Day 6 - 90 miles from Lompoc to Ventura

(I'm cheating by blogging on the drive back up from LA...)

Day 6 brought us into true SoCal feel with palm trees, sweeping ocean views from Hwy 1 bike lanes and some beach bike trails!




Sadly, there were a handful of tacks and staples on the side of the road (what the heck??) and a handful of riders were unfortunate enough to get punctured.




Tire problems were quickly forgotten as we rolled into Santa Barbara and into Paradise Pit. This year marked the 13th year a local ice cream shop owner from Santa Barbara donates as much ice cream, toppings and baked goods as 2000 riders can consume! It was our inner fat children's dream!!!












The day ended in Ventura where we camped beachside and had a candlelight vigil at night.




Per tradition, some of us skipped the regular camp food for non-camp food, mmmmmmm...

Day 5 - Red Dress Day!

(Day late post!)

Day 5 was the famous Red Dress Day! We climbed our way out of Santa Maria and into Lompoc for a short 42 mile day.

Every year on Day 5, the ALC ride turns into a 2000 person red (rubberneck worthy) ribbon as we meander our way up the windy hills into Santa Barbara County.

Basically, it was red red red... As far as the eye could see:




Some of the PGE team went with Christmas in June theme!
Theresa, Nic, Lori, Nash and Tim:




This one is for the Khaled fans:





And the Nic fans:




We also made friends with the oldest rider this year, Harvey. He's 82 and pedals strong!




The Haya family (and Lunch Captain Adam) gather at the lunch stop:



Speaking of lunch, here's a shot of the lunchtime Dating Game!

Day 4, 100 miles to Santa Maria

Today was a huuuuge success! We completed 97.7-100.1 miles (some of us got lost).


The route took us from Paso Robles, onto Hwy 1, through the beautiful and coastal mid-California beach towns (Pismo, Avila, Grover, Oceano) before taking us inland to Santa Maria. The ride included the Evil Twins summit and the "Halfway to LA" mark (pictures below).


This morning, we were able to ride out with most of the PG&E team and sported our awesome PG&E Supporting the Community jerseys!


Theresa, Khaled, Lori, Nic, Jan, Tae, Dave and Ben meet up at rest stop 1 just before the crazy Evil Twins:




Team photo at the halfway point:




Running into Neil, the CEO of the SF Aids Foundation:




Alright, alright... So tonight is not so much a blog as it is a photo dump and a random list of factual sentences from the ride. In my defense, it's almost 11pm, tent city is an orchestra of snores reminding me that it's time to turn the headlamp off and snuggle into my mummy sleeping bag. Tomorrow is another day closer to LA!


Theresa just set the alarm a little later than normal so we can "sleep in" until 530am!


Tomorrow is Red Dress Day... Oh boy.


Here I go again with the random listing of sentences.


Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Lori

A little sweat and quadbusting gets you to Paso Robles!

After a hot hot day, we have arrived safely in Paso Robles and our tent city love bubble has taken over the county fairgrounds (where there's ice cream!!!).


The BEST news of the day is our most seasoned ALC Power Pedalers team member, Dave Haya, hitched a ride from the Bay Area to our campsite tonight and will be able to hop on his bike and join in on Day 4 tomorrow after battling a cold and food poisoning that was threatening to prevent him from riding. He's here, he's excited and he's ready!!! Just ask Jan! :)




This morning started off a tad slowly as we made our way out of King City. In the interest of safety, we had a loooooong train of riders inching their way towards the main road. Khaled, Nic and Theresa patiently waited to begin the 66 mile day and face the infamous Quadbuster climb.



Just before the Quadbuster, there were kindhearted locals who owned a lavender farm and a lot of coffee makers and were serving coffee and letting us frolic in their garden before the climb...




What's the Quadbuster you ask? We couldn't take photos, we were too busy climbing but here's an elevation snapshot from my Strava App... go ahead, take a guess!




...and while you're getting over the awe of that peak, I have more to share. It was incredibly inspiring to watch many riders (including Khaled, Theresa and Nic) reach the top, turn around and do it one more time. Some riders (one in a Superman outfit) were getting off their bikes and pushing others up the hill. Other riders did it twice in memory of friends they've lost. The mountain was the sweaty, loving, inspiring, quadbusting, music-blasting bike party that we had all been waiting for. It certainly did not disappoint!
After the climb, it was a sweet and well-earned descent into Bradley where the small city threw their annual fundraising BBQ lunch for the 2000 riders passing through. Nic and I were able to find first time rider and top fundraiser on the Power Pedalers team, Judy!




The rest of the day was headwind, headwind, headwind. Another first time rider, Tae, kept a smile on his face despite the challenge!




When we finally got into camp, we learned that many members of the ride (riders and volunteers) were dehydrated today and had to be bussed in. So in the spirit of friendly reminders.... I'll leave you with this:
Hydrate!




Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Lori

Day 2, 109 miles from Santa Cruz to King City

Helllllllo friends!

Day 2 is complete and we made it to windy King City!

Alarms were going off throughout the tent city around 4:45am, so we were all up and in line for breakfast by 5am! Some of us (Jan, Nic, Khaled, Nash and others) were super fast and on the road by 6:45am. Others (ahem, Lori and Theresa) took a little to get sleepy out of our systems and weren't on the road until 7:30am... This made for a difficult "team ride" but from the camp site conversations it sounds like everybody did very well and was feeling strong!

Wind was our best and worst friend today, fairly calm in the morning then powerful at our backs as we continued south towards King City. Sometime after lunch there was sideways wind (what the!) and headwind, but we tried our best to forget those! The route was 108 miles of rolling agricultural fields, which could only mean one thing; the (deep fried) artichoke stop! Now well fed, we made our way into the town of Gonzalez where we met the Miss ALC contestants:


and found familiar faces:




and even made some new friends



Then it was on to lunch,




and miles of vineyards. Some are saying it was a good thing we have to ride single file and one bike length apart (safety first) because that giant burrito had a lot of beans!

Tomorrow we'll do it again; can't wait to get to the BBQ in Bradley!

Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Lori

Day 1 and away we go!

Day 1, featuring Theresa K. as your blogger:

As a first time rider for this year's AIDS/Lifecycle, when my alarm went off at 4:20 am this morning, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! My bags were packed, my tutu was set as we headed to Cow Palace for opening ceremonies and the big ride out.

This year in total, the participants of ALC raised a record $14.2 million for the SF AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. Thank you so much to all of you who donated to this record breaking cause! The care and services these funds will provide to support those affected by HIV/AIDS will go a very long way!

The riding conditions today were a mix of everything Northern California has to offer! We rolled out of San Francisco in a thick fog and climbed though the rolling hills, down the coast to Santa Cruz with wind surfers, rest stops and Fig Newtons galore! It was so wonderful and inspiring seeing hundreds of people rolling down Highway 1, on a journey that means so much to the lives if so many. I can't wait to see what the next six days have in store, but for now 4 hours of sleep and 85 miles are catching to me. Good night to all, and...

Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Theresa

Some visual aids to keep you entertained:



Theresa, Nic and Lori ready to ride out of Cow Palace and straight into the chilly fog at 630am.




Tae is excited to re-fuel and level out his fluids at Rest Stop 1, about 19 miles into our 545 mile trek.



Lori and Theresa make friends with some Roadies at Rest Stop 2. Roadies are volunteers who don't cycle but arguably work harder than the riders as they keep the event running smoothly.



Ben and Nic stretch it out at lunch!



The amazing view as we approached Santa Cruz...



Nic and Ben wondering why Khaled is in bed at 7pm...



Larry experiences what it's like to be a newbie. Where's my toothbrush???



And the snoring begins...a lesson learned on the Aidslifecycle: Tent walls aren't real walls.

Good night, Santa Cruz.

Location:Santa Cruz,United States