So it is that time of year again. The first week of June is when the annual Aids Lifecycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles takes place. This year I was joined by 20 other Colorado cyclists on the journey. We raised close to 65k between us all which is a huge accomplishment during this tough economy. We all ride for different reasons, but the one thing we all have in common is wanting to make a difference in someone's life who is affected by this disease. I ride for my cousin Jay who lost his battle to this horrible disease 11 years ago. It is a great thing when you have 3000 people coming together and put forth such a great effort. This year the ride raised 11.6 million which is outstanding. I've already signed up for next year as have most of my teammates from Team Colorado. Anyone interested in joining us? :)
Here I am with my buddy Colin who dropped me off at the airport to get the journey underway.
My tent mate Peter and I once we arrived in San Francisco. We ate at this Irish pub right beside our hotel and had burgers. Oh gosh, they were so good. They put a fried egg on top of the hamburger and it was great. I had never had a burger like this before.
Thank goodness for bike techs. I do not trust myself to put my bike back together once it has been shipped.
Myself, Noah, Ruben and Peter on orientation day. So if it wasn't for Noah & Ruben I wouldn't have had half as much fun on this ride. We hung out all week together and they definitely made me laugh.
Day 1 arriving at the Cow Palace to turn over our luggage to the gear trucks.Here is Lorrie Jean who is in charge of the ride. I love how she says hello to the riders & roadies every evening at announcements. She makes this ride so much fun.
Here I am with some of my teammates from Team Colorado. From the left are Peter, Noah, Ruben, Eugene, Eric, myself & Jeremy.
Lunch stop #1 next to the ocean. Myself, Josh, Ruben, Eugene & Peter.
Another picture of some of us on Day 1.
Dinner anyone? Eugene and I standing in one of the many chow lines.
Noah, Eugene & Patrick at dinner. I'm thinking Patrick was a little tired :)
Ruben (aka Mushy legs), myself & Peter. The 3 of us flew in on the same flight and were standing around waiting on our luggage. This one lady asked us what we were doing and we told her we were cycling from San Fran to LA. She then looked at our legs and told us how nice they all were. She was standing next to Ruben and touched his calves which are huge. She then said his legs felt mushy & then the reaction on Rubens face was priceless.
So who has the bigger cabbage, Eugene or me? ha
Personally I think my cabbage is bigger.
The story of our week. Dead phones, no place to charge them. I took a multi jack this week and any time we found a charger at the campground we would take full advantage to recharge.
This is Chantal who I met charging her phone and computer on Day 2. Oh what can I say about this girl. She is funny as all get out and has such a potty mouth which most of you know I just love. She is a stand up comic and had us all laughing so hard about her taco & I'm not talking about food. The poor thing was beaten to death. :)
Randy, Peter & myself at the half way point. Woohoo!!!!
Is Miss Kitty cute or what? Randi is so much fun to be around. Here I am with she and Noah.
I think this expression is due to the fact that we are half way to LA. Yes!!!!!!!
My buddy Noah at the pit stop.
Here Peter, Randi & myself are with David from Los Angeles. David is good friends with my buddy Michael who just moved to Australia. We had a lot of fun getting to know one another.
Hello Riders, Hello Roadies!!!!! Here I am with Lorrie Jean. Noah and I had stopped in Pismo Beach to get a cinnamon roll when this lady on the street approached us. She asked what we were doing and we told her we were cycling from San Fran to LA for Aids Lifecycle. She then started crying and told us how much this meant to her. She had lost her brother 2 years earlier to Aids & talked about how hard it was for her to put her life back together after losing him. She talked about her 5 older brothers who turned their back on the brother with Aids and would have nothing to do with him. This was very sad to hear and I passed this story along to Lorrie Jean when this photo was taken. She talked about mine & Noah's encounter that night during announcements. I had heard plenty of stories like this while on the ride, but never one that was told to me personally. Both Noah and I were so glad that we decided to stop and get that cinnamon roll. It put things into perspective for us both and we are so happy we did the ride.
Are my teammates Taren & Katie cute or what? Here they are on Red Dress day. This was their first Aids Lifecycle and they kicked booty.
David, Peter, myself & Noah at a rest stop on Day 6. We had to kill about an hour waiting on the Hwy Patrol to close a bridge to one lane so that we could get across on Hwy 1.
Katie, Taren, Randi, Eugene & Patrick upon arriving in Galeto.
Some of Team Colorado enjoying lunch on Day 6. This was my favorite day on the ride.
I scream, you scream, Eric, Randi & I want our ice cream. Here we are in Santa Barbara enjoying free ice cream from the city. I just have to say that Santa Barbara is one of the prettiest places & the people could not be any nicer. They throw out the welcome mat and make all of us feel so special. It was such a great day.
Myself, Eugene, Josh, Katie, Taren, Eric & Randi enjoying our ice cream.
Oh it was good as we can all attest for.
Great shot of most of Team Colorado. Eugene, myself, Ruben, Randi, Eric, Jeremy, Josh, Taren & Katie.
Here we are stuffing our faces with In -N- Out Burgers. Oh they were good. Katie had never had one and I think she liked them as much as the rest of us.
Here Piggy, Piggy, Piggy!!!!! So this is my buddy Ruben who made the trip so enjoyable for so many people. He and I were constantly making fun of each other with how much we were eating on the trip.
HOW MANY EXPERIENCES DO YOU REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME?
