RiderCub's Adventures

ALC Day 1: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

Good day overall, but tiring. I probably will have no voice by midweek. I can see why people say that being a roadie is more challenging than being a cyclist. But I am liking everyone on the Moto crew, most of them are very friendly and helpful. I like the butch image that moto has ;) Tomorrow is a 107-mile day, and it’ll be warm so we’ll all have to deal with challenges. My first watch is at 6:30am only 3 miles into the ride, then I have a midday post, and another early evening post toward the end of the ride. So… it’ll be an excrutiatingly long day for me again. But I look forward to everyone’s smiling faces in the morning.

Nine Days til AIDS LifeCycle 9

The anticipation is building! I’m getting my BMW conditioned for the ride, and getting all my stuff together to pack. This I my first year as a Roadie for this event. The last two years, I was a cyclist.

This is more of a test post. Just making sure Tumblr for iPhone works because I’m gonna be blogging from the road.

Until next time…

Day 7: Ventura to Los Angeles

61.0 miles, 4:00:07 pedaling, 15.2mph avg. (Another above-15mph average day!)

I felt like racing today.  I sprinted up hills.  I was so excited!  Not that I wanted the Ride to be over, because I would miss my friends greatly, but I was done with the super-early mornings.  For me, the hardest part of the ride was waking up in the morning and getting moving.  I’m less of a morning person than I was a few years ago.  

My parents were cheering on riders in a turnout on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.  Mom made a sign saying “The Chris Fava Fan Club from Chicago. You are the Best.”  Almost all of the riders said thank you or waved, some stopped to give my parents a hug or to chat.  I think Mom and Dad really got into it!  

I rode into the finish around 2:30pm.  The experience of riding in was every bit as special as last year.  Riders ride through a very long, windy chute with family and friends on both sides cheering.  Although I wasn’t driven to tears of joy this year, it was still a deeply moving experience.  

The closing ceremony was pretty nice.  About half of it was dedicated to congratulating and thanking the riders and roadies, and the rest to talking about the draconian budget cuts our California politicians are about to enact.  A very nice video was shown of the highlights of the week.  I always love watching those highlight videos.

I want to give a shout out to my friends who showed up on Day 7 - Steve, Jimmy, Jen, and Frank.  You guys are great!

So I can’t believe how quickly time flew by on the ride.  Seven days, passed in a flash. The riding was not as difficult as it was last year, even though I hadn’t trained as much, which is why I believe the difficulty is only perceived.  I was also fortunate to not injure myself at all.  

I signed up for the Ride next year, but as a roadie on the Motorcycle Safety crew.  That job appeals to me more than any other roadie position.  I’d like to see what it’s like to Roadie one year, then maybe get back into cycling.

Thanks again for your support.  I could not have done this ride without the support of many, many friends and family members.

See you next year, friends…… looking forward to it already.

Rain in June?

What is up with this? I princessed it last night at Brian’s house, and woke up to heavy rain in the middle of the night. I prayed that it would stop by the time I had to wake up, but it hasn’t. Ugh…..

This sucks big time. As long as it’s raining, this is not going to be fun for a lot of people. We ride out at 6:30, so let’s hope it doesn’t continue on for too much longer.

Day 6: Lompoc to Ventura

We woke up to rain this morning.  Luckily I “princessed” at Brian’s house in Lompoc last night, so I was fortunate to not be one of the many who woke up with a lake inside their tents.  I was whining about riding in the rain, and was slow to get moving, but I put on my rain jacket and went out to ride in the pouring rain anyhow.  Not much would stop me from riding every single mile of this ride.  

After about a mile of riding on Hwy 1, we were all soaked.  Most riders were wearing plastic trash bags to try to keep dry.  I think riding conditions were quite dangerous.  Visibility was low, the road was more slippery, brakes were wet, and riders weren’t leaving more distance between themselves.   One rider commented that it’s a day like this that shows how much we care about our cause.  We’re willing to endure such adverse conditions for what we believe in.  I rode 16 miles in the worst of the rain.

When I got to Rest Stop 1, I saw a lot more riders than usual.  They had announced that the route was closed due to an fatality automobile accident down the road.  We had two options - ride back to Lompoc and wait for a ride to Ventura, or wait at Rest Stop 1 and wait for a bus to Ventura.  Tommy and I opted to wait at the rest stop.  Three buses of people left and we waited for more buses to come.  We actually got back to camp in Ventura pretty early compared to most riders, especially the ones stuck at camp in Lompoc.  I heard that my friend Jamie, who is a school principal in Soledad, called in a big favor to get extra school buses for us.  Thanks Jamie, for helping to get everyone back to camp safely!

With most of the day spent not riding, we got to do other things.  I had lunch with my parents and went home for a shower and relaxing.  Others went out on the town to explore a bit. 

I brought Mom and Dad back to camp in the early evening to meet some friends, check out the Dedication Tent, and to hear the evening announcements.  Sean, Joe, Kyle and James were visiting camp so we hung out with them for a bit.  The candlelight ceremony was quite nice, and I got to sit with David, Jerry, my sister, and Amy on the sand.  I spent another night at home, just because I felt like it.  The  very short day, and the night at home really helped me recharge my batteries.  I can’t believe there is only one day left.

Day 5: Santa Maria to Lompoc

68.7 miles, 5:00:49 pedaling, 13.6mph avg, 31.5mph max.

Red Dress Day! Lots of guys were looking mighty fierce today in their slinky prom dresses or tartan kilts. There was a team dressed as firefighters, one as Santas, and there was even a complete wedding party dressed in red. The old frock I wore was from last year, but I don’t think anyone noticed.

The route was changed from last year. No longer do we ride through Casmalia and have a dance party there. The ride now has about twenty miles of additional distance and goes through Solvang, a really cute Danish town. I miss the Casmalia street dance party, but I think I enjoyed this Solvang ride more because of the superior scenery through beautiful vineyards.

My bud Tommy bought me lunch at the Mustard Seed restaurant in Solvang. That’s one time I don’t have to eat pre-packed camp lunch. I have a savory BLT, bacon very very very crispy. The restaurant food really hit the spot. Now I’m craving pizza!

Brian came and picked me up from camp at Lompoc and I started laundry at his home. We went back to camp and Kyle and Solomon were there visiting from Santa Barbara! Thanks for coming, boys!!!! Hugs.

Comedian Ant was kind enough to do a special stand-up act for us at camp. He was very funny… My favorite part may have been when he was messing with the sign language interpreter.

I can’t believe we have completed FIVE days already! While on the bike all day, time seems to stretch out, but at all other times it seems to pass very quickly. Two more days left? Is that all? The time has flown by. Wow.

Tomorrow is an 85 mile ride to Ventura. I think it’s going to be my best day because my friends are volunteering at Paradise Pit in SB, and my parents are going to see me ride for the first time. They came to visit from Chicago.

Well it’s already past my bed time. Good night all. Talk to you later!

Day 4: Paso Robles to Santa Maria

94 miles, 6:30:44 pedaling, 14.3mph avg, 35.6mph max

Let’s hear it for Santa Barbara County! We crossed into it today. I finally feel more “at home” now. Each following day is just going to get better as I get closer to home. I called Brian and asked if I can “princess” it with him tomorrow night in Lompoc. That means stay in a hotel (or house) instead of camp. I REALLY need to charge the batteries of my camera and iPhone. Or else all of this blogging and photography screeches to a halt.

Today’s ride was all about the Evil Twins, two hard hills back to back. At the very top of the last one is the approximate halfway point of our ride. Most people stand in line to take a photo standing near the sign, holding their bike about their head. The vista looking out over the hills is stunning, especially when there’s a little fog like today. A special thing happened today at the halfway point - one guy proposed to his boyfriend while standing on the rock at the halfway point, and I was there to witness it. Everyone started cheering… what a cool memory!

Rest Stop 1 was Cowboys, Rest Stop 2 was Gilligan’s Island, Lunch was hospital/doctor’s office, Rest Stop 3 was Wild West (cowboys), and Rest Stop 4 was See’s Candy.

I have monkey butt. That’s what I call being saddle sore. I’ll spare the details, but it’s a bit swollen where it touches the seat. So as I write this, I’m laying in my tent with a bag of ice between my cheeks, LOL. Nothing else hurts, I have no leg/knee/foot injuries this year and I am riding really well and strongly.

At dinner tonight, they showed us a compilation of the television news we are making across California. I’m very happy with the way this ride us being covered.

Tomorrow is Dress in Red Day, A.K.A. Red Dress Day. I have my little red spaghetti strap number from last year. It has beads and sequins across the bust. I have to say, that with my chest and leg hair, and beard, I do not at all make a pretty gurl. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s outlandish costumes for tomorrow… that we have to ride 60-something mile in! We were warned to keep it classy, not trashy.

G’night everyone. Time for my beauty sleep.

Day 3: King City to Paso Robles

63 miles, 4:16:57 pedaling, 14.4mph avg, 36.7mph max.

Wow, what a day! I never thought I’d say that 63 miles is a ‘short’ ride, but it is this week. I got back to camp at an early 2pm! Then I had plenty of time for a luxurious shower in a truck, and I used my one 15-minute massage from LMT Bradley for my lower back. Apparently I’m not stretching enough.

Today’s rest stop themes: Rest Stop 1 was Hawaiian, Rest Stop 2 was Dr. Seuss, Rest Stop 3 was Dia de Los Muertos, and OMG Rest Stop 4 was the ‘Tran Am’ flight experience. I video-recorded the entire skit and you all will see it the first day I get back to my computer. It was so sassy and I’ve never seen boobs that big or makeup so fierce. I’ll post the link to Rest Stop 4 in the next post so you can visit their website and see why you have to try out to be on this crew.

The highlight of today was the lunch stop in Bradley, CA. I won’t go into the whole thing because I blogged about this same thing last year, so please read the Day 3 post from last year and see why us riding through Bradley helps out their small community. I’ll add that us being there in all of our unabashedly fabulous flamboyance has really helped the youngsters there become more tolerant of different kinds of people. In a nutshell (I’m case you don’t want to go back and read), they host a hamburger fundraiser the day we ride through their tiny rural town. They raised about $10k from us this year, which pays for their entire music program, art program, sports program, and field trips.

One thing I cannot get over is how interconnected we all are to each other. The gay community is large, but feels very small at times. Chances are, a total stranger on this ride and myself share quite a few mutual friends. Time and again I have found this to be the case lately. So I got to thinking… when we get together for something great like this ride, we really are all supporting each other and we are all close brothers and sisters - like a family. I will probably meet at least 100 new friends just by being here this week, maybe more - it’s hard to keep track of.

I want to give a shout out to my tentmate Rick and Great Outdoors friend Larry, who both yesterday completed their very first century ride (100 miles). And I would like to congratulate my friend Matt, who is a first-year roadie, for signing up to be a rider next year- and he doesn’t even have a bike yet.

One more thing… There are a LOT of us ALC riders blogging and tweeting this week. Just today, 73 ALC registrations came in from people not even here this week. That shows how well we are reaching out to others for our cause. I urge all of my friends to be a part of this next year, whether as a rider or a roadie, because it’s very fulfilling, you’re helping people in need, and you’re not soon to forget the experience.