BE PATIENT!

Day 1 is the only day that all 2300+ of you will be riding out at the same time.  This means you need to pace yourself and do not get all hot and bothered about going too slow!!  I have seen many an accident happen in the first 12 miles of the ride because people get all freaked out about riding too slow. ... better to ride too slow than to not ride at all because of a broken collarbone!!  I'm SERIOUS!!

Stop to take pictures often!! For some of you this will likely be the first and last time you'll ride your bike from SF to LA, you might as well have some proof to show the grandkids!  

PACE YOURSELF!  it's only Day 1 and you have to have some energy for Day 2, which is one of the longer mileage days of the week!  The route does not close until 7pm (hint- the later you are, the shorter the lines are for the shower!). 

Think about this:  pack a little compact totebag (the kind that fold up into themselves- most sporting goods stores sell them) or a fishnet bag-- some small bag that will fit into your seatbag, or fit into your jersey pocket.  At the end of the day you can use that bag to carry your water bottles, helmet, gloves, sunglasses, etc with you without having to juggle it all when you go over to the truck to get your gear.  ALSO A GOOD HINT- PUMP YOUR TIRES NOW, instead of in the morning.  You WILL lose a little air over night, but not much. In the morning, the line for the pumps will be hella long.  Some folks wait until rest stop 1 to pump their tires, but its been my experience that even there the pump line is long (and they have less pumps to go around).  

Walk over to your gear truck, grab your bag and your tent (unless your tentmate already has) and find your spot on the grid.  Set up your tent.  It's easy and fast and if you ask anyone around you they will be glad to help, I promise!

Grab something to snack on from Camp Services (they will have all of the leftover snacks from the rest stops).  Eat something while you wait in line for the shower, or better yet- go eat first (dinner starts serving at 4 and goes til 9) and then go take a shower.  Again, the shower lines are shorter later.  But be sure to eat because otherwise you could bonk while standing in the shower!

Get to the dining tent for evening announcements every night at 7:30.  There will be information you'll need to know for the next days ride, as well as some pretty special announcements.

Day 2-  Especially TODAY, plan to get up EARLY and get on the road when the route opens at 6:30!!  It is Monday morning, and we are trying to get out of Santa Cruz along with all of the Monday morning commuters!!  Again, be PATIENT!!

Today there is an unofficial stop in Castroville for artichokes!  It is a tradition that folks stop there to have either deep fried or steamed artichokes. My advice? Go with the steamed artichokes.  They are ready to go, there are no lines for them, they are better for you and hell, they won't come back to visit you at mile fifty like the deep fried ones will....

Also day 2- an Otter Pop & water stop at the Mission Soledad.  Be sure to go in and check out the Mission, it is quite a beautiful place.  

Also to note-- the winds will likely be crazy:  headwinds, tailwinds, crosswinds and the rider in front of you breakin' wind... from those deep fried artichokes I tell ya!

more to follow.... I'm gettin' sleepy!

What? How? Where?

Keep in mind, this is my personal blog... my annoyingly picky comments are my own....

First off let me just say... most of the answers to your ALC 8 questions are in your Participant Center, or on the main page of aidslifecycle.org .  But here are some FAQ's I seem to be getting regularly these days:

1) What happens if I don't raise the minimum by Orientation Day? Well, you have some choices:  a) don't ride  b) put up a Donation Guarantee on your own (again- see your participant center for the details on the donation guarantee program) c) fund the rest entirely yourself (without doing the donation guarantee).  You must have $3k in your account on Orientation Day or you may not ride on ALC 8.

2) Do my donors get a refund if I don't ride?  No.  This is a fundraising ride, they are not "paying you" to ride, they are donating money to the SF AIDS Foundation and you needed to fundraise a certain amount of money to do this ride.  This is a tax deductible donation too, by the way.

3) If I have already made my minimum and I have more than $3k in my account, can I transfer funds to another rider?  Once the money is posted to your account, it is your fundraising dollars and funds not transferable. C'mon people, its about raising lots of money for a very important cause!!  Everyone should be working hard to raise their own money... 

However, if someone hands you a check made out to ALC...  you could consider giving that physical check to someone else... but just remember that anyone who donates money to YOU thinks that they are donating to YOU.  They will get a donation thank you letter from the Foundation thanking them for making a donation to XYZ Rider, if that money is not posting to your YOUR account then they will get a letter thanking them for their donation to that person you gave the check to... does that make sense?

4) How do I get a tent assignment?  Well, you can do it online if you raise your minimum $3k by May 15th.  Once you hit the minimum, a notice will show up in your Participant Center (there's that word again!)  If you have a tentmate in mind, then if they are at $3k too, you can do online tenting.  If not, then you will need to go to Tent Assignment on Orientation Day (aka Day Zero)

5) How big are the tents?  8' x 8' 

6) How do I get home?   You are responsible for getting yourself home from the Ride.  If you are in SF and want to ship your bike back to SF, you can do so via McCollister's.  Information on bike shipping can be found in the Travel Planner (again, that's in your Participant Center).  If you are in L.A and need to ship you bike up to SF for the start, again my suggestion is to use McCollister's.

7) What is Red Dress Day?  Red Dress day is a special day where all riders wear something red on Day 5.  With all of us riding the hills between Santa Maria and Lompoc, we look like one big red AIDS ribbon.  It's quite a sight!  Wearing red is not mandatory, but I will tell you the first year I wore pink because I didn't own anything red and I still felt pretty out of place!

8) Packing?  Your sleeping bag, pad (or air mattress) and all of your gear needs to fit into one bag that cannot exceed 50lbs (okay really its more than that, but do your gear truck roadies a favor and try not to exceed 50lbs).   It's easier if your bag is on wheels, but again not mandatory if you are ok lugging it from one spot in camp to another.  Each camp is set up differently so you never know how far your gear truck will be from your tent grid.

9) Weird things I pack?   A cheapie shower cap to put over my seat at night while its in bike parking.  Parking is outdoors so you will get quite a bit of dew on your bike.  Also I carry a little collapsible tote bag (it folds down to about 2"x3" and has a keyhook on it - sportsbasement carries them) that fits in my seatbag.  At the end of the day, I open up the tote and put my helmet, gloves, and water bottles into it so its easier for me to carry around... from there I go over to the truck to get my gear bag so I don't want to be trying to carry all of my crap in my helmet hoping that it won't fall out and be lost!

10) What if I can't ride every mile? Then get off your bike and take a sweep to the next rest stop and from the rest stop wait for the SAG bus to pick you up and take you to camp!  Don't hurt yourself trying to be the martyr and ride every mile.  You have already raised three thousand dollars!! you are already a hero!!

that's it for now... or at least all that I can think of for now.

Sample Fundraising Letter...

Here is a copy of a fundraising email I sent out last year, just after Tax Day... feel free to plagiarize whatever you need to finish up on your fundraising.

Hi Everyone!  Happy New Tax Year! (I'm sure you're now looking for a good deduction?)

Once again I will be riding 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in AIDS/Lifecycle 7.  This is my annual "annoy you to ask for a donation" email, the first of a few to ask for a (tax deductible!) donation to my goal of $5,000.

The past year has been a difficult one for my very good friend, Michael F.- who is a cycling buddy and also a Positive Pedaler.  After years of taking the same meds and maintaining a decent number of T-cells, and having the ability to ride his bike from SF to LA TWICE- he has recently had to be hospitalized and his t-cell count has gotten dangerously low.  He is now on a new cocktail of pills and they are hoping to get him on the mend ("and back on his bike too, damnit!" he says) soon.  

That is only one of the reminders of why I choose to ride each year.  Not only for those whom I remember, but for those who are the face of AIDS and HIV in my life.

Now remember someone you have lost, or think of that great person you know who struggles with HIV.  Chances are you know someone, or know someone who knows someone.  That is how widespread AIDS still is.  Young people in the U.S are at persistent risk for HIV infection, especially youth of minority races and ethnicities.

Your donation to my AIDS/Lifecycle Ride will go directly to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in support of the services it provides both locally and globally.

Thanks in advance for even considering it for a moment! 

Please donate here:

What to pack it all in....

This is the bag I have used the past 6 ALC rides.  Well, ok the first 4 years it was this bag in purple, and then the last 2 years it was this actual bag... with my monogram (Brown) on it!

Your bag must weigh no more than 70 lbs (but hey, please don't stuff it just because you're allowed 70lbs!) and hold your clothing for 7 days, your sleeping bag and your pad (thermarest or air mattress).  You COULD tie your sleeping bag to the outside of your bag, but with a bag this big you won't need to.

This particular bag is the Rolling Adventure Duffle from LL Bean.  In Extra Large, it is $99.50 so be sure that you are planning to use it a few more times to make it worth your while.  

Packing:  Start looking for 2 gallon ziploc bags.  I use 1 bag for each day of cycling clothing- my shorts, jersey, sport bra, socks and bandana.  At the end of each day, my stinky clothes go into the ziploc bag, and my clothes for the next day go into my sleeping bag so that my body heat can keep the clothes warm for the next morning, when I have to put them on before daybreak.  At the end of the week, the ziploc bags all get emptied directly into my washing machine (eeeeuuuuww!)

Wondering about more?  Stay tuned, or drop me an email to ask me!

To find out all there is to know...

We've scheduled many ALC Meet & Greets this month!  The first one this month is at the new Trek Store in Santa Rosa- Wednesday night 6:30pm.

Then, the next night Thursday March 5th we'll be at Mike's Bikes in Sacramento... with another in Marin at the Mike's Bikes in San Rafael.

And there are more, but its easier if you just take a look at the ALC Event Calendar to check out the dates and time!

We'll be reviewing everything you need to know about the Ride- logistics, packing,showers, shipping your bike to or from and much more so come on out and be sure to attend!  There will be only one meet and greet in each of the regions (North Bay, Sac, Marin, Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, and Santa Cruz)

Get all those questions answered quickly!!

If you are an ALC Participant with so many questions it would take a very long email to me.... try getting onto the ALC Discussion Forum!

There is a huge list of topics that have been covered throughout the years... and lately folks on there just trying to ask "What's the Ride like?".  Take a look, feel free to post a question because chances are you'll get several replies!

Before I was ALC staff, I was on there daily answering questions, posting my own comments and opinions.  Since I'm on staff I can't post, but my old comments and opinions are still there!  This Forum is for you, so don't hesitate in using it!

You can CLICK HERE to join!

That time of the year again....

If you want to really know what AIDS/Lifecycle is like, read The Ride:  How to ride your bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles without even dying  by Russ Mendivil- past ALC rider/participant ( now a staff member of ALC).

I met Russ on his first ride training for ALC 4.  From that time on he kept a journal of his adventures training for the Ride.  It is an excellent way to find out what training for the ride has in store for you.

All proceeds from the sale of Russ' book goes toward ALC.  You can find out more by going to The Ride Story  and I'll bet if you send Russ an email at meanolddaddy@aol.com he'll even sell you an autographed one.

It is truly an entertaining (not to mention hilarious) account of The Ride, and what you are about to embark upon.

.....no, really!

The Ride

Every year I start this blog all over again, talking about The Ride (AIDS/LifeCycle for those of you just tuning in) and giving pointers on how to approach it all. Things I wished that people had written about when I first started training to do my first Ride (ALC 2 in 2003). I have ridden the ride 6 times so far, so I think I have some good ideas about what to expect!

So let me think.... First off- if you can afford to, buy 7 pairs of cycling shorts between now and May 31st. You don't have to buy all seven pairs right now, but maybe a pair a month or a pair every six weeks or so.

There will be laundry buckets on the ride, where you can hand wash your laundry but keep in mind that a pair of cycling shorts with a nice padding will take longer than overnight to dry. In fact it will likely take about 3 days to fully dry out.

Have a birthday between now and May 31st? Ask for money, OR ask for cycling shorts. You can skimp on other things (like jerseys or socks or jackets), but shorts are the most important item (in my humble opinion).

Training Rides.  Start riding NOW.

In 2003, I began my training at the beginning of February.  I gotta say that was cutting it pretty close!  From the first weekend in February through the last weekend in May, I rode my bike both Saturday and Sundays.  Since I was about 25 lbs overweight, the pace was slooow  and I was out almost all day on both Saturday and Sundays.  I met some of my best friends on those training rides.  To this day we either all still participate in the ride in some form or another. There were 5 women and one very brave guy (Patrick Wilson, who is now massage team captain) and we called ourselves "Five Chicks and a Dude".

We all taught each other how to fix  a flat, and never let anyone get left behind (thus our "no one gets left behind" motto).  We have all seen each other at our WORST (think Day 4 aka "cranky bitch day") and at our BEST, and I remember that first year of training like it was yesterday.

Come out, ride a ride, make a friend and then the following weekend do it all again.  And if you're feeling lonely and want some company (and you're local!).  Give me a call, I'll come out and ride with you! :-)

A little of this and that...

Ok, I admit I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog, but I will try and do better now that things are a little less hectic! (HA!)
Today I rode with the Saturday CAT 2 gang (see pictures to the left). I happened to take a look at my odometer before we left and noticed that I had only about 8 miles to go until my bike odometer rolled over 27,000 miles!

It's not every day you get to celebrate the fact that your legs have taken you over 27,000 miles on a bike. That's like what? A time and a half around the world?