Experience AIDS/LifeCycle 3 (2004)

Day by Day Coverage: Orientation Day

Ready to Roll

[Check out today's photos!]

Hello to all my new virtual friends! My name is Aunt Blabby and I’ve come out of retirement to join you for AIDS LifeCycle 3! I used to write a column in the San Francisco AIDS Foundation volunteer newsletter for ... well, never mind how many years ... until three years ago, when I ... but you don’t want to hear about that right now, do you? You want to hear about your friends or family who are cycling or Roadie-ing (that doesn’t make a very good verb, now does it?). And now I get to tell those stories to my new friends from the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center as well!

You still haveta wait another day before you hear about their life on the road, but we can start talking about today, and tomorrow, and what to expect here in my new home, the ALC3 Webcast. I’ll also be telling you tidbits about what happened that day, what people did and said, and whatever else caught my interest. And I get to talk about Roadies. There’re lotsa those fantabulous folks that you see everyday in the pictures, often dressed up and ready to entertain as well as fill cyclists’ every need (I said need, sweet’ums, not desire). But there are a lotta teams that you don’t see at work, including some that are almost never in camp. They work SOOOO hard for everybody, and yer Auntie wants to make sure everyone knows about them.

If you click on the Riders Digest version to my left (that would be your right), you’ll also read what the Cyclists and Roadies read: about some wonderful place we’ll be stopping or camping; the services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation that participants are supporting and why they’re important; the distance to, and hours of, the rest stops; the weather (it’s California, darlings, don’t believe everything you read); what they’ll be eating each day; and important reminders of what they need to do every day. I hope that gives you an idea of what their lives are like over the next week.

But for now, they’re here with me, after all their training and money-raising, at Orientation Day!! And lucky thing, you wouldn’t want them to be dis-oriented when they start, wouldja? They’ve got their E-Ticket (how many of you remember when Mr. Disney had E-Tickets?), they Park their Bikes, they may have to go to Medical or Pledge, they Check-In, watch the Safety Video (and get the stunning orange wristband they wear all week!), get their Tents (and maybe tentmates) Assigned. And, honeys, if all this gets too confusing for them, they just ask one of the volunteers at the Info Desk, who are happy to tell them where to go (Info Desk also has these handy-dandy helmet stickers that let folks know their dating status; info about San Fran for the outta-towners, and more). If they’re Roadies, they even get to have a meeting!

Speaking of volunteers, a few hundred of them are working this week to make sure the Cyclists’ ride starts off smooth and happy. No matter how much you have on your mind, make sure to give the vols a big virtual blabby THANK YOU! While we’re talking about thank-you’s, I want to thank Leana Rosetti, another good buddy here in EssEff, who designed the Riders Digest and Webmaster Jeff Brock, without whom I couldn’t be here with you and them now.

More thank-you’s go to USF, especially Glenn and Mark. This is the third year they’ve hosted us at their lovely campus and they could not have been more hospitable. There is something I need to ask YOU to do for THEM. School rules forbid dogs in the buildings and playing fields, including where tomorrow’s Opening Ceremonies take place. I know Fido and Rex and Spot are going to miss their pets, but if you’re coming to see your folks off, let the poochies sleep on Sunday; just wake them up for a sec before you leave to lick them good-bye. We’d have to make them wait outside and that won’t make anyone happy.

And Sunday, if you plan to drop your pedal-pushers off, make sure they’re here at 5 – yes, the one in the morning. Opening Ceremonies start at 6 and will last about half an hour (ish), and then the real adventure begins! We’ll herd, I mean usher, your dear ones back to their bikes and they’ll be on their way. You can line up on Parker Avenue to watch them and cheer them on. And don’t worry, I’ll be there in the morning for them, sweet hearts, every pedalstroke of the way.

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