Starting the oh so familiar pre-ride countdown now...finished my last long training ride today as I'll clean and pack my bike to send it off to Niagara Falls soon.
I led a contingent of veteran AIDS riders (5) and volunteer crew (3) from the Northwest (Puget Sound Riders team) last year and several of us are returning again this year, as a beneficiary team for the Breakthrough Fund at the UC, San Francisco AIDS Research Institute. So, this year, we're the P.S. Breakthrough Riders, with riders (13) and crew (5) from Seattle, Bay Area, NYC and New Jersey!
The ride director is a veteran AIDS rider also and, like many of us, she had become disenchanted with the model of previous AIDS fundraising rides - put on by a for-profit company, that kept losing the support of its participants and folded in 2002.
I coordinated and rode in a self-supported ride in 2002, from Seattle to San Francisco, with ARI-UCSF as the sole beneficiary, so I have a huge amount of respect and appreciation for how the Empire State AIDS ride is managed and that a minimum of 82% of the proceeds are committed to the beneficiaries.
As many of you ride veterans know...putting on rides is costly. Any multi-day event, especially one crossing the challenging terrain of NY state (surprising to this native NY'er!), supporting the safety and well-being of all the participants is a daunting - and expensive task. There is a limit of 100 riders though and only public parks or rest stops hosted by locals offering free rest room access are used, along with state campgrounds with available showers, so that there isn't a need to rent shower trucks or porta-potties = less overhead and more $$$ towards our goal of ending AIDS in our world.
Previous to this year, several NY AIDS service agencies were the beneficiaries, so it'll be very inspiring as well as satisfying to be riding to support the amazing work and research efforts of the doctors and scientists at the AIDS Research Institute. Yes, I'm stoked! I'll need to be as this is a tough ride...I say that even though I've done rides all over the Northwest, the AIDS Vaccine rides across Alaska (2000) and Montana (2001) and would much prefer our hilly seattle area terrain and western mountain passes to the never-ending and steep hills that are around every bend in NY!
Every minute of every day, 5 more die and 9 more are newly infected with HIV. Our combined efforts can bring hope to their journey.
Tailwinds!
Mary