• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Slice, Slice Baby!
  • LGBTQ+ Youth, Seniors, and ‘Drag Race’ Queens Celebrate Chosen Family at Inaugural Intergenerational Thanksgiving Dinner
  • Dispensing Culturally Competent Care: The Center’s Patient-Centric Pharmacy Does Much More Than Fill Prescriptions
  • Get to Know the Center’s New Leadership Team
  • The Center Looks Back on 25 Years of Senior Services
  • Center CEO Joe Hollendoner: “Our Work Is Never Done”
  • Trixie Mattel Inspires LGBTQ+ Youth to Be Their Best Selves at Models of Pride: “You Are All the Main Character”
  • From Poetry to Tap Dance, Seniors Flaunt Their Talents at Fall Showcase 
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Health»After 20 Months Apart, Emotions Overflow at AIDS/LifeCycle Kickoff Training Ride

After 20 Months Apart, Emotions Overflow at AIDS/LifeCycle Kickoff Training Ride

0
By on October 18, 2021 Health

By Greg Hernandez

Levi Vieira couldn’t make the short walk from the parking lot to Colorado Center Park in Santa Monica on Saturday without bursting into tears.

Happy tears.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” Vieira said shortly after arriving at the site of the AIDS/LifeCycle Socal Kickoff Ride. “I had like three crying sessions—maybe four. It’s so exciting to see everybody and to be able to hug people and to get back on the road.”

Vieira, captain of the New Bear Republic team, was one of more than 300 people who took part in either a 37-mile training ride that began and ended in Santa Monica with the halfway point in South Los Angeles or a 13-mile ride for first-time participants.

It was the first major in-person gathering for the world’s largest single event HIV/AIDS fundraiser since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the 2020 and 2021 rides to be canceled.

The kickoff ride was an opportunity for joyous reunions between cyclists who, for the most part, had not seen each other in nearly two years.

“When we first cancelled, I was literally devastated,” admitted Vieira, who will be doing his fourth ride. “It’s something I’m very passionate about. I’m very excited to be back. It was hard being away.”

Elena Sherman will also be doing the ride for the fourth time and was already feeling the love on Saturday.

 “It is absolutely awesome. It cannot even be described,” Sherman said of reuniting with fellow riders. “It’s just the best day after this horrible,horrible period of no hugs, no socializing. Human beings are social animals so we need that social contact.”

The 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles returns as an in-person event on June 5–11, 2022 and benefits the HIV/AIDS-related services of the Los Angeles LGBT Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Virtual fundraising events were held during the pandemic, including the first-ever AIDS/[email protected] which raised a total of $8.1 million last year and this year’s TogetheRide which raised $2.6 million. In 2019, ride participants had raised more than $16.7 million—the highest fundraising amount in the event’s history.

“I can’t believe that I get to see all of these beautiful faces today in person,” ride Director Tracy Evans, speaking through tears, told the crowd before the training ride. “It’s been way too long, and I don’t know about you all, but I’m a little emotional today. It is hard to believe that it has been 20 months since we’ve been all together. Twenty months that we’ve been all taking care of our health and each other’s health in a way that’s different than we usually do. We thought today would be a great day to get the party started.”


The Santa Monica event was one of nine AIDS/LifeCycle training events that took place on Saturday, with several others throughout California as well as rides in Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon.

Off to a Strong Start

In late September, fundraising for the 2022 ride broke through the $1 million mark—something that usually doesn’t happen until around Thanksgiving.

About 800 people from Southern California have already signed up for the ride and Evans said organizers would like to increase that number by 400–500 more riders.

”We hope to get back to where we were back in March 2020 when we were on track to break through $17 million for the first time,” she said to the group. “What do you say we all get there and do that and even more this year?”

Evans pointed out that throughout the pandemic, both the Center and the Foundation were able to shift their work to serve the community as needed.

“Both agencies have always been at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and now the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “We’ve never closed our doors for a day throughout the crisis. We did not shut down or reduce services. The truth is, they got expanded.”

Heading South

The 37-mile route offered glimpses of the ocean while participants pedaled from Santa Monica to Marina del Rey, continued onto the Ballona Creek bike path and into South Los Angeles where their turnaround point was at the Los Angeles LGBT Center South which hosted a rest stop and offered micro tours.

“This is a location where things are happening that you are helping to raise money for,” Evans explained to the riders. “This location broadens our reach with a key area of focus on people who are most vulnerable for HIV infections—young, gay, and bisexual Black and Latino men and transgender women of color. Center South is intended to be an especially welcoming place for these folks.”

Many riders took part in a quick tour of the location which opened its doors in January 2020 near Leimert Park.

“It’s really great to ride in this community because I haven’t ridden in this community before,” Julie Rosenberg said as she took her break. “It’s something different and it’s exposure for AIDS/LifeCycle and for the LGBTQ community and it’s amazing.”

First-time rider Anne Gaw said after touring Center South that seeing it personally will help her when it comes to raising money.

“This will help with my storytelling,” Gaw explained. “I can tell my friends and family what it’s like, how it helps people, what is done here. I get to see first-hand this beautiful location that’s been opened and the great services they have that are so targeted. They are located right in the community.”

Second-time rider Daniel Leblanc agreed.

“I think it’s great that you get to see the hard work that everyone puts into raising the money and to see where some of it goes,” he said. “It’s a really cool space for the community to come and to feel safe and learn about HIV and AIDS.”

Missing the Love Bubble

Many AIDS/LifeCycle participants have described the ride as a life-changing experience and veterans talk about a utopian “love bubble” that exists among riders, volunteer roadies, and anyone else involved from the moment they set foot at Cow Palace in San Francisco on the first day until they reach Los Angeles on day seven.

On the day of the kickoff ride many were clearly eager to begin recapturing that experience, including Sara Chacon who will be riding for the 10th time and took part in both virtual fundraisers over the past two years.

“I think the love bubble is one of the reasons why I keep coming back,” Chacon said. “It’s something to keep me going the rest of the year. I think it’s just the sense of community and the overall accomplishment as a collective and the money we raise.”

Michael Rolla will be riding for the fourth time and was overjoyed at the prospect of training again. He was also pleased with the breakfast food offerings at the starting point.

“It’s kind of like one of those post-COVID trigger points where certain things happen and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like we’re almost back to normal again,’” he explained. “Just getting to see people who we haven’t seen in person in two years. This is also my first Pop Tart in two years so it’s all kind of amazing.”

Standing near Rolla was Michael Ivey who announced to those nearby: “Chicken Lady just drove up!”

Chicken Lady is Ken Thomason, a ride institution whose uniform includes a stuffed chicken attached to his helmet and a chicken purse he bought at a carnival.

“A friend of mine who was HIV-positive came over to my birthday party fundraiser the first year I registered and he brought me this stuffed chicken that he had gotten at a bar out of one of those arcade claw machines,” Thomason (pictured) recalled. “He passed away two months later. I thought I would put the chicken on my helmet for people to know Rick.”

This will be his 26th AIDS/LifeCycle and Thomason said it comes at just the right time.

“I retired after 22 years as a flight attendant and that was a nurturing, giving job for me to do,” he shared. “With the ride not being available, I wasn’t giving. Coming here today, I’m very emotional to be with everyone again.”

Register now at www.aidslifecycle.org






Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Dispensing Culturally Competent Care: The Center’s Patient-Centric Pharmacy Does Much More Than Fill Prescriptions

Los Angeles LGBT Center Joins Forces with Anti-Violence Organizations to Spearhead National Institute Addressing LGBTQ Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

Vaccine Clinic for Sex Workers Provides Nearly 70 Doses to High-Risk Community

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Feb 4
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Future is Black 2023: Renaissance

Feb 9
February 9 - March 4

Cock

Mar 16
March 16 - April 16

Menstruation: A Period Piece

Apr 29
April 29 - June 24

A New Brain

May 13
May 13 - June 12

The Bottoming Process

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
This is not a drill: There are active legislative This is not a drill: There are active legislative threats against our freedoms going up for vote across the country. We know most of these fights are not happening in California—but that’s precisely why our Center community can be of help. Join the Resistance Squad today by texting ‘RESIST’ to 33339 to help win this fight, and swipe through the slides to understand what’s happening. —>
Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom f Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom for our #LGBTQ+ #elders each year? A few years ago, we were visited by filmmakers who wanted to document the event in all its glory—and now their film is airing tonight on @PBS at 10PM PT. Please tune in to celebrate the amazing work of our Senior Services team and our real heroes, our incredible clients! And stay tuned later this year for more from our next installment of the Prom.
Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center exten Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center extends our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those we lost in the tragic mass shooting in #MontereyPark, and our well wishes to the survivors who are recovering. We remain committed to our hope for a peaceful and prosperous Los Angeles—without guns and hate.
We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Co We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Community Partner for the upcoming screening of Pat Rocco's Signs of Queer Life on January 26 at 7:30pm.

The trailblazing LA-based filmmaker and gay rights advocate, #PatRocco, captured seminal moments of LGBTQ history, joy and upsets. Check out a preview of his film #WeWereThere. Use discount code LGBTQ+ to get $2 off tickets to the screening! Link in our bio. 
 
#AcademyMuseum #LGBTQstories
The Center is proud to announce our inaugural thea The Center is proud to announce our inaugural theatre season! This year, we are partnering with local theatre companies to present nearly 100 showings of four remarkable plays to lift the depth and diversity of LGBTQ+ narratives. The line-up includes world premieres, an award-winning comedy, and a radically reimagined musical. Performances begin Feb. 9—Get your tickets now at lalgbtcenter.org/theatre, or at the link in our bio! 🎭 🎟️
SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfre SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfreedia, Queen of Bounce, is coming to the Los Angeles LGBT Center for #TheFutureIsBlack — our #BlackHistoryMonth event — and tickets are FREE to the public at the #linkinbio. Hear from Freedia and a dynamic roster of other Black talent, then dance the night away in our Renaissance-themed afterparty. Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 4th and get on that list at the link in bio before it closes.
Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most pr Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most preeminent civil rights leaders— the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.— who left us a transformative legacy rooted in service and community. His noble actions blueprinted monuments of unity across the country, and especially, here at home in Los Angeles. On this #MLKDayofService, we are reminded of our ability to champion equity and justice for all.
 
#DrKing #MLKDay
We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply distu We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply disturbed by the videos depicting the tragic deaths of three Angelenos, and join the Mayor in calling for urgent police reform and accountability. Swipe through for our full statement.

#TakarSmith #KeenanAnderson #OscarSanchez
Get ready, LA! Join us in community as we ring in Get ready, LA! Join us in community as we ring in Center South’s 3rd Anniversary Celebration on January 21st from 12-4PM! The joyous afternoon event will offer self-guided tours, dynamic performances, food, prizes, health services, and more. Register for free at lalgbtcenter.org/centersouth3year or with the link in bio! We can’t wait to see you there 🏳️‍🌈☀️
 
PS: Did you know Center South is located in the heart of #SouthLosAngeles, just steps away from historic #LeimertPark? The site offers free (or low cost) year-round health services and STI testing for all #Angelenos. 

#LosAngeles #LGBTQ
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.