AIDS LIFECYCLE RIDERS PRACTICE FOR THE SF to LA RIDE

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY   2011

One of the things my wife and I most like about being  "roadies" for the AIDS Lifecycle ride is the spirit the riders show, especially when their training or the ride itself gets tough. On the Saturday before Easter, Janne and I worked the "Day on the Ride" practice event, and here are two the Easter spirits we encountered. 

The AIDS Lifecycle Ride won't end, until AIDS ends.

TARZANA LEADER BARRY EDELMAN HELPS MAKE HISTORY ON AIDS LIFECYCLE 9 RIDE

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

Barry Edelman - center - 2010 photo by Gerald Fecht

Newly elected North Area Representative to the Tarzana Neighborhood Council, Barry J. Edelman, at the Ride’s closing ceremonies in Brentwood on Saturday June 12, 2010. Barry was a key "roadie" volunteer in the constantly moving camp’s Information Services.
California bluebird feeds its young in Santa Maria.

MAKING NEW HISTORY IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY - AIDS LIFECYCLE 9

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY HISTORY

Combination training ride and Memorial Day kickoff party for the AIDS Lifecycle Ride. Photo by Gerald Fecht for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010 (Click on image to enlarge)
These riders, most of whom are from the San Fernando Valley, rode from Tarzana to Calabasas and back as their final group practice before the "big ride"

Hundreds of new riders and roadies gathered at the Cow Palace in Daly City, for the opening ceremonies of the AIDS Lifecycle 9 ride.


Janne Fecht of Tarzana (office is in Woodland Hills) at the opening ceremonies for AIDS Lifecycle 9. She wore her LA Dodgers shirt to let folks in Northern California where her sports' loyalties lie.


Hundreds of tents offer some protection from the elements for riders and roadies. Tarzana resident, Brendan Fecht stands in front of his tent featuring a picket fence, flowers and flamingos.

Closing ceremonies in Los Angeles moved a tired and victorious AIDS Lifecycle 9 community to tears, as they watched families walk "riderless" bikes to the stage, marking their losses.
The AIDS Lifecycle Ride raised over $10,000,000 to support the AIDS medical services of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and the Jeffrey Goodman Clinic of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Funds are also used for AIDS prevention education and AIDS care in Africa.

AIDS LIFECYCLE 9

2010 The Year of Valley Adventures
Detail from a first responders painting at the entrance of the West Valley Police Station. Photo by Gerald Fecht for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley (click on image to enlarge)

I should apologize to you all for not letting you know that I would be out of town for the week, but despite having a "house sitter", I thought it wise not to announce being gone.
My wife Janne, son Brendan and I spent the week working as "roadies" for the AIDS Lifecycle Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. While we have done it before, and my son Brendan has been both a rider and a roadie, it never fails to move me profoundly.

What an endlessly beautiful state California is, and how splendid people can be to and for one another.

AIDS LIFECYCLE RIDE KICK OFF PARTY

This Saturday evening, my wife Janne and I went to the "Kickoff Party" for the 2010 AIDS Lifecycle Ride. It was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History across Exposition Boulevard from USC. There is something about being in a museum at night with giant dinosaurs that, despite the festive crowd, is just a bit intimidating.

The great "Ginger Brulee" is one of the big time morale boosters for the AIDS Ride. Janne and my son Brendan will work on the Ride as "Sweepers", gathering up disabled bikes and bikers in need. I will be working the camp store, recruiting folks for next year's adventure ride.

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS HELP MAKE AIDS LIFECYCLE 8, A BIG SUCCESS

With 350 fewer bicycle riders than in 2008, more than 2,000 cyclists and over 500 "roadie" support team workers, raised a whopping $10,500,000 for California and African AIDS programs (May 31 to June 6) this last week. Many of the roadies and riders represented San Fernando Valley communities.

AIDS Lifecycle encampment in Ventura, California. (click on image to enlarge)

In every community through which the AIDS Lifecycle riders and roadies traveled there were familiar El Camino Real bells designed by a founder of the Campo de Cahuenga Memorial Historical Association - Mrs. Armitage Forbes. Riders put up and took down their tents for 7 exhausting days.

AIDS Lifecycle 9 Recruiting Poster by Jerry Fecht, given to Information Tent volunteer. (click on image to enlarge)

Detail of AIDS Lifecycle 9 Recruiting Poster by Jerry Fecht (click on image to enlarge) The president of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley, Gerald Fecht worked in the AIDS Lifecycle camp store recruiting riders and roadies for AIDS Lifecycle 9. He added drawings of houses, castles, windmills and even blimps to the drawing for each person who visited his recruiting table.

BACK FROM THE AIDS LIFECYCLE RIDE

Boy Scouts Merit Badge Program 1955 - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg - 2008

I just got home from being a "roadie" on the AIDS Lifecycle Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The effort involved 2500 riders and 500 roadies. The week-long effort raised millions of dollars for AIDS care, HIV medications and AIDS prevention.