
I am dedicating this ride to all of the essential workers who work in our hospitals and ensure that critical services continue. Some of these workers are the people who work at San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
2020 would have been my fifth year on the AIDS Lifecycle. I rode the first four rides and was scheduled to work Bike Tech in 2020. In the four years on the ride. I have made close friends, improved my health, and reprioritized my life.
COVID-19 canceled the official ride. Rather than sitting home with nothing to do, I decided to continue to train for 2021. With society shutdown and no coffee shops I quickly found I had more time to ride, fewer distractions, and the need to focus on anything to get my mind off COVID-19.
On the morning of May 31, I woke up for my Sunday morning ride. While getting dressed, I decided that I would ride the same distance of day 1 of the AIDS/Lifecycle Ride that day. Over the following two weeks I did a single day ride to match each day on the AIDS Lifecycle. Doing AIDS Lifecycle alone was a very different experience but in a pandemic year nearly everything is a different experience. I continue to look forward the the day I can return to normal life including on AIDS Lifecycle.