|
Home�*� Day 0��*�� Day 1��*�� Day 2��*�� Day 3��*�� Day 4��*�� Day 5��*�� Day 6��*�� Closing | |||||
|
California AIDS Ride 8 Day Seven -- June 9th, 2001 Ventura to Los Angeles 76.95 miles -- 4 hours, 35 minutes, 15 seconds | |||||
Yawn! I just couldn't sleep last night. I felt nervous & excited
& sad & filled with joy all at the same time (is this my multiple personalities?). In many ways,
the AIDS Ride represents the end of an era for me -- the end of my relationship with Schwab.
It's common for riders to feel post-Ride depression, but for me, there are so many other factors
at work as well. And I'm nervous about seeing my friend Andrew in Los Angeles. We
haven't seen each other in several years (since before I got my butt back in shape), so I'm
wondering what his reaction will be.
Last year, my riding buddies & I (Cindy McLaughlin, Jason Gullion, Roger Schefers, Jimmy Olson, Tim Frazer, and Joshua Rymer), stopped at a little restaurant just before the end of the route and had a great lunch together, sitting outside and watching all the riders go by. So this year, we decided it would be great to do the same thing (or just get a beer instead). We all planned to meet up at the last pit and find someplace to go. For the last five miles before the Collesium, we looked for a little restaurant or bar. However, this part of the route goes through one of the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. What a stark contrast to riding through the wealth of Century City a year ago. Everywhere you looked, the streets were lined with young children. But unlike the children we'd seen during the previous seven days, these childen were not celebrating our ride. The didn't greet us with cookies, or hand-made flowers, or stickers, or cards. These children looked almost in fear of us as we rode by. These were children who knew poverty, hunger, and danger. These children are very likely at risk of contracting HIV and AIDS. Of all the children we'd seen, these were the children I most hoped we could help. So we rode to the Collesium, but instead of riding in, we kept going, still hoping to find someplace quiet to relax before the festivities began. By this time, there were only three of us -- myself, Tom, and Guna -- since we'd lost other riders at red lights during the last few miles. So, on we rode, as the folks at the Collesium yelled out that we were going the wrong way (just in case we didn't see the crowd as we passed).
I wanted to get one to go (couldn't we just fill our water bottles?), but the guys thought better of it. Of course, they changed their minds once we got to the holding area and still had about an hour to wait before the closing ceremonies began... Just click on the camera to go there now! View them as a slide show for best results.
| Home�*� Day 0��*�� Day 1��*�� Day 2��*�� Day 3��*�� Day 4��*�� Day 5��*�� Day 6��*�� Closing |