2 more days!

Hello Lovelies!!!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you even MORE for your support, your love, your donations and encouraging words! We are so excited to share our journey to LA with you on this blog.

If you haven't donated yet or want to show additional support, please direct your generosity towards those on our team who haven't achieved $3000 yet! I know they'll appreciate the boost!

Theresa and Lori, getting pumped for Day 1!



Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Lori

Judy Ho, our team's biggest fundraiser with Tae,
showing off his coveted P&GE jersey.

Saturday, April 27, 2013, Day On The Ride was a sample for new AIDS/LifeCycle riders of what to expect on our week long journey from SF to LA.  First thing in the morning everyone was told, the first thing you do, when you get off your bike at a rest stop or lunch is: TAKE OFF YOUR GLOVES.  This is so you don't accidentally wear them into the portapotties, where you will contaminate them with bad germs that can cause you much illness.  The ride was fabulous. Over GG bridge, through Marin & back to a pasta dinner at Sports Basement.  Many of our new team members got a chance to meet each other & some got to ride together.

Experience AIDS/LifeCycle11 with on line videos:  http://experience.aidslifecycle.org/

Most of the team is already registered for next year, you too can be part of this great experience.  If you have questions, contact one of us.

More photos, Roadie Volunteers

Jan blogging today.  Thank you to Lori & Nicolas for their excellent blogs and insights to our week on the road.  If you are interested in joining us next year, for this fun filled week of adult summer camp, but aren’t a rider, please consider being a Roadie.  550 Roadies are needed to support the cyclists.  This year there were 2,225 of those smiling, pedaling, fundraising, spirited cyclists, who are all very appreciative of the Roadies.

Chris Echavia, in her sweep mobile.  

Sweeps help move riders to the next rest stop 

for help with bicycle or medical issues.

Day 2, Lunch, before the hard rain hit. Pink Princess theme,
Jan with 5 year lunch buddy, Drew

Emilia, Jan, Vinny and Simon, before 6AM, dressed, watered, fed, tents packed, all ready to Roadie.

Lunch Roadies, Emilia is on the right.  Cowboy theme at Questa Jr. College.  Costumes are not required, but Roadie teams have different themes each day and many dress up to boost enthusiasm and see even more cyclist's smiles.

Jan, Emilia & Vinny, day 7 lunch, yes, USO/Camo theme.

Nicolas, ROADIE Simon, Ben Ly and Lori, day 7.

Simon worked Traffic, at the exit and entrance to camp each day.

Michael and David picking up their bikes at the Cow Palace Monday.  

They decided to ship them home.....some folks do ride home...not many though.

To see more photos on the web, click here:
Experience AIDS/LifeCycle

Day 6 - Almost to LA!!!

Today was (in my opinion) the most beautiful day of the ride. We had sweeping views of the beach as we headed south on 101 from Lompoc, through Santa Barbara and into Ventura. Captain's log? 84.4 miles.

Here are some ALC 11 fun facts:
- Oldest participant: 83
- Youngest participant: 18
- # of states represented: 44
- # of countries represented: 16
- Avg. calories burned daily: 3,410
- # of eggs: 44,600
- pounds of pasta: 1,200
- gallons of water: 18,800
- # of portable toilets: 1,055
- packets of "butt butter": 18,000
And then here are some photos from today:

Squirrel! It's so hard to think about a sore bum when there are so many distractions to keep us smiling :)

Our (retired) PG&E team member, Diane Runyan!

Rest stop 2... Doesn't this make you want to join us next year? Say yes.

Ninja, Ben Ly.

Helmet 3-hawk looks like this!

Tomothy the tiger, with a touch of attitude during the lunch stop.

Julio's response.
(It's Day 6... delirium is setting in.)





Santa Barbara's (unofficial) Paradise Pit stop... A local ice cream store in Santa Barbara has made it a tradition to serve ice cream, fruit and baked goods every year as we pass through town. Gotta admit, we were a little bit giddy.

See what I mean?

Rest stop 4, a beach party with a Thunderdome theme. Of course!

They didn't even notice the camera.... Nom nom nom ;)
Can't wait for a flushing toilet. See some of you tomorrow!
- Lori C.

Location:E Harbor Blvd,Ventura,United States

Day 5 - Red Dress Day

What is Red Dress Day?

Red Dress Day...
- is a day everybody wears red!

Okok, I can do better.

Red Dress Day...
- is a day everybody takes a little bit longer in the morning to get fabulously red and beautiful; and getting chased by the caboose (sag wagon) later is totally worth it
- is the shortest day (42 miles) on the ride and the day we climb and climb and cliiiiiiimb our way from Santa Maria to Lompoc
- is a day we raise awareness by forming a human "red ribbon" on the switchbacks of CA-1
- is a day we get honked at and stared at the most by other drivers on the road. And rightfully so, allow me to explain.

At 6am, I opened my tent doors to this lovely sight...



Brian and Michael, wishing the world a good morning.

And then it just continued...



You can trust us to fight your crime, we're professionals. Tom, Brian, Ben, Nick and Lori - superheroes!



Ben Ly striking a pose while waiting for a red light.



Lunchtime entertainment was a creative rendition of "The Voice".



Lori and Nick get CPR training during lunch! We're hoping this satisfies the mandatory training requirement.



Red red red, as far as the eye could see.



Back at camp, at the official teeth brushing tree.



Nick showcases how he keeps warm each night.

Also, not to confuse the matter, but here are some photos from previous days and other phones and cameras. Thanks Jan!




Emilia and Vinnie, our awesome Lunchie Roadies who tell us where to go, where to park, where to sanitize our hands, what's for lunch, and on occasion.... even help charge our phones in their trucks during the day (a HOT commodity on the ride).


Team Mom (Jan) finally gets a break!


How many PG&E-ers does it take to....


I know! It's a lot!

Good night! Now where are my ear plugs?

Day 4 - 97 miles from Paso Robles to Santa Maria

Hello from Santa Maria! We are going to have to go with the Cliff Notes version of a blog today due to the following:

The route was a beautiful 97 mile day which included the infamous "Evil Twin" hills, the halfway to LA mark and some gnarly cross-wind threatening to knock us over for a good stretch of the way...

Which means we got back a little later (6:30pm) than usual....

Which also means we are all dead tired....

Plus, most of camp is sleeping and I think the guy in the tent behind me is trying to start a lawn mower... every 5 seconds.

Time for ear plugs and photos!



Lori, Ben, Julio, Tom and Nick!


Brian, once again had to text this one to us! :)


Dude! Where's my bike?


Bike tech support continues to save us!


Baby solar cape, Big solar cape!


There's more food than we know what to do with!


Team PG&E!

Good night! Tomorrow is Red Dress Day, the veterans are SO excited and the newbies have no idea what they're in for....

- Lori C.