AIDS Lifecycle 2011: Stories From The Road Bike

This Sunday more that 2,500 cyclists and roadies will embark on the AIDS/LifeCycle 2011, a 545-mile journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS. Now, in its 9th year, the event is expected to raise more than $11 million for services the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation provide. This year's LifeCycle marks a couple of milestones, including the event's 10-year anniversary and the 30 years since the first AIDS case was diagnosed.

This Sunday more that 2,500 cyclists and roadies will embark on the AIDS/LifeCycle 2011, a 545-mile journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS. Now, in its 9th year, the event is expected to raise more than $11 million for services the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation provide. This year's LifeCycle marks a couple of milestones, including the event's 10-year anniversary and the 30 years since the first AIDS case was diagnosed.

Three years ago I saddled up and went the distance on my shiny Cannondale road bike. It began as a journey of discovery for me and as an opportunity to prove I can accomplish what I set my mind to do. Along the way, I encountered POS Pedalers and people who had lost loved ones to the epidemic. The narratives that unfolded over the course of the ride brought me back to that incipient / insidious time in the 1980's when I was coming of age and coming out and encountering so many of my gay male friends who were succumbing to the virus. From there on out, the ride became less about my personal sense of accomplishment and more about helping to find ways to ensure those dark days are over for people with HIV/AIDS.

Last year SheWired ran stories about women who are embarking on the ride, which we fullied intended to replicate this year with new stories. While we are still looking to tell stories of courageous women we also encountered Team Potenza, a family of riders including Clarissa, whose Uncle Vic, who is HIV-positive,  inspired her to become an HIV / AIDS activist. Clarissa shares her story, as does her father Al and her Uncle Vic. Below are just a few of the many inspirational tales of those who are heading out on the open road with nothing but a metal frame and two wheels under them from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

I have included the links to everyone's fundraising pages in their respective names should you wish to contribute to the ride.

Janora McDuffie

Age: 33

Riding: A hand-me down Cannondale that's a veteran of the LifeCycle.

From: Los Angeles by way of North Carolina

Although this is my very first AIDS LifeCycle, my bike is a veteran on this course.  I'm riding a Cannondale M-400 that belongs to Doreen Gonzales, an amazing woman who has ridden in every single ride for the past 17-years!  In fact, this Cannondale is the very first bicycle she rode on from San Fran to LA back in 1994.

I actually had my own bike, however one month into training, it fell off the bike rack of my car onto the freeway and was destroyed!!  That incident was SO traumatic that I decided I was going to quit the ride.  It was only when I met and was inspired by Doreen, who loaned me her bike, that I decided to not give up, dig deeper, and really search for the reason I'm riding.

Seeing past photos and videos of the ALC, the one thing that struck me was there were very few riders who looked like me. 

And after learning that AIDS is now one of the leading causes of death among young African American women and that African American women make up a disproportionate amount of new HIV cases, I realized that I MUST be part of the fight.  And although AIDS knows no color or gender, and the human spirit of the ALC transcends all barriers, black women need to be visible and active as part of the solution.  Thank you again Doreen for helping me to find my courage and my voice in this ride.

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