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How many people can say that they have pedaled a bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles?  Next month, these people can—after they complete the 545-mile, seven-day AIDS/LifeCycle ride.

It’s not a gay story; not a straight story; not a HIV/AIDS story; not a young story or an old story.  It’s  a people story.  It’s a story of promise, hope, a renewed faith in humanity and the open arms of a colorful community of characters. Characters like the Cookie Lady, who serves morsels of motivation as riders cycle through the Salinas Valley, and Orange County drag queen Ginger Brewlay, who dons a different outrageous outfit for every day of the ride.  

Gloria (West Hollywood) will be riding after her third liver transplant, two hip replacements and two knee replacements.  She is 53 years old and will be accompanied by her oldest son.

Michael (San Jose) will be participating for the seventh time, first as a roadie and now as a rider. Last year, he raised more than $20,000, far beyond the $3,000 minimum required to ride. His story is about overcoming abuse as a child and losing more than 100 pounds to make it on the ride.

Emily (Costa Mesa) was using IV drugs by 15, got sober at 19 and has been clean for three years.  She rides out of gratitude for a needle exchange program—like the one offered at San Francisco AIDS Foundation—that enabled her to get through years of using drugs without contracting HIV.

And, with the upcoming 30th anniversary of the first reported case of AIDS (2011), it’s a story that needs to be introduced to a new generation that may be too young to remember the 1980s—when HIV/AIDS truly became a pandemic —but is now bearing the largest share of new HIV infections in the United States.

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