In June of this year I rode my bicycle 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 7 days...
CP’s Big Adventure
All the feels!
When the annual California AIDSRide (CAR) first began in 1994 I pledged to myself that I would do the ride. 20 years later I finally did just that and participated in what is now known as the AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) ride.
Little did I know the range of emotions that would take place on the journey.
Committment
As a long time commuter with an 18 year old Specialized mountain bike I knew one of the first things I needed to do was to invest in a road bike. In April of 2013 I purchased a Raleigh Revenio Carbon 1.0 from Mike’s Bikes and gave myself a couple of months to see if I was up to long rides. After several 30-40 mile rides, I felt ready to make the big commitment and sign up. I was following the 2013 ride as it unfolded in June, monitoring InstaGram, twitter, etc and was so inspired by the excitement of the riders that I paid my sign-up fee and was assigned rider number 1320 for the 2014 ride.
Dedication
I continued riding on my own and with a neighborhood group that I formed and in September learned of our local ALC training group led by Training Ride Leaders (TRLs) Matthew, Jon, Craig and Bear. Our first training ride was an easy 20 miles on the American River Trail meeting at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. The group rode 10 miles towards Sacramento and then turned back to Nimbus. Since I was already doing longer rides I did not turn around at the 10 mile point, instead continuing home to Natomas, 30 miles. We continued with official ALC training rides nearly every weekend after that, holidays excepted.
Please?
I was always good at writing a check for this fundraiser or that. I was never very good at asking for money. That changed. I became shameless in finding different ways to mention I was riding ALC and would you like to support me? I even did a Facebook fundraising ask off the death of Westboro Baptist Church founder, Fred Phelps. I said I didn’t want to malign the dead but if anyone wanted to make a donation in his ‘honor’ as a little poke in the eye…. well I raised $150 dollars that day. Don’t be afraid to make the ask. I ended up raising over $5300 and earned the $5K Fundraising jersey incentive. I’ve never been more proud of my friends and family for helping me reach that goal.
Despair
In mid-December we did a 45 mile ride with the first real hills to climb from Nimbus up to Newcastle and back. On the return, about 5 miles from the finish, I began to experience some pain in my left knee, but pushed on. I was unable to ride up the last hill into Nimbus and ended up walking that hill, then coasted to the car. Once I got off the bike the pain was gone so I thought just some training pain. No pain no gain… right? Wrong, I did a few rides on my own during the holidays but the pain kept coming back after 15 miles or so. In January I took my bike in for a professional bike fitting which helped but I was still experiencing pain, only at the 25-30 mile point. I also went to the doctor who felt outwardly that nothing was wrong and told me to take a few weeks off and prescribed a session with a physical therapist. PT was great and I was somewhat compliant, but… probably not the best patient. After a 3 week break, I resumed riding and was still feeling pain, so I returned to the doctor and this time he took an x-ray which again turned up nothing. This time he gave me a cortisone shot which seemed to help but I was still only able to ride at most 40 miles before the pain returned. I was really starting to doubt my ability to do the ride.
Hope
Finally, I read about a type of pedal that helped others who were experiencing the type of pain I was having. So I invested in a pair of Speedplay pedals that allow the ball of your foot to ‘float’ or swivel where it clips into the pedal up to 25%. Night and day!! I installed the pedals on a Friday night before a 55 mile ride on Saturday with hills. It was amazing. I powered up those hills with no pain and other than occasional twinges which I chalk up to being 56 years old, the pain never returned.
Excitement
Finally I was back on track and feeling confident in my ability to complete the ride. There was so much to do, stock up on shorts, jerseys, sleeping pad for the tent. All the while training, training, training. “Wakey wake kids…” as my Facebook friends and family came to know was my shout out to the world that I was up early and out the door.
Tested
Finally, 2 weeks prior to the ride, came our last training weekend. Back to back rides of 102 miles on Saturday followed by 67 miles on Sunday. Both with hills. On Saturday, we were 20 miles from the end, riding into Davis where we would turn to go to Woodland and then circle back to Davis where we started the day. I told Craig (TRL) that I didn’t think I was going to make it as that last 10 mile leg from Woodland into Davis was into a fierce headwind. I told him I was going to shortcut the route and just head on to the finish point. Craig pointed out that we had a SAG vehicle (vehicle following riders to pick them up if they have mechanical or other problems like being exhausted heh) and it would be a tailwind into Woodland. Why not try to make it there, enjoy our planned rest stop at Starbucks and reevaluate. So I pushed on and after some kind of double chocolate double espresso frozen gift from the gods at Starbucks? I ZOOMED back to Davis without a problem. The next morning I didn’t think I had it in me for the 67 miles but once I got on the road I surprised myself and felt strong all day. After that weekend I felt tested and ready!
Love Bubble
Finally… the time to ride is here. We (my husband Mooney and I) carpooled to orientation Saturday May 31st with our friends Celeste and her husband Craig (TRL) who were also riding. Orientation was a blur of lines… check your bike, watch the safety video, get your materials, get your incentives, meet your 2300 new friends! After orientation we met up in the city for dinner at a Thai restaurant then off the the hotel. Up at 4am and off to the Cow Palace for the 5am opening ceremonies. Checked my luggage for the week and went inside for a full breakfast. Yay! I needed that energy. The mood was decidedly reflective and somber as we honored those we have lost while watching the riderless bike wheeled in by an honor guard of the ‘Positive Pedalers’ group. As the proceedings continued the excitement grew and happiness overtook the room when a record breaking total amount raised of $15 million dollars was announced. With that the big announcement, ‘The ALC 2014 course is OPEN!’. With loud cheers, hugs and kisses to our loved ones seeing us off we grabbed our bikes out of bike check and out into the misty foggy San Francisco morning... the Love Bubble was inflated.
Day One
Day one was tougher than I thought it would be with more hills than I expected but at 4:30pm I rolled into Santa Cruz and my first camp experience. Luckily my tent mate Barry was a fast rider and had already arrived and set up the tent. All I had to do was check my bike, grab my luggage from the gear truck and find campsite C55. Barry wasn’t at the tent so I was able to drop my gear and get settled in. I decided a porta-potty stop was in order which was one of my bigger anxieties. I’ll simply say it wasn’t as bad as my imagination had envisioned. Pro-tip… wear as little as possible and carry nothing, you don’t want to drop your phone, if you know what I mean.
Doubt
Day two… 109 miles! I did it! It took me all damn day but I did it. Rolled into King City at 6:45pm, 15 minutes before they closed the course. Day 3, quadbuster, monster hill, again, I did it! Even got into Paso Robles at a decent time. By now Barry and I had our camp routine down. He would always arrive first, set up and I would leave a bit later than him in the mornings and tear down. When I woke the morning of day four, I was laying there, sore, tired and grumpy and full of doubt about the day. Day four was the ‘evil twins’ with well over 3500’ of climbing over 88 miles. I was seriously considering taking the SAG bus to Santa Maria. I knew if I did that I still had to get packed up so I thought, one thing at a time. So off to get breakfast and coffee. Back to the tent and packed up. By then I was feeling better and thought well at least I could ride to rest stop one and see how I feel there. So off to bike check and to rest stop one. Dear self, don’t let doubt stop you from trying. You can do it. I found my groove and rode all the way and learned a bit about myself that day.
Joy
Day five was our shortest day at 42 miles and the most festive, known as ‘Red Dress’ day. It started out as ‘Dress in Red’ day and was meant to symbolize a red AIDS ribbon of cyclists winding through the curves on our way to Lompoc. As the gays are wont to do, it quickly changed to Red Dress day. I was in my red tutu and a plain white jersery which I had friends sign with a red sharpie, either wishing me luck or to memorialize someone they may have lost. The lunch rest stop was complete with a large dance space and disco music blaring. I skipped the last two rest stops after lunch so I could get into camp at my earliest time ever thanks in part to the small number of miles. It was my most enjoyable day in camp, even though the Lompoc camp was a horrible dust pit.
Sadness
Cycling is not without risk. On day four I had heard from my good friend Bob (sfbob here on Daily Kos) that his very good friend Edna had collapsed on the course at the tail end of day four with a massive heart attack and was very critical. It wasn’t widely known yet so he asked me to keep it under wraps. On the evening of day six, ALC announced that Edna didn’t make it and her husband Rich wanted to convey that she passed doing what she loved and lived for. It was her 13th year participating in the ride. Edna and Rich were in the campsite right next to Barry and I. I had met her before at ALC events while hanging out with Bob. She was a wonderful human being and Rich was always at her rear wheel encouraging her along. She is missed greatly.
Anticipation
Day six... rest stop 4 was another dance party on the beach outside of Ventura. You could really feel the excitement as the riders knew they were getting close to reaching our common goal. An Amtrak train rolled by full of commuters, I can only imagine what they thought was going on as we all danced and cheered the train going by. I was riding a bit faster and again reached camp at a reasonable time and was actually able to grab an impromptu massage right after bike check. I have to say, that was the most incredible massage ever. Barry was spending the night in a hotel in Ventura with his wife so I had the tent to myself for the final evening. What a treat to spread out and not worry about making noise and waking him up.
Candlelight Vigil
The night of day six includes a candlelight vigil for those we have lost and for those who live with HIV/AIDS. At sunset, everyone grabbed a candle and we headed to the beach for the vigil. The vigil really brings home why we ride. All of the anticipation, planning, training, asking for money, riding through the pain culminates in one of the most moving experiences. over 3000 candles flickering as we huddled in the wind. Slowly they begin to burn out and the crowd filters back to their tents. For me the vigil was dedicated to my good friend Michael Bryant that I worked with at Keystone Resort in Colorado who passed away in 1988. Friends Kap Soo Kim from Denver, Rio and Roger from San Francisco. May they rest in peace.
Finish Line
Up early and the last packing of the tent, breakfast, porta potty. I was very slow getting out and the roadies were giving last call to get on the road before they closed the course and put us on the SAG bus. Whew… can you imagine missing ride out on the last day after almost reaching your goal? I would have been wrecked. Not to worry, I made it onto the course. That was the longest 60 miles I think I have ever experienced anticipating seeing Mooney and crossing that line made the miles crawl. Our Sacramento folks regrouped approximately 2 miles from the finish so we could ride across together. Shortly before the finish line Mooney and our good friend Letesia were waiting to cheer me over. I stopped briefly for a hug and a kiss and I was back off to catch up to the group. What an amazing feeling to cross the line. It was all a blur and I wish there was a way to slow the experience down. We checked our bikes and went off in search of Mooney and Letesia.
I did it… I did it.
I finally found Mooney and we hugged, kissed cried and I could only say into his ear, I did it. I did it.
I’ve never been more proud of myself and my family and friends who supported me. In retrospect I should have said ‘we did it, we did it’.
Thank you again to all of my supporters, I really couldn’t have done it without your inspiration and support urging me on as I worked my way through the ALC experience.
Thank you to the awesome Sacramento Training Ride Leaders. What a great dedicated group of guys. You got us out there and back safely every time.
Thank you...
Oh... still here?? Oops! I did it again! I signed up for the 2015 ride and could really use your help if you would like to help support those living with HIV/AIDS. Thank you!
Donate Here: CP's Big Adventure - The Sequel