ALC Expo = more love all around

What a wonderful day at the AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) Expo where those new to ALC spent time learning about what ALC does for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, including life in camp, supporters and resources, fun and games -- eight bicycles were given away in raffles and drawings.

I got to the Expo around 10:00 a.m. along with many other volunteers to get ready to share our experience and help out in various booths. I was with tent and gear and was so happy I helped several newbies with questions about what to pack, to buy, to bring, to expect, to do, to to to ... I was delighted to help out.

Those of us with Team EDNA who were at the Expo around 12:30 p.m. rushed to the auditorium to find a place to take a group picture. Lo and behold, we all rushed in and ended up right in front of the AIDS/LifeCycle Expo photo backdrop as someone was just finishing having his picture taken. Sorry Bear Republic, we think we cut in line, but you have so much love for Edna, that we're sure you didn't mind.

So much excitement that not enough great moments were captured on camera.

Gentle Ride with Gentle, Loving Folks

Distance 53.0
Moving Time 3:43:57
Elevation 1,319ft
Avg Speed 14.2mi/h
Max Speed 29.1mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 125bpm Max 162bpm
Calories 1,394
Temperature 64

Thank you for volunteering your time to be Training Ride Leaders Hugo, Angelica, and George (I know I missed one more TRL). What a laid back, gentle ride with a great group.

And, what a wonderful way to end the ride, I came home to a $250 donation to AIDS/LifeCycle from Sean Nhan. Thanks so much, Sean!

Today's ride is just what my cycling legs needed - a mostly flat ride. I rode most of the day with David Lozes, Orly Guzy and Hugo Sosa. I met some great new folks, including Linda, a first-time AIDS/LifeCycle rider cycling her first group ride.

Team EDNA - Art and Lisa

Hugo from afar

Richmond Bridge over David's shoulder

Action shot

Nancy and David (another David)

Poppies starting to blanket the ground

Orly coming into Seabreeze

More riders cycling into Seabreeze

Selfie antics

More selfic antics

And more

 

David rolling

Art staying at a rest stop long enough for this many bikes/riders to cycle in

Hey, Ari

Love our East Bay span tower

Camera looking down, me closing my eyes

More of the old span removed

Wacky Ride to Team EDNA Captain Meeting

Distance 2.2
Moving Time 13:27
Elevation 404ft
Avg Speed 9.7mi/h
Max Speed 16.8mi/h
Heart Rate Avg I had none-bpm Max Still none-bpm
Calories 78 (every bit counts)
Temperature 64

Riding to MacArthur BART from home to Orinda BART to Europa Hofbrau to Orinda BART to Rockridge BART and home.

Richard Lagunte, Rachel Sandoval Carl, Deanna Tanner, Thomas Musante (via Facetime) and I had a wonderful exchange of ideas for our kits and fundraisers. We're so excited to see the concept design to share with the rest of Team EDNA members and get more ideas for team fundraising, especially an event at Sports Basement.

Sports Basement supports various communities in fundraising and Team EDNA will partner with Sports Basement in Walnut Creek and Berkeley so that we can get a 10% discount to our event-goers with an additional 10% of all proceeds donated back to AIDS/LifeCycle. Now how good is that?!

Seeing a wonderful familiar face before riding

Distance 49.7
Moving Time 3:32:10
Elevation 1,349ft
Avg Speed 14.0mi/h
Max Speed 35.1mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 123bpm Max 152bpm
Calories 1,504
Temperature 59

Many cheers to the volunteer Training Ride Leaders Hugo Sosa, Angelica Reyes Sosa, Jeff Adamus, Rachel Carl, Ron Marshall, Don Brown, and Sam Kimbrel.

As I rode into the Del Norte BART station parking lot, I had a huge smile on my face when I saw Don and Carol Anne Brown, two delightful people I adore. I spent so much of my stretching time to visit with Carol Anne, but have no fear, Jeff led the group in a warm-up, which I used to for stretching.

with Don and Carol Anne

with Don, TRL extraordinaire

So many familiar faces today, Tanya, newlyweds-to-be Chris and Jess, Lisa and, and ... see what I get for taking three days to update this post and for not taking more pictures to remind me. You know the drill by this time - I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone and experiencing the extended ALC Love Bubble.

Sam and I rode off on a newish route for me. A quick rest stop at Safeway in Berkeley, then towards Spruce, which is a favorite gentle climb in Berkeley for many cyclists to Grizzly Peak to the start of Wildcat Canyon. I remember the first time (Feb 2014) up Spruce and wondering how in the heck am I going to enjoy this "what-the-f--k-am-I-doing" ride. I promise the next time I'm riding up Spruce, I'll take photos of this great house with giant statues.

We got to our second rest stop, Peets in downtown Orinda, which happens to be right across the street from Europa, a huge deli/cafe. Yeah, and what about it? Well, it was about noon, maybe earlier and Team EDNA captains had a meeting at 3pm'ish. I could've would've should've cycled back from Del Norte BART after signing out and I decided (hearing John's voice in my head, "you have four more months of training") to head on home and figure out a shorter way to get back to Europa at 3pm.

Voila, my Sunday Funday Trainday ride.

Sam and I taking a break to photograph our bikes on Wildcat Canyon

Riding the day after Mary's birthday

Distance 39.9
Moving Time 3:28:29
Elevation 2,543ft
Avg Speed 11.5mi/h
Max Speed 34.7mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 140bpm Max 166bpm
Calories 1,252
Temperature 54

Many thanks to the volunteer training ride leaders Mary Vencill (and Happy Birthday!), Aaron Lewis, Dawn Tso, Margaret Simon, Ali Mirzazadeh, Sam Kimbrel, Lionel McNeely and Jane Maxwell. Special thanks to SAG Harvey Eckman and Diana F-W.

My alarm was set for 5:00 a.m., but as that time neared, I decided I would not cycle up and over Grizzly Peak today to Orinda. Friday's near-death experience took a bit of my energy away, but it did not stop me from cycling today. I finally got up at 6:30 a.m., rode to MacArthur BART and took BART to Orinda. The Love Bubble opened its arms and I was hugged by many fellow riders.

So, as you can see from the map, my bike computer had a glitch - and an odd one at that. I'm not sure how I lost the route from Orinda to Moraga and how the computer thought I rode straight from MacArthur BART to Moraga. I did notice that my computer had turned off at the beginning of the ride, so most likely my forgetfulness to turn on the timer failed to capture the ride from Orinda BART to Moraga.

Most of my ride was spent with Alf, Sam, Christine and Matt. Thanks for challenging me to keep up with you speed demons.

Matt, Alf, Art, Christine and Sam

Riding with Carlos

Distance 33.0
Moving Time 2:41:09
Elevation 2,520ft
Avg Speed 12.3mi/h
Max Speed 34.9mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 123bpm Max 162bpm
Calories 1,084
Temperature 50

I have so much fun riding with my ALC 2015 tent-mate, Carlos Rangel, because he likes to spend an hour at our only rest stop. We haven't seen each other since November, so we ended up yakking at Caffe Duetto at 5646 Bay Street in Emeryville.  We lost all the momentum and heat generated from the ride to the rest stop and we wondered why we froze in today's cold weather.

I'm glad I cycled all the way up to his place in the Oakland hills giving me a better workout with the short ride.

The Hills Were Not Alive in Today's Musical

Distance 36.9
Moving Time 2:38:40
Elevation 509ft
Avg Speed 14.0mi/h
Max Speed 41.4mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 110bpm Max 147bpm
Calories 893
Temperature 59

Today, I skipped an official AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) training ride with Hugo Sosa to cycle with Bill Harwood (ALC 2012, 2013 & 2014), my pre-ALC cycling mentor, and Woojin Lee. When I bought my first road bike, Bill was the one who taught me all the tips of cycling and safety rules to expect when riding with ALC.

Thanks to Bill for initially trying to get me to join ALC years ago and eventually Ben Connelly who gave me the final push January 2014, I'm thoroughly thrilled to be hooked on cycling and fundraising for ALC.

After yesterday's ride up and down Wildcat Canyon to Orinda BART and back to Oakland with the Three Bears in between, I'm so glad that we rode a hill-less route today. I haven't seen Bill and Woojin for months, so we had fun catching up and still riding (mostly) single-file with at least one cycle length between each rider, but don't ask about the other ALC safety rules.

After we got back to Oakland, Bill graciously took us all to lunch, including the boys. John decided that football needed him more than us.

Thanks, Bill for lunch

Dry patch September 28, 2014

New growth January 18, 2015

Point Richmond Dock

Dilapidated building by the dock

Sailing school

Bill and Woojin

with Woojin

The trio