(AIDS/LIFECYCLE) The FINISH!

Our riders are making their way to Los Angeles today. 545 mile bike ride? Check. Over $14.2 million raised?! Check. Experience of a lifetime? Triple check. Are you signed up to join them next year? Folks who register on today, June 8, using the code 'FINISH' will get $50 off their registration. Help us cheer and welcome our riders home!

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(AIDS/LIFECYCLE) Celebration and Loss!

AIDS/LifeCycle

Happy Friday! Want a re-cap of all the shenanigans that went down yesterday for Red Dress Day as our riders promoted HIV/AIDS awareness down the coast? Check out our Storify re-cap here: http://sfy.co/eKkb

Tonight riders will have a candlelight vigil on Ventura Beach after sunset to honor and support those who have been affected by this disease. The public is welcome to join us for this emotional event.

What has been your favorite day so far?

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(AIDS/LIFECYCLE RIDE) The Day we Ride wearing a Red Dress!

AIDS/Lifecycle

Today is Red Dress Day! Riders are prepping for a short 42 mile day and most of our participants are sporting red dresses to raise HIV/AIDS awareness as we ride down the coast to Lompoc. If you want to join in on the fun next year, today's flash deal code is 'REDDRESS', which save $50 off your registration for next year.

http://www.aidslifecycle.org/register Who's wearing their red today in solidarity?

Did you know that there are 1.1 million Americans living with HIV and that more than 1 in 10 lives in California?

After a long day of riding 97.7 miles through sprawling fields, seaside towns and ride-favorite Old West Cinnamon Rolls, we are safe and sound in Santa Maria. Here's a Storify recap of yesterday's century ride: http://sfy.co/dKWf.

Thank you all for your supporting words!

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(AIDS/LIFECYCLE RIDE) 20M Milestone!

Aids Lifecycle

When riders arrived in Paso Robles Tuesday after some strong headwinds, they were greeted by a giant "20M" sign commemorating the milestone that collectively since 1993, we have ridden 20 million miles in the fight against AIDS. Yesterday, we rode 108 of those miles recapped here on Storify: http://sfy.co/s89v

. Help us in cheering on our riders!







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(AIDS/LIFECYCLE RIDE) Day 1 and 2 Highlights!

AIDS/Life Cycle

What does it look like when 2,700 heroic people learn they broke a new fundraising record for AIDS/LifeCycle? Watch this emotional short video and you can experience the 1st day of the 7-day ride from SF to LA. http://bit.ly/13DbPfH

Day 1 is complete and we've made it Santa Cruz! Yay! We'll post a re-cap of the day first thing tomorrow morning. In the mean time, here's a recap of yesterday's Orientation Day: http://sfy.co/cK3Y

Day 2 highlights include the Otter Pop guys at the Water Stop at the Soledad Mission at mile 81.3. Aren't they amazing?


Today riders tackle the legendary quadbustaaaaa! Help cheer our riders to the top!

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(2013 AIDS/LifeCycle) AIDS/LifeCycle Participants Make History; Raise Record $14.2 Million!

photo credit: AIDS/LifeCycle.

SAN FRANCISCO/ LOS ANGELES—Participants of AIDS/LifeCycle 2013 began their 545-mile bicycle journey Sunday from San Francisco to Los Angeles having raised a record-setting $14.2 million to support San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV/AIDS- related services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. Their accomplishment shatters the event’s previous fundraising peak and establishes a new world record by nearly one million dollars.

“I’m absolutely astounded and enormously grateful for the 20-year fundraising record set by this year’s riders and roadies,” said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, “especially since the need for these funds has never been greater. Today we have the tools to stop the spread of the disease and to help people with HIV live longer , healthier lives, but the epidemic is far from over. The AIDS/LifeCycle community, which includes riders and roadies of all ages and from 18 different countries, is essential to funding the Center’s life-saving services for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them."

(AIDS LIFE CYCLE) Finish Line with $12.6 Million!

By: AIDS/LifeCycle Staff

 

It's with pride, joy, and gratitude that we celebrate our thousands of cyclists, roadies, staff, and supporters for creating this amazing experience, and making it all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles!

This year AIDS/LifeCycle has raised $12.6 million to support the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV-related services of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.

(AIDS LIFE CYCLE) "AIDS Will Not Be The Boss of Me"!

“So Many People Give Up When They Test Positive; But AIDS Will Not Be The Boss of Me.”
Erik Walton tested HIV-positive in 1989. On some days his major accomplishment was making it from the bedroom to the kitchen, as he was being killed by the disease that had taken over 300 of his friends. AIDS took the life of his best friend just 4 years ago.
It’s really rough because I think about him all the time. I miss him. He was my last friend from the 80s that was still alive. And he’s gone now.

Paul wanted to do the AIDS/LifeCycle to prove that he could do it, but also to remember all the friends he had lost, including Paul. Paul’s sister swooped in at the end to make sure Erik could in fact participate.

MORE. 

(AIDS CYCLE RIDE) DAY 5-24-Year-Old Rider Remembers The Night He Found Out He Was HIV Positive!

Many people wonder exactly what it's like when someone finds out he or she is HIV positive. Chris Richey, the 24-year-old founder of The Stigma Project, shares his personal experience.

I had never done a mobile testing unit in my life before. ... So I went in and the girl sat me down, she took blood first, I had to wait 20 minutes and she came back and said it was reactive. I think I went through shock at first because I had been tested a million times before and it had never come back that way and I was just assuming it would come back negative like it always had. And it didn't.

(AIDS LifeCycle) DAY 4-Riders reach half-way point!

 

Congratulations to the participants in this year’s AIDS LifeCycle who are now past the half-way point of their 545-mile cycling experience from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

They began Sunday in SF and will conclude on Saturday in Westwood.

And by completing this grueling ride, they will have raised over $12.6 million for a very worthy cause. To see more photos from the road, click HERE.

(AIDS LIFECYCLE) DAY-3: Gay Airman Randy Phillips Reflects on the 20-Something Generation and HIV!

You'll remember Randy Phillips as the gay Airman whose series of pre-DADT repeal videos caused a sensation on YouTube before he revealed himself and came out to his dad in one of them.

Phillips is currently participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to L.A. and spoke with I'm from Driftwood about perceptions about people living with HIV, particularly is own mom: She couldn't think of any, couldn't relate to another gay person who had had a normal life, who grew up healthy and had a successful life and a career and lived a long life and maybe got married and found somebody and possibly had some kids. She didn't think that's what my life would be like. She thought it would be absolutely a horror story and that I'd die 10 years later alone, a drug addict, from HIV.

(AIDS LIFECYCLE) Day TWO-Project RideWay!

The riders of AIDS/LifeCycle are able to find the silver lining in any situation - rain or shine. While delayed at a college auditorium in Salinas, waiting for the rain to pass, what are they to do? How about an impromptu fashion show with oh-so-stylish Mylar blankets?

Special thanks to Hartnell College for making their student center available to AIDS/LifeCycle and for making this fashion show possible!

(AIDS LIFECYCLE) Day ONE-Kickoff!

There is a traveling press corps following the 2700+ participants in AIDS/LifeCycle 2012 which kicked off yesterday morning in San Francisco and they have provided us with this cool video of kickoff ceremony and early pedaling.

We will be to be posting all week about this because I have a lot of appreciation for this event and the people involved.

It’s a 545-mile ride from SF to Los Angeles and concludes on June 9.

More than $12.6 million will have been raised in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

AIDS CYCLE Day 6: The FINAL Vigil!

The AIDS/LifeCycle journey is nearing an end as Cyclists pedaled their way through Santa Barbara (taking the time to stop for ice cream and cookies at Paradise Pit) and onward to Ventura where they memorialized friends lost to AIDS in a beachfront Candlelight Vigil.

 

Via aidslifecycle.org

AIDS CYCLE Day 5: Red Dress Day Photo Essay!

Karen Ocamb takes us on a tour of AIDS/LifeCycle's most festive day, "Red Dress Day".
Crossposted from lgbtpov.com:

Red Dress Day is one of the best traditions of the AIDS LifeCycle ride. ALL participants are asked to wear a red dress so that the riders look like one long strip of red ribbon from the sky – heaven, I suppose. Now this may not be the REAL story – apparently there’s a dispute. But it’s the one I like best. Here’s a peek at Red Dress Day from someone who wore a red tee shirt instead.

 Day Five, Red Dress Day on the AIDS LifeCycle, started before dawn as camp turned from a sea of blue to red.

AIDS CYCLE Day 4: The Experience!

Chase and Erick from New Left Media capture some memorable moments from Day 4 of AIDS/LifeCycle.

AIDS CYCLE Day 3: Young Man Calls Mom At Rest Stop To Tell Her He's HIV-Positive!

by Nathan Manske
imfromdriftwood.com

At Rest Stop 3 on the third day of the Ride, Kenny Norman approached the embedded Press Corps, which IFD is a part of, and informed us that he was about to call his mom to tell her for the first time that he's HIV-positive. He told me the decision came after having a lot of alone time to think about it while cycling and also the amazing community that's been surrounding him the past few days. He invited us to film his end of the phone conversation which lead to an incredibly emotional moment on the Ride.

AIDS CYCLE Day 3: Ride Brings Actor Chad Allen and Father Closer Than Ever!

by Nathan Manske
imfromdriftwood.com

Chad Allen arrived in the small town of Bradley, CA, early in the morning to wrap red ribbons and bows on the fences, bridges and light posts for the riders to see when they arrived for lunch. After lunch we found a field nearby and he assured me he already had a story in mind that he wanted to share. Just before we started filming, though, we were chatting about LifeCycle and a lightbulb went off in his head. He suddenly had a different story he wanted to share and I'm sure glad he did.