In Support and In Memory of

I will wear this cape on on AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) Day 1. The cape has names of those shared with me to honor memories or in support of those living.

In Support of

A Nameless Relative a.k.a. Stigma Sucks
Drew Stephens

John Paul Kozicki III

In Memory of

Ray Bitanga

Donald Brown

Cesar Casado
Bruce Christensen

Kevin Cortez

Bert Estillo

Skyler Foxx

Emili Galeazzi

Gary Geibel

Whoa Gerry

Dennis Gould

Carl Greene

Carl Greene

Ramon Hodel

Larry Hunter

Toshi Irizawa

Doug Kimball

Matthew Langley
Robert Mashburn

Michael Messerschmitt

Robert Mitchell

Patrick O’Malley

Sonny Padilla
Ed Peterson

Bobby Purcell

Reynaldo Ramirez

Alex Reyes

Daniel Roberts

Mike Sieczkarek

Johnny Simon
Gary Stainback

Douglas Yaranon

Tony Yuen

and

Elma Lorico Desuyo

Mama was proud of my ALC efforts and her unexpected, sudden death on January 14, 2016 at home robbed me of some of my motivation for the ALC 2016 cause.

She checked-in with me daily, smiled with each additional training miles and donations received, and even called all her friends and family members to help in any way.  She proudly wore her “Ride on, Edna” t-shirt to honor Cyclist #1371, Edna Flores Lagunte, who unexpectedly passed away during our 2014 ride.  The reason I include Mama in this email is that when Mama found out I had started cycling to end HIV/AIDS in 2014 she became a staunch ‪ALC supporter.  With Mama’s enthusiastic involvement, we raised over $70,000 for 2014 and 2015.

Mama is in my heart and I started to see her smile and hear her encouragement.

I feel that my volunteer work for ALC in training (including training new cyclists), fundraising and finally riding in June helped ease the pain of losing Mama.  Call me shameless using Mama's recent death as a ploy to include in my fundraising efforts. I didn't mind because the donations were not for me. The donations were used immediately, so that in the not-too-distant future, the HIV/AIDS epidemic will no longer require us to care, worry, fundraise, fight for resources, or even have ALC for this cause.

Craig Wakefield Nauman

who left us unexpectedly Thursday, April 09, 2015

and

Edna Flores-Lagunte

Richard Lagunte, Edna's husband and Deanna Dee Dee Tanner, a dear friend created Team Edna for ALC 2015.

Even many of those who rode 2014 and 2015 were not aware of the why and who.

All who knew Edna were sad when the wonderful 7-day 545-mile adventure in 2014 ended, but we were more saddened and ladened with heavy hearts when on June 4, 2014 (Day 4), our fellow-cyclist Edna from San Francisco suffered a cardiac event while cycling. Her loving husband Richard was riding with her when it happened. Edna passed away the following Sunday morning. She died doing what she loved most -- cycling in ALC, the highlight of the year for her. As her husband Rich shared, “to no surprise, her last act was to give the gift of life to others as an organ donor.” 2014 was Edna's 13th year as a participant in ALC, an event she loved deeply. She was a proud Training Ride Leader and helped prepare thousands of people in Northern California for the event. She has made an INCREDIBLE difference in the ALC community, and she will be greatly missed.

ALC 2015 was very emotional and healing, especially for Richard. One of the reasons for creating Team Edna, as our team page shares, "We are open to all who hold Edna close to their hearts and are willing to spread laughter and love to others as she did. We continue the battle she dedicated her life to, the fight against HIV/AIDS. We support and encourage each other as well as all members of the ALC family."

and

Mary Vencill RIP July 29, 2017

In 2014, Mary Vencill was my first Training Ride Leader. I emailed her my reservation for a training ride and included my concerns. She responded almost immediately allaying any of my fears and welcomed me. The first thing she said when I arrived was, "You belong here. You can do this."

Click here for "Why ALC?," which includes more about Mary

For all the reasons I chose to join ALC in January 2014, to support those in need and have lost loved ones to AIDS, I have vowed to ride AIDS/LifeCycle year-after-year to include honoring loved ones for as long as I am able.