Day 1: San Francisco to Santa Cruz, 79 miles

Today started very, very early. And it almost ended very early for me, after crashing only 20 miles in.

The weather went from wet fog to bright sun, then light crosswinds to strong tailwinds. We finished under a hot sun rolling through side streets in Santa Cruz. Tonight we sleep with bellies full of chicken parmesan, Caesar salad, and cheesecake. And it will be so nice.

Like I said. It was a very early morning.

Jess and me only 15 minutes later. Dressed, packed, and ready to meet our ride to San Francisco.

Unfortunately, we arrived with the first wave of volunteers around 4 AM, but the doors weren’t open for cyclists until 5. So we grabbed a little sleep.

Opening ceremonies are a must for your first AIDS/Lifecycle. It’s a tremendous reminder of the human suffering caused by the virus, and how vital the ride is.

This is Jess fixing her first flat tire of the day. Nice form with that frame pump, babe.

Rest Stop 1 was crowded. The weather had turned sunny, so we stopped to shed some layers and refill water bottles. Note to future participants: do not drink the yellow Powerade unless it’s diluted 1:1 with water!!!

Another PG&E Power Pedaler was in the rest stop. Here’s Diane Runyan (Sr. Director’s Assistant, IT Infrastructure, SF GO) !

I hesistated posting this picture. It’s a whole lot of my leg. And it's ugly. But it’s a reminder that things can go wrong. If you’re not prepared, then a serious fall can cause major injuries or fatalities. I walked away with a big road rash, and some swelling around my hip. But I rode the whole rest of the day. Helmets. Gloves. A good pair of shorts. PPE comes in many different forms. USE IT!
The other downside of crashing--besides the pain--is showing your injuries to your parents and grandparents who came out to celebrate Day 1. My mom’s holding my beautiful Trek Madone. The right shifter needed an adjustment, and there’s a tiny scratch on my seat, but it was totally roadworthy.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

Waddel State Beach. I took this same picture last year. So beautiful.

There are two schools of thought on setting up the tent. Everybody agrees you first park your bike and head for the gear trucks. Some people say head for your campsite and get the tent set up, then go grab a shower. Others say to leave your bag in the luggage pile, but grab your strategically-packed toiletries kit and run as fast as you can to get in line for a shower. I handled the tent. Jess got the first shower.

My new solar-powered Blackberry. Let’s green this city. We can do this.

The porta potty bank. Another visit will be in order shortly….

Moto safety patrol. There are 30 volunteers on their motorbikes throughout the route, directing traffic and keeping us safe around road hazards.

DINNER!!!! Two lines for meat-eater. One line with ZERO waiting for veg/vegen/gluten free. If you can forgo the chicken and meatballs, the veg line will saves major time. Only pre-registered veggies with their green wristbands are allowed, though.

Or as I call it, The House of Chocolate Milk.

She ate pretty much the whole plate, too. That’s David Haya (Building Mechanic, 1919 Webster) on the left. David’s usually our top fundraiser (over $8K!) and is on his third ALC.

Stan and Ben. Both looking happy and ready for bed. This picture was taken at 6:45 PM.

Team Capitan Jackie Udin was last into camp. Way to go Jackie! You can see that Jessica’s one sleeping bag away from being asleep.

Day 0: It Begins Again

It's that time of year. When all the pedaling. All the sweating. All the Clif Bars. All the saddle sores. All the nagging your friends, family, and colleagues for money. When all of that pays off.

AIDS/Lifecycle 9 begins now. And though a single mile is yet to be ridden, our biggest accomplishment is already in the books.

$8.75 million raised for HIV/AIDS prevention, awareness, and policy advocacy. Over $50,000 of that is from the PG&E Power Pedalers and our incredible supporters.

Thank you friends! Thank you family! Thank you co-workers! Thank you all!

If you'd like to still donate (it's not too late!!!), please click here and select any one of the PG&E Power Pedalers to support. Your donation goes immediately to work.

My name is Randy and I'll be your host for the week. I work in PG&E's Project Services Department, managing gas and electric distribution capital work in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

This blog will be updated nightly with photos and commentary from the day's events, once a day right through closing ceremonies 545 miles and 7 days away.

There will be more than 2200 cyclists heading down the state next week. Getting everybody safely into camp each night is the first priority. The importance of taking responsibility for your safety and ensuring the safety of everyone around you starts here in the Orientation Video. We all wear orange wristbands to signify acceptance of the safety code of conduct. And that wristband is your key to getting in line for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.


From left to right: Ben Ko (Gas Estimator, San Francisco Service Center), Randy Franks (you met me already), Jackie Udin (ISTS clerical, SFGO), and Jane Wong (Project Manager in ISTS Apps Development, SFGO). Jackie's sporting our team colors. A very excellent PG&E Supporting the Community jersey. Everybody gets one! Register now for ALC10, June 5-11 2011. It'll be the time of your life.

This is John. He and I were both training ride leaders (TRLs) during the year. Every weekend day starting in January there are bike rides put on by volunteer TRLs all over the state. The rides get a little longer and a little tougher each week to prepare everybody for the experience of 545 miles in 7 days. Rides are designed for different skill and fitness levels. In the East Bay, we started at 18 miles, 8-10 mph average speed. It's not as hard as you think!

Over the last five months, I've had an incredible time making friends and watching them get into phenomenal shape. There will certainly be photos of "my riders," many on their first ever AIDS/Lifecycle, in upcoming posts.


Speaking of first time riders, "newbies" as they are proudly called, this is Jessica. She has the unenviable task of being married to me. And thus is constantly harassed about going for a bike rides. Well, she's made me proud this year by taking the leap. In fact, thanks to many of her co-workers at Swinerton Builders, she actually raised more money than me! Way to go, babe!



Harry is another TRL who volunteered on the East Bay rides. Harry won't be riding, but he is helping out with bike parking on Day 1 (look at the background that last photo: 2200 bikes. They need more than a few people directing traffic). To volunteer, you have to get up early. And fortunately Harry lives only 4 blocks from Jess and me, so we'll be carpooling to the Cow Palace. Only thing is.....we're leaving at 3:30 AM. Yikes.

It's 7:45 PM. Time for bed!

Day 7: Ventura to Santa Monica

The final day of the ride took us out of Ventura and down the Pacific Coast Highway into Santa Monica. It was a beautiful day, and there were plenty of other folks out enjoying the beach. Total riding for the day was 67 miles. My legs felt a little strange after the rest day, but I made it and had fun riding next to the ocean.

Here are the photos.

Rest Stop 1 at the beginning of the PCH.

Malibu has some NICE houses.

This is Alex, taking it easy at lunch.

And this is everybody else taking it easy at lunch, across the highway from Pepperdine University.

The finish line was an incredible place. Tons of people, lots of noise. Very cool.

Everybody turned out, even this bulldog named Ella.

Day 6: Lompoc to Ventura

Today was a first for ALC: the first rain-out in its 16-year history.


Rain came early to Lompoc. About 1 a.m., I bolted awake to water droplets on my face and the stiff pelting sound of raindrops on the tent (we forgot to put up the rainfly). At 3:45 a.m., I awoke with cold, wet feet—inside my sleeping bag—but the rain had stopped. At 4:05 a.m., I realized my legs were getting wet up to the knees…and it was raining again.



I was coherent enough to conclude that it’d be better to get wet standing the in breakfast line, than to get wet lying in my tent. Actually the breakfast line was mercifully short. Consequently I was, for the only time this week, ready to ride out with the first group at 6:30 a.m. We were some hearty souls, ready to brave the driving rain for a 15-mile uphill climb on Highway 1.

Riding in the rain isn’t awful. It is more dangerous, but the human senses are most perceptive of change and exception. Once you’re thoroughly soaked (and that doesn’t take long at 15 mph) it stops being new and you just deal with it.

Unfortunately the conditions also made driving very sketchy. Just past Rest Stop 1, there was a very serious car accident. It happened before any riders were present. I was among the first few riders into the rest stop. We were refueling and hydrating quickly, trying to retain as much body heat in the rain and light breeze. Some riders went to leave but were held back; for safety the CHP had closed the route. That’s when the survival blankets came out.

With some 900 riders out of camp, and the course limited to only 15 miles, the ALC staff cancelled the rest of the day’s ride. This was absolutely the right call. The steep descent to Highway 101 would have been very treacherous. Given the number of riders, even those of us who know what we’re doing, a fall was inevitable and only pure chance would keep that down rider out of traffic. So instead, I spent about an hour huddled under a canopy, wrapped tightly in a mylar blanket, avoiding hypothermia. It wasn’t easy.

The rain did let up and the clouds parted. Our direction was to ride back to camp and await buses to Ventura. Going back was very nice (since the scenery was obscured by precipitation on the way up), and generating body heat wasn’t a problem.

So for several hours we killed time in increasingly creative ways. The weather held in Lompoc, but looked threatening.

In Ventura, it was gorgeous. Everybody immediately set up and starting drying out.

Some of the gear was a little worse for the wear.

And the equipment, too. But for the final day’s ride into L.A., everything looks good!

Day 5: Santa Maria to Lompoc

Day Five is called “Dress in Red Day,” because red is the color of HIV/AIDS awareness. With this crowd, however, that designation is transmuted to “Red Dress Day.” And boy is it ever. Red cheerleader dresses, red wedding dresses, red firemen outfits, red grandmothers, red divas. On and on and on, and every single one of them on a bicycle.

This year’s route was new; normally the trip from Santa Maria to Lompoc is a quick, direct 45-mile route. This year Vandenburg Air Force base could not (would not, depending on who you hear tell the story) grant the encroachment permit for the ride.
Instead, we did a 68-mile backwards “C” route, breaking for lunch in Solvang. That town really did not know what to make of red dress day. Let’s get to the photos, and you’ll see what I mean.

ALC takes up the left turn lane as we depart Santa Maria.

I rode with these lady bugs for a while to get my legs warmed up.

The Tour of California this ain't, honey. See you next year, Solvang!

The poppies were out at Sanford Winery outside Lompoc, where we had a quick water stop


By now you’re probably wondering what I wore for Red Dress Day. Email me.

Day 4: Paso Robles to Santa Maria

There’s a concept on the AIDS ride known as the “me day.” This usually means a day you take it easy, stop at all the rest areas, enjoy the scenery, and generally let your body recover.

Well for me, the concept worked a little differently. I took off early, hit the big hills hard, found some other fast riders and hung with them all the way to camp. The upshot is very few photos and very little extra energy to write creatively. Also, please forgive the typos and funky formatting in all these posts. I’m working as quickly as possible to save batteries; the cell modem sucks juice like no other.

I really enjoyed the ride, though, which is what it’s all about. Today also took us past the halfway point on the ride.

Our route was another long one, 95 miles, including the “Evil Twin” hills of Highway 46. The day started early in Paso Robles, went past my favorite small winery, Zin Alley, and over the aforementioned twins. Then it was down to Highway 1, which we followed through Cayucos and Morro Bay to Ceusta College for lunch. We skirted around the edge of San Luis Obispo, buzzed through the fog in Pismo Beach and the other Five Cities before hanging a left at Guadalupe to finish with a strong tailwind pushing us into Santa Maria.

Here are the few shots I got.


Alright, so most of these are actually pictures of me, taken by others. Call it another twist on the “me-day” concept.

Left to right, this is Justin, Carol, Lynne, me, and Sean. Lynne and Carol both earn a living as personal trainers, so hanging with them for the rest of the day took a lot of effort.

Me at the PG&E Community Center in Avila Beach. This was the site of Rest Stop 3 (the theme was “wild west”), but we only stopped long enough for the photo.


Rest Stop 4, always a fan favorite, was staffed by a dozen Mrs. See lookalikes. Only one free sample per rider!

In this plugged-in world, power scavenging is a major endeavor at the different camps.

Day 3: King City to Paso Robles

Our third day of riding is in the books. Tonight we camp in Paso Robles, just over 250 miles from the Cow Palace.

The route was a short 63.4 miles (after doing an 80-miler and a century back-to-back, it’s very short) from King City, down Jolon Road and over the 1.3-mile climb known ominously as “Quadbuster,” then past the US Army base at Fort Hunter-Ligget and into the little village of Bradley. Maybe you’ve seen the sign on Highway 101: BRADLEY – Exit 1 Mile. I’ve seen it dozens of times driving to and from Cal Poly, but I’d never been there. Of course, ALC is all about new experiences…like chamois butter and visiting towns practically forgotten since the interstate was constructed.

The small school there puts on a barbeque to raise money. I obliged by gorging myself on a double-cheese burger and picking up several postcards (special note to my fantastic donors: watch your mail boxes!)

Let’s see some photos, shall we?

The first mile of today’s ride was down a hard dirt path leaving San Lorenzo Park and over bridge across the Salinas River.




This is Meredith. She came out from Manhattan by herself to ride ALC8. We’ve made her an unofficial member of the Power Pedalers. How many times have I used the word “unofficial” on this blog? A dozen? You’d think this was a big party where everybody’s wearing colorful Spandex and eating as much food as humanly possible.

QUADBUSTER looms in the distance. It's time to wolf down half a ClifBar and take a few squirts of water, the road is about to go UP.

Coasting into Rest Stop 2.

The line for hamburgers in Bradley. In a town of 150 people, it takes some outside help to make a line around the block. Last year the Bradley Bulldogs made about $8,000 selling food and souvenirs to the riders.



BBQ!