Team Amici Veloci (and other TE'ers) do ALC 6

It would've been me! I'd've gone running out there and bowled Trek right over, scratched Menace, made the next 3 bikes crash, and generally caused all kinds of havoc!

I'm subtle that way... :rolleyes:

Honestly, I don't think I could've contained myself. (and if she went by and didn't see me, I'd go running down the road waving my arms and screaming and probably knock over a few riders AND a few cheering folks!)

I would like to see ALC someday. Even better would be to volunteer in sports med. We'll have to see what the future holds.

Trek rode part of the day, and now she's getting her foot worked on again.

How are Trek's spirits? That has to be so frustrating. I rode that ride back in '00 (I think) and had to sit out a bit due to heat problems. It was very mentally painful to watch the other riders come in as I was aimlessly setting up bike parking.

Knot, you should go see it some time, it is really inspiring. I still have a whole album devoted to that ride. You see things like your able-bodied truck driver with an HIV+ bracelet....and look at the fact that he is hoisting all your crap just so you can ride.

I just got off the phone with her, she's watching the talent show in camp. She's in pretty good spirits, honestly I think partly because I'm flying down to meet her in the airport when she flies home day after tomorrow.

It really bothers her that she hasn't been able to ride much, but I think she's having fun anyway.

She was telling me about a fight (ok, intense emotional discussion) she overheard between a couple who were trying to do the ride together. Like "staying near each other" together rather than "I'll meet you at the next rest stop" together. I think if my goal was to stay within sneezing distance of my partner, I'd rather be on a tandem. (and if my sweetie had a broken toe, she could spin and I could steam along and we'd make it)

Funny Trek story: (even when she's hurting she's still a hoot!)
She told me she was riding behind a guy who was giving great signals (car up, car back, slowing, turning, etc.) and he called out "bump" for a little bump in the road. She used the same tone of voice and called out "steel bike, doesn't matter".

She was wearing her TE Hill Slug jersey yesterday, and lots of other ALC riders really liked it. And she says she got to pass someone on a hill yesterday while she was wearing her Hill Slug jersey.

IM from Trek this morning. She did all 47 miles yesterday. Her broken toe hurt a bit last night, but is ok this morning. She'll check with the med folks, then try riding as far as the toe will allow, taking it ez as she goes. She reports that UK has so far ridden every single mile, not even walking the worst hills! :eek: :D

Trek sagged the last part of today, and has decided not to ride at all tomorrow. She's disappointed, but glad she decided to spare her foot from further injury.

She says other riders are hurt worse than she is.

She's also worried about Menace, because riding in the sag isn't the best thing for the bike.

When she gets home tomorrow, I will do my best to cure her foot and broken toe instantly. Really. Well, I might have other things I need to do first, but I will certainly work on her foot.;)

And meanwhile, her bike will be on its way to Chris Sulllivan. I'm sure he will be attentive as well.

We'll be seeing Trek and UK this afternoon at ride-in. Trek gets hugs from all of us and (probably more important) a lift to the airport to fly up to Knott.

Wow, Trek! UK!

Somehow I completely missed this thread and have only read it this morning - and its all over!

I am so impressed... multi-day tours... they are so beyond what I can achieve

Trek - it was great to read through your updates (Thanyou Duck for posting them)... I just wish I had been following this right through.

What a great achievement and very impressed with you for pulling out - a sensible decision but it must have been a very hard one to make.

Trust your foot heals quickly
:)

Congrats to each of you on a good ride! For those of you doing it for the first time, I hope your first ALC was as amazing as mine was. It was a truely life changing experience for me.

Sleep well and have good trips home!

I'm baaaaaack. More musings as I process all this stuff, impressions, sights, sounds, feelings and all. I'm bummed not to have ridden every mile this time.

But this is my 3rd ride and I did very well the previous ones, especially the year I tented with Bikegoddess, all but 10 miles :p .

3 cheers to UK who rode (and I mean rode, didn't even cross-train which I do a lot) every mile!! And hats off to all riders and crew. The ride raised a record 11 million dollars this year.

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Really. Well, I might have other things I need to do first, but I will certainly work on her foot.;)

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HEY!!!!! TMI! TMI! :)


Trek you done good.


V.

YAY to all you awesome women who did that ride!!!!! :p :p :p

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Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

YAY to all you awesome women who did that ride!!!!! :p :p :p

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More thoughts as they come....there's a lot of women on the ride :D I don't know the exact percentage. And the women all doing really well. :D

Day 1 UK and I were in AV gear. A women called out to UK from one of the passing SAG trucks "hey, I know that jersey!!" Someone from here or BJ. Maybe BJ because she didn't say "Amici Veloci my as*":p

Also Susan get ready for a run on the Hill Slug jersey. I wore mine on Day 5 (Red Dress Day). Anyway it was a hit, lot's of comments like
"I want that jersey! Where'd you get it?"
"www.teamestrogen.com"
Even got to have that conversation while passing someone on a hill :)

Trek, you done good, no matter how much or how little you got to ride. You were there for the others, both on the ride and not, and particularly your niece. You'll remember that forever.

Hey Trek- You rode for those of us who couldn't! I didn't know about a broken toe until I read this (when did that happen?). OMG that must have been quite painful. :( :( :(

You did your best and that's what counts! Even the local radio station up here (KCBS) had some news about the ride and the amount of money you all raised. They also had some interviews with the "positive pedalers"- and that in itself was pretty darned impressive.

CONGRATs on hanging in there. You are an inspiration! :D :D :D :D :D

Now get your foot healed!

I saw Trek 420 at orientation then lost her in the mass of lycra. Sorry about your toe, ouch! I rode it all, loved it all and I'm sad that next year I won't be able to ride (my daughter will be graduating at the same time).

ANYONE can do this ride, it is all about pacing yourself and self determination.

I had fast days and slow days, days with shoulder pain, knee pain and the usual pain in the behind. Used lots of chamois cream, sunscreen I wore red lace panties/bra outside my cycling clothes on red dress day. Took pictures with sailors, nuns, 1/2 naked Santas, prison guards. Ate ice cream, fajitas, hamburgers, bar-b-que, lots of apples and bananas, and lovely peanut butter. Yelled on your left as many times as it was yelled at me. Closed my eyes at the steep downhills, grunted on the uphills. Bled a little bit too. I've got a big bruise on my knee and my face is sunburnt.

On the last day, broke a cable and had to have the techs 'Mickey Mouse' my bike in just 2 gears so I could finish. I was not going to sag, it just meant I had to push myself a little harder.

What I enjoy most about this ride is the sense of community that everyone has. I wish the world was this way all the time. All of you should think about doing this ride at least once in your life.

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Originally Posted by velogirl

unless the system has changed, the messages get printed and put in binders and the riders have to hunt through them to see if there are any messages for them.

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Sort of. They have laptops at the info tent. Our amazing crew downloads your messages, burns CD's, puts those in the laptop. Then we log in with our rider number and can read 'em.

My last two rides when I rode much better it was fun to get the messages. When you're struggling .... it really helped.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bike Goddess

"They went up highway 92? Good grief. That's a busy road."

Hwy 92 down to Half Moon Bay is pretty dangerous as it is narrow in spots. Cars aren't very friendly to cyclists either so I suspect that is why they changed the route.

Also, Hwy 1 down to Santa Cruz is no picnic either due to the traffic. However, by doing Skyline, they miss getting a lot of publicity in Half Moon Bay and beyond. That was where I had my first encounter with the ride many years ago. I remember how touched I was by seeing all of these cyclists on their way to LA. I saw the ride twice this way and finally in '05 did the ride. It was a challenging week mentally and physically but I'm glad I did it!!!! (TREK was my tent partner that year!)

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BG, the reason we took a sharp left hand turn at the top of 92 which added another 9 miles of climbing :eek: was there was construction going on somewhere on the descent.

I saw one rider get to the top and he probably thought "alright, now we go down" and flew into the descent. Too far away for me to yell or wave. I don't think he climbed back up, think they went and got him.

I don't know if we gained any safety on this.

I heard of two riders injured on the detour. One who fell into a guard rail and the other a car crash, driver error. Driver was passing on the double yellow of course, saw a car approaching and got back to the right ... into the rider. Road rash of course and at least one of these cyclists got broken collarbone.

Thanks Trek for the clarification. Yes, skyline is so much more difficult (and you can certainly attest to that!)

Glad you are back safe and sound!

Thanks to ACG for your report as well. I was also determined to finish no matter what! Congrats to you!!!!

Would love to hear from the rest of the TEers who rode.

Congrats for being a part of the whole huge thing. I'm sure it was a HUGE bummer to have to sit parts of it out, but you were supportive to the rest of your team and I am sure they really appreciated it.

Great job!!

Hope the toe heals soon!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

Wow, Trek! UK!

What a great achievement and very impressed with you for pulling out - a sensible decision but it must have been a very hard one to make.

Trust your foot heals quickly
:)

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My bad. I broke the # 1 rule of ALC or any other multi day event for that matter:

:mad: Don't change anything 2 months before the ride.

Say you're training in Birkenstoks and Leiderhosen, and all around you folks are wearing Sidis and Scottish kilts. But the Birks and funny leather shorts are comfy training and worked fine on your previous rides.

I don't care how much you want to wear Sidis and how good you look in a kilt or how good they feel in the store, on training rides .... Don't change a thing.:p I knew better, my bad.

Funny observation:
Y'know how when you drive you have a spatial sense of the car around you? If you drive a truck, you have a sense of how big your truck is, then you get in a little car and you still drive like it's a truck? And vice versa?

Well, Trek spent a week on a bike, and when she started driving her car she still had that spatial sense of a bike! It was funny, but there were occaisional ummm, *thrilling* moments. :eek:

(she's a very good driver, I just noticed the "driving the big Pontiac like it's a little Mondonico" syndrome.):D

and calling out "on your left" and pointing out "bump" :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

On a sad note, there have been two crashes caused by families rushing onto the bike route to cheer their rider. (other bikers crashed trying to avoid hitting the family members)

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Those weren't crashes per se because of this just near misses. I noticed that Day 1-2 there were several riders whose families followed them. Those of you who do centuries and such know just how crowded and hectic rest stops can be. These same people would be;

:( parked near the entry of the rest stop causing congestion

:( walking in a group with their protective loving arms around afore mentioned loved one so that riders coming in, or trying to leave were navigating around what seemed to be a human wall of Mom, Dad, a rider and her bike.

Somewhere here we have debate on personal SAG vehicles. I don't think there's any place for it. Observe from a safe distance and let your rider ride.

There were at least two crashes I heard about that were the standard rider outa control going downhill too fast for his/her comfort or skill variety. One of those I think was Day 6. In terms of climbing Day 6 is the mildest. Less I think than even the short 47 mile day. We start with a 20 mile or so climb but it's the long gradual I could do this all day type.

But it has one very steep gnarly downhill.

I was already in the SAG but having done the ride before it's quite tough descent, and on a Hwy to boot. It's a bit of a canyon so you get the wind, plus gusts from trucks.

This is were I discovered on the last ride that I love my aero wheels but they act like a sail and can skip sideways :eek:

We picked up one rider, looked strong and experienced if muscles and gear and previous ride jersey are any indication :p and he'd stopped at the top, looked down, just not doing it.

A hard decision to make but a wise one given that he might have seen the crash.

or getting set to hop the pothole ;)

H&B
~T~

Trek - is the day six downhill the same as years past? If so, I remember it well. I got hit by some kind of bug, right in the ear. By the time I got to the bottom I was bleeding something fierce. There just happened to be a Medical Tent worker there - got me cleaned up and on my way. Ears bleed like madness from little bites/scratches!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

Trek - is the day six downhill the same as years past? If so, I remember it well. I got hit by some kind of bug, right in the ear. By the time I got to the bottom I was bleeding something fierce. There just happened to be a Medical Tent worker there - got me cleaned up and on my way. Ears bleed like madness from little bites/scratches!

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Probably, my route sheets are with my luggage which thankfully Duck on Wheels took back up north.

I can look it up unless they could not stand the stench and threw it out :)

The medical staff and all the crew are amazing and seem to be magically everywhere. The support and volunteer crew on this ride spoils you for any other event.

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Originally Posted by Trek420

...
The medical staff and all the crew are amazing and seem to be magically everywhere. The support and volunteer crew on this ride spoils you for any other event.

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Totally agree...I think it's a mutual love affair between riders and crew shortly into any AIDS ride. Just can't beat the camaraderie and general atmosphere: respectful of each other, passionate about the reason you're riding, full-on fun, each person is genuinely appreciated for whatever their job on the ride is...all efforts are necessary to get everyone safely to the finish, right? I just haven't experienced the same on any other ride, although I admit to only doing AIDS rides since 1997 and donating to many other causes/efforts in order to support friends.

Glad it was such an overall success; great job to the ALC contingent from TE!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trek420

Probably, my route sheets are with my luggage which thankfully Duck on Wheels took back up north.

I can look it up unless they could not stand the stench and threw it out :)

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Haven't thrown it out yet, no. It's still in the car. The car didn't stink toooo bad when I pulled it out of the driveway this morning in case the mutual Mom wanted to get HER car out of the garage while I was here at the internet cafe. But thanks for the heads up. I prob'ly should head home and get your bag and UK's out of the car now before the day and the car heat up ... :eek: :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels

But thanks for the heads up. I prob'ly should head home and get your bag and UK's out of the car now before the day and the car heat up ... :eek: :(

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Or the neighbors complain .... :p

I was rider 6009 on a tandem with my husband. What a fantastic ride. My longest ever, and we rode every mile. We've already signed up for next year.
Can't wait!

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Originally Posted by carolp

I was rider 6009 on a tandem with my husband. What a fantastic ride. My longest ever, and we rode every mile. We've already signed up for next year.
Can't wait!

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I saw you guys !!:D Well, I don't know exactly who I saw when, but I saw two or three couples on tandems, so you must'a been one'a those couples. :cool: If you saw three people (bearded guy, woman in volunteer shirt, and her mom sitting on a little stepladder or bus stop bench) waving just before Pismo Beach, that was us. I may even have a picture of you, but if so it's on my cell phone and not on the computer yet. I'll be loading all the pics up on the net when I get home, prob'ly on Flick'r since there're lots of pics there already, searchable with tags like ALC6 or AIDS ride, or such like.

Hi gals,
What an amazing event this was!
I'm proud to say that as a member of Team 100, we (112 members) raised over $457,000!!!!
I've blogged my AIDS LifeCycle 6 Experience on the donations page:
http://aidslifecycle.org/1713
(still accepting donations, if the spirit moves you)
and the blog is a little more organize (with pics) on my website:
www.cyclemaven.net
I've also included some tips on how to do the ALC ride (or really any multi-day excursion).

It's too bad that I didn't get a chance to meet some of you this time out, but it sounds like everyone had a great time all around. I did too!
In fact I'm already signed up for next year, although next year, DH will be a roadie and we'll be doing the "princess tour". Can't wait! :D

I am finally sorting out my pictures from the ride so I thought I'd post a couple for others to see....

The first one is climbing up that never ending hill on day 1, second picture I've come down the other side to the coast. Dreamgirls were the rest stop crew on rest stop 4. On the morning of day 7, we all woke up to find a little egg left by the chicken lady. And in the final picture...I did it!!! And the family was there to greet me when I arrived. On my right is Duck on Wheels, on my left is my dad.

So glad the Chicken Lady was there this year. Was he riding or following?

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

So glad the Chicken Lady was there this year. Was he riding or following?

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Riding! :D

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Originally Posted by Trek420

Riding! :D

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Yay! When I first met him it was right after his heart attack. He followed CAR 7 all the way to LA in a convertible. Such a lovely man.:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

Yay! When I first met him it was right after his heart attack. He followed CAR 7 all the way to LA in a convertible. Such a lovely man.:D

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Chicken Lady has ridden nearly every AIDS ride, is a very strong rider. Does the ride on a mountain bike. I've heard that he started the "tradition" of stronger riders repeating a climb to encourage the slower riders when he did a climb on the New York ride some 20 times or something like that.

He could ride in much earlier but he still stays with the back pack and enjoys the rest stops.

On Day 3 of ALC 4 I rode with him from that flat section along the strawberry fields up those *&^% nasty short steep narrow roads and on to rest stop 4.

We didn't talk much but he was so encouraging and to all those at the back of the pack.

The day had turned cold, we were getting headwinds, misted by industrial sprinklers, sandblasted with dirt ....we both got to rest stop 4 which was closed.

I had a choice of turning around and doing the last miles but when I saw that Chicken Lady was taking a ride in I didn't feel so bad and that was the only day I SAG'ed that year.

Here's a good picture of him in his trademark harlequin glasses from the Specialized web site. I think this is either rest stop 1 or 2 on Day 2.

Another Chicken Lady tradition is the night of Day 6 he (along with some help from other riders) puts a plastic egg on each riders bike. The morning of Day 7 we crack open the eggs and ride. Inside the egg is a saying, this years was

"To leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. R. W. Emerson. You have done an "egg"celent job. Applaud yourself!! The Chicken Lady."

Oh, I don't know the name of the guy on the right, but I'm pretty sure I've seen him on ALC 3, 4, now 6 (so probably 5 :cool: ). He rides with his son, a lovely guy, his son told me that he trains by riding to work and they look forward to this as a family vacation each year.

http://www.specializedriders.com/blog/1/post/show/138

Love it! None of my Chicken Lady shots are digital. I've got him in a very tastefull miniskirt, with the trademark glasses and chicken bag. He is a good soul.