Washington DC AIDS Ride # 6: Wet, cool and glorious

My original intention was to post updates from the road, as I went. Well, despite my current employment as a consultant in wireless and mobile applications, or perhaps as a result of it, that really didn't work. Mostly, Blogger failed me, but I can only blame procrastination on it--a couple of well-placed perl scripts could have done the trick. Once again, the truism surrounding every presentation, production deployment, or anything else relying on technology holds true: it won't work when people are looking.

In any event, that didn't stop me from actually collecting thoughts on the experience. I hope they are, at the least, mildly entertaining.

Monday, June 18, 2001

4:10 PM: I love it when technology works as advertised. This is the first of what I imagine will be miriad postings from the road, in what I would call The RealWorld time (i.e. chronology edited for plot enhancement and cameramen's convenience). It took some time to get it working, almost too much now that I think of it, but aye aye, thanks to the people at Blogger.com I now have the ability to perform brain dumps from anywhere. How dangerous.[And, in retrospect, how premature of a pat in the back!]

12:11 AM: I packed most of my stuff tonight. Two days before the ride. Anxiety, perhaps? Being overzealous? Not having enough to do now that the bike is already in North Carolina?

We will have to reserve judgment on that.

Tuesday, June 19, 2001

2:23 PM: Tomorrow I take off for Raleigh. It's here. I'm starting to get those weird chills I used to get before a big violin solo when I was a kid--or the stomach queasiness that comes on before the First Day of Anything.

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

5 pm: All my Day 0 deals are done. I was expecting to spend ridiculous amounts of time in line, but things progressed smoothly. Some of the pledges I had which were over the minimum I needed to raise I shared with a pair of riders that were a few hundred dollars short. Thanks to Dad and a couple of other generous donors, two additional people can have their lives changed for the better, if not in the way originally intended.

I met two women during the viewing of the safety video, both first-timers--Trish and Valerie (I think that's her name, if not, accept my apologies)-- who, upon chatting, realized that they had read this site before and found it reassuring. All the more reason to keep doing this journaling business. By the end of the video, they seemed both a little more nervous than at the beginning, but I did my best to encourage them and give them some insight.

Apropos the safety video, I noticed my eyes tearing up during the opening lines. Something tells me these will be very lacrimogenous days.

3AM Next morning:Had dinner last night with a bunch of strangers--until then, that is. There was Marvin, who seemed the silent ringleader, and there was Gil, the vocal one. Then Mack and Dan and Chris and ... I thought my name memory was improving. Pleasant company, and faces which I'm sure I'll be seeing throughout the ride.

L-R: Dan, ?,Marvin, Mack, Gil

While waiting for a table at the Ruby Tuesday's bar with the surly barkeep, I met a rider named Felipe, (coincidences will be the name of the game, it seems), one of the more visibly passionate people I've encountered in some time. I will have to write about him at some length when I'm awake.

L-R: George, Felipe

Awake thoughts post-ride: Story on Felipe. From what I gather, he has done work on video and still photography for marketing and pleasure, and from the way he spoke about photography, it seemed that it represented a true passion. There was a glimmer in his eyes as he spoke of capturing that perfect image with his camera that hinted at a very intense love of life and all the beautiful things within it. His friend George, sitting next to him, has done the ride a few times in the past, and seemed to ve a very steady and firm source of encouragement and support during the training, and during the ride itself. They both seem like the kind of people that change the world on a daily basis--they just exude that kind of vibe. As I saw them on the road, and at closing ceremonies, I was once again aware of how much an experience such as this can bring out the more amazing qualities of humankind.

Thursday, June 21, 2001

3 AM:It's 3 AM. I am dressed for riding 110 miles.

I can't tell if it's late or early.

1 PM: Lunch is over and it's not even noon yet. I really think I'll finish today witout having to rely on a bus.

I already used Regresa and Free to be you and me on the road. I'll have to find some new songs to sing to myself (and to whatever unfortunate bikers happen to be around me) as I make my way up the hills.

I still don't know my tentmate's name, and I don't think he knows mine. Guess I should ask him when he's awake.

Friday, June 22, 2001

8:30 PM:The first 18 miles should not have been that difficult. Then again, they seemed to be tough for everyone today. No hills, no nasty traffic, just early morning sores. Saddle seemed to be out of kilter, had to stop a few times to bust out the trusty allen wrench and tighten the screw. Post-ride comment: This and a derailleur that hesitated a little between shifts (just turn the barrel!) constituted the totality of my technical difficulties during the ride. Compared with my friend Matt's 7 broken spokes and trashed Campagnolo rear derailleur, with the hundreds of flats I saw on the road, I count myself amongst the lucky.

Matt and me

I ran into just about everyone I know who's doing the ride today. Kind of cool really, that despite not starting "with" anyone, I've met a great number of people who've become Ride Friends through the numerous training rides and the various stops along the side of the road. I also added a couple of extra miles and two hills to my ride when I took off trying to catch up with a few riders who missed a turn in eastern Richmond.

9:30 PMRight now the big deal is the thunderstorm that's hitting camp (in Richmond, VA, on the parking lot of the Richmond raceway) as I write this, which has us all in somewhat wet knots. By now (9:46) it seems to have calmed down--I think the threat of having to evacuate camp has dissipated. It's still been a fun rush, listening to the distant and nearby giggling of tired adults as if they were at a slumber party with 2600 of their best friends. Holly and her tentmate, right next (door? Canvas-and-zipper?) have been giggles nonstop throughout the deluge which has been causing puddles in the middle of their tent