oh, and about the ride-- I call it Utopia with sore butts. It is the best week of my life, and this year I've discovered Mad Alchemy chamois cream, so I hope I won't be in butt clinic as much.
ALC is a rolling city full of 3000 of the nicest people you would ever hope to meet. It has as many ups and downs as the hills we climb, but it's a week I can't imagine not being part of.
The fundraising the first year was easy as pie; it's just that friends have gotten donor fatigue and after raising funds all these years it gets more difficult. We have had to get more creative: fundraising events, selling homemade peppermint bark, and doing a bit of self-pledging. Especially with the two of us, that means raising $6,000. But it's worth the effort in the experience of the event, and knowing that we are helping people living with HIV.
and if anyone is so inclined:
www.tofighthiv.org/goto/CarolHyman