2 miles; 20 minutes ride time; 20 minutes total time

There’s a few little odds and ends I wanted to talk about but forgot to, or things to mention, so I’ve collected them here.

Item one:
I’ve gone through my pictures from AIDS/LifeCycle and dropped all of the halfway decent ones in my photo gallery.

Item two:
I’m still reflexively grabbing my water bottle before I go anywhere. And the furthest thing from my mind is snacking right now, much as some chips and salsa sound delicious.

Item three:
Contrary to everyone’s expectations (my own included), I gained 5 pounds, probably because I took that “eat before your hungry” recommendation way too literally and was almost always full. Next year, I’ll know better, and rather than snacking constantly, I’ll just have two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and just enough to get me from meal to meal during the day, like I did the last couple of days this year.

Item four:
My daily schedule settled into something like this:
5:00 AM - wake up
5:05 AM - stop complaining
5:30 AM - pack up and get dressed
5:45 AM - first breakfast, solo
6:15 AM - finish getting ready (sunscreen and butt butter) then help neighbors pack up
6:30 AM - second breakfast, with team
7:15 AM - hit the road
9:00 AM - first rest stop
10:30 AM - second rest stop
11:45 AM - lunch
1:45 PM - third rest stop
3:30 PM - fourth rest stop
5:00 PM - wheel into camp, park bike
5:15 PM - start assembling tent and unpacking gear
5:45 PM - shower
6:15 PM - first dinner, solo
6:45 PM - dick around for a bit, blog, etc.
7:15 PM - second dinner, with team & Camp News
9:00 PM - leave Camp News to go to bed
9:30 PM - dick around, read, blog, etc.
10:30 PM - go to sleep


0 miles, 0 ride time, 0 total time

It feels like the ride has been going on for months, and a lot of the habits are hard to break. I feel awkward walking around in street clothes, and it was weird not reaching for the spandex shorts and jersey. I grab my water bottle reflexively whenever I get up. I don’t pass up opportunities to use the restroom, assuming the next one is 20 miles and hours of hard pedaling ahead. And even with a chance to sleep in, I still woke up at 5:00 ready to go. If I hadn’t accidentally left my sunscreen at Rest Stop 2 on Day Six, I probably would still be re-applying it every two hours, even though I’m indoors and behind UV-shielding glass.

There’s a lot of things I already miss from the ride. The AIDS/LifeCycle operation is second to none – every need and request is taken care of professionally and quickly – from showers to medical services to food. I’m looking forward to setting my own menu again and playing around in the kitchen, but I’ll certainly miss the simplicity and ease of having it all prepared, warm, and served with a smile and a joke. Heck, today isn’t even “Sunday” to me (I had to check the computer calendar) – it’s Day Eight.

From orientation day through to the last moment of closing ceremonies, a lot of people mentioned the sense of community ALC fosters among the participants. And life certainly is different at camp and on the road than here in the real world. The general mood couldn’t be more different. We all shared a common purpose and common adversities, and people were nice, accepting, and interested in each other – like a big family. I had full trust that if something happened to me, someone would step up to help, whether it was someone lending me a CO2 air pump to save me a few minutes of hand pumping a tire or other riders jumping into action when one rider fell over a curb.

It’ll be interesting to bike again outside of the ride, too. We were all careful to point out hazards to each other, keep each other abreast of potholes and upcoming left turns and so on. That’s not exactly normal behavior for riders in the city or even on the American River trail.

And I’ll miss the light-heartedness that permeated the event. Chicken Lady’s Day Seven surprise and the sarcastic sniping between the camp news hosts and the fabulous costumes and set pieces hosted by the rest stop teams and the roadies (especially the redneck infighting to open Day Six) all maintained a wonderful atmosphere, making it a treat not only to come back into camp every night, but even to get moving in the morning in the first place.

59.8 miles, 4:20 ride time, 6:50 total time

First, this post is coming a bit late. The post-ride logistics left me no time to blog, and before boarding the train home, I wisely packed my computer-to-phone cable in my backpack and checked it. I’m posting this by leeching free WiFi from a nearby access point while the train home is stopped in Paso Robles.

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The ride in from Ventura was wonderful, through Oxnard and Port Hueneme, and then on the Pacific Coast Highway for just about the rest of the route. No hills at all for the first thirty miles, a couple of minor climbs once we hit Malibu, and then some rolling hills on into Los Angeles and Santa Monica before we pulled in to the VA Center on Wilshire for the closing ceremonies.

Perhaps it was because the riding was so easy or perhaps because we all knew the ride was coming to an end, we all seemed to ride at a more leisurely pace than we had before, but either way, we found ourselves at the end of the ride not long after lunch. We parked our bikes, walked around, got some food and water, and talked and rested while we waited for the ceremonies to start.

The closing ceremonies were relatively simple. All of the riders gathered together around the block, and we made a big entrance riding in together for the TV cameras. The CEO of AIDS/LifeCycle, the directors of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, and a few others made short speeches, and the Positive Pedalers escorted the riderless bicycle back to the stage. We held hands and respected a moment of silence for those infected with or who have succumbed to HIV or AIDS. After a few more remarks, we got a sort of abbreviated camp news, then watched a couple of videos taken from the ride.

The riders were all thanked, the roadies were all thanked, and then we were left to go. AIDS/LifeCycle 9 concluded, and I was now officially a ride veteran, not a newbie, and the real world quickly started intruding on the post-ride glow. The team broke up; Gina and Allison left to catch their rides home while Emjay, Doug, and I went to pick up our luggage and catch a shuttle to our hotel near Union Station. Tomorrow, I’ll be on Amtrak heading home.