DMGALC Kickoff Training Ride
Saturday morning marked the official kickoff ride for AIDS Life Cycle 6. The training rides will continue through the end of May, and then on June 3-9, 2007, we'll pedal 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The turnout on Saturday was incredible. Over 300 people of all levels of ability showed up to pedal around Los Angeles. I saw obvious hard-core velo warriors next to just-for-fun bike commuters next to folks who were getting back on a bike for the first time in years. ALC is an incredible organization. Everyone is enthusiastically welcomed, nobody gets left behind. As I was wrapping up my second lap of the 12-mile course, I was passing folks just finishing their first chatting happily with the ALC staffers riding with them.
We also saw many riders from another great organization, Team in Training. Everybody was cheering each other on, whith whoops and whistles and "GO, BABY, GO!" flying back and forth between riders and runners around town. There's an incredible feeling of being part of something larger, of letting all the sweat and miles and early mornings be about more than just working off all the junk food we've eaten this year.
So a giant THANK YOU! goes out to Deanne who recriuted me, and to ALC staffers Sarah and Kari who answered emails and phone calls and passed info through Deanne to me pick a bike. All three gave me more than just technical information; they gaveme the confidence to find a bike that's perfect for me. I'm just dipping my little toe in the water now, but I can't wait to jump in!