Thanks!

The ride has been over for more than a month now, it's taken me some time to put this blog together, and I'm still working on a Google Earth version.

The AIDS LifeCycle 2010 was a great experience for me: physically it left me very fit, it was a fabulous travel experience and the people (the roadies and support crew, the organizers, and of course the other cyclists) made it a special social experience too. For everything I put into this, I got so much more out of it.

I'd like to thank again everyone who encouraged and supported me on the ride, including everyone who donated to the ride:

• Alissa Tan 
• Ben Lindahl
• David Bertoni
• Derek Satre 
• Dos and Shirley Dos Santos
• Google, for its generosity in matching every donation
• Heba Gamal
• Karl Robillard
• Laura Capello
• Lynnsey Skliros and Lance Schneider
• Mark Bromley and David Salie
• Reid Yokoyama
• Tom Warne
• Val McDonald

And I'd also like to thank my parents for sending a batch of AIDS beadwork badges from South Africa, to my roommates Stefanie and Nicole for helping out with so much, and other people in team Google, especially Nathan Davis, Mike Fritz and cap'n Logan Eldridge.

Extremely Fast Return to San Francisco

The ride down took 7 days to do the 875 km (545 miles) with a lot of sweat and effort. It was almost humiliating to bord a flight back from LA to San Francisco, and cover the same distance in 1 hour 15 minutes.

We flew along the fog line that we'd sometimes been cycling beneath on the ride, it looks beautiful from the air. This isn't the line of the coast, its a chain of hills inland (possibly the Santa Lucia Mountains, although I'm not sure) which block the fog's passage.

Pancake Stack

"If you've ridden 100 miles", my roommate Stefanie said when I was doing the training, "then you can eat whatever you want. A deep-fried hostess twinkie. Whatever your want."

I'd ridden 545 miles, and my first breakfast after the ride wasn't a deep-fried hostess twinkie, but a pot of really good coffee, the largest stack of pancakes I'd ever seen (15 high?) and a great omelet at the Griddle Cafe on Sunset Boulevard, together with friends Sandy and Mark. It was my farewell to LA: from there I drove through the crazy freeway system to LAX.

Pride Parade on Santa Monica Boulevard

Not far from my hotel, the LA Pride Parade was happening the morning after the ride. I was only there briefly because I met friends later on; but here are a couple of pictures of protesters protesting protesters, and the legendary Dykes on Bikes, who lead the parade.

Day 7: The End!

I rode the last miles with my friend from work Nathan. This is us, together with Julian another Googler, at the end of the ride at the VA Center in LA.

Julian and I shared a fabulous cup of coffee nearby, and then I skipped the closing ceremony to get into my hotel. All I wanted was a shower! The hotel was a boutique hotel in West Hollywood with a roof top bar overlooking the hazy city. It was a well-appreciated bit of luxury at the end of a long ride.

Day 7: Bulk Lawn

I pushed through today without stopping to take many photographs. This was the one exception: the surreal sight of fields and fields of ultra-green lawn, destined I'm guessing for the city of LA, with brown semi-arid landscapes and hills in the background.

Day 7: Ventura to Los Angeles

Our last day was a short one: 61.5 miles along the coast from Ventura, most of it along the Pacific Coastal Highway through Malibu and Santa Monica and then a final stretch short stretch to the VA Theater in Los Angeles. Once again, my phone refused to record the track (that old technology-is-so-fabulous-when-it-works story), so I've had to reconstruct the map by hand from the route sheet.


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Day 6: Candles on the Beach

Evenings at the ALC had long sessions of announcements and information on the San Francisco Aids Center and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, for whom we were raising money.  Tonight was the last night so it was a little different: it ended in a candlelit vigil on the beach of San Buenaventura. This event was really touching because of it's simplicity: thousands of people, each holding a candle, citing in a vast ring on the beach. Then after about 10 minutes of saying nothing, the candles were doused, one after the other, in the dark surf.

That was it. I didn't want to take any photos.

It was a sobering reminder of what this has all been about.

Day 6: Paradise Pit

I'd heard other riders talking about the Paradise Pit earlier on today: a stop where local ice cream vendors and pastry shops in Santa Barbara give away ice cream, baked goods and fresh berries to the cyclists.

It turned out the Paradise Pit was just east of the Santa Barbara beach, so we reached it in the early afternoon. I didn't want to leave again quickly: if there is anything better in the world than lying under palm trees on a perfect day and eating as much really good ice cream as you want, it'll take a while for me to find it! This was one of the big highlights of a ride which had a lot of highlights.

Day 6: Santa Barbara

Rest Stop 3 today was the beautiful palm-tree-lined beachfront of Santa Barbara.

The theme was Alice in Wonderland: here is the White Queen and the King of Hearts (Chris):

 A group of us took the advantage of having arrived in the heat of Southern California to go for a spontaneous swim (and take some of the sea's harvest back to land):

Day 6: Tagged

We were all wearing dog tags to identify luggage (and, the running gag, our bodies). Here's Julian giving away his digits to all the identify thieves:

Day 6: Early Morning

 Mornings on the ride were early: we got up between 4:30 am and 5 am, packed tents, got slathers of sunblock over our faces, had breakfast and a quick yoga or stretching session, and then we were on our way by 6:30am.

That was the normal routine at least. Today was a little more mellow: John and I left at around 7am and rode most of the day together.

Day 6: Lompoc to Ventura

85 miles/ 140 km along the pacific coast today some of it alongside the busy freeway 101 (although this was better than I feared). My My Tracks application refused to record any more today: so I've had to reconstruct the map. Mostly pretty accurate, although for a lot of the last part of the ride from Rincon into Ventura, we were on a cycle track, not the freeway.


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Day 5: Red Dress Day

This was, in AIDS LifeCycle lore, originally "Dress in Red Day" but it got quickly turned into "Red Dress Day". Almost everyone was dressed in red ... something.Took this photo when we got a good cup of coffee (and some odd looks) at a midday break in the town of Los Olivos

 One of the cyclists had a basket with ET in it; today ET got to wear a red dress too.

Day 5: Santa Maria to Lompoc, in Red Dresses.

67 mile was through the gorgeous Santa Ynez Valley (the setting of the fabulous wine film Sideways), and the absurd town of Solvang which is somewhere between Copenhagen and Disney.

Today was supposed to be a relaxed day, but it turned out otherwise: no less than 4 tube problems, and then fierce headwinds and unexpectedly steep hills at the end of the day made it the most challenging yet.

Day 4: More Fabulous Road Stops, Roadies

And once more, the Fabulous Roadies of Rest Stop 4. The theme: Hotdog on a Stick.

Day 4: Fabulous Coastline

The view close to Pismo Beach was incredible ... had to break the ride for this photo.

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Day 4: Map

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Day 4: Paso Robles to Santa Maria

97 miles today over the hills nicknamed The Evil Twins, which weren't really all that evil (cyclists behind me were singing their way up - it sounded like a spontaneous musical). And at the top, the second evil twin suddenly showed her fair side: a stupendous view out towards the Pacific to the west, and the chance to get this photo taken at the half-way point of the ride. Then a brownie provided by a generous trio of local women and the bliss of a 7-mile downhill stretch.

Mission San Miguel Arcángel

This is one of the string of the Spanish Missions which stretch halfway up California (another one gives my suburb in San Francisco it's name; its a short distance from where I live).

It was founded in 1797 and badly damaged by an earthquake in 2003.

Day 3: The Price is Right!

The famous group of Roadies of Reststop 4 pulled out all the stops to create The Price is Right in a forecourt of the Mission San Miguel Arcángel in San Miguel today. I'd never seen The Price is Right before, so my first introduction to it was the camped up version which was like a cross between The Mission and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. They raised over $2000 for the Mission's restoration with this stint.

Day 3: Lunch at Bradley

 
Bradley is a small town which has seen better days - at some stage (in the 50's?) the 101 was built to one side of it, and the town looks like its stagnated ever since.

But the town had a party atmosphere when the AIDS LifeCycle rolled through: they put on a barbecue and the money raised funds the local school's sport and art program for the year.

I arrived early and took the opportunity to use my big camera to take a series of photos.

Here are Julian and Janice, two fellow Googlers with whom I did the ride. We're monkeying around.

Day 3: King City to Paso Robles

Only 67 miles today! No punctures, just a never-ending hill going up into the mist named the "QuadBuster", and a stint of cycling on the 101 freeway. The freeway was sketchy not because of the traffic but because the verge was horribly rutted, so we ended up having to cycle along the white line as close to the traffic (and as far from the ruts) as possible.

In the early afternoon we passed this long trainload of military vehicles; I have no idea what their final destination was.

I did have really sore quads at the end of the day today. Maybe part of this was psychosomatic (I didn't even know what a quad was until today's hill taught it to me). I went for a massage in the "Burning Man"-themed tent and it hurt like nothing I've experienced for a while. "It's for your own good!" grunted the masseuse, and maybe it was, but it also felt like a near-birth experience.

Day 3: Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102186344703467308535.000488a50e4608764b111&z=9


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Day 2: The Eternal Power Struggle

Keeping my Nexus 1 charged was a constant battle. I had a Solio charger which was on the bike the whole time, but it didn't provide enough power to recharge the phone fully. This rats nest of extension cables was the alternative!

Day 2: Rest Stop 2

All the rest stops have creative themes: this one was "girl guides". I got some of my badges the easy way (by going to the Porta-Potty)

Day 2: Artichokes!

Apart from strawberries, the other crop which was growing everywhere was artichokes; at this fruit stall you could buy them steamed or deep fried. I have to confess: I balked.

Day 2: Santa Cruz to King City

107 miles and two punctures made this day a long one.

We started through the sweet smelling strawberry fields of central california then headed inland through Soledad and the Mendocino wine region. The final part of the day was through a landscape of lush green irrigated fields on the right and tawny brown hills on the left.

The punctures were both on one wheel and made me think something was wrong; but the bike mechanic found nothing. The second puncture was a mile away from the final camp: frustration!

Day 2: Map (Partial)

Part of the 'partial' was me forgetting to start recording the track in the morning; the rest was the battery giving out (despite solar charger) halfway through the day.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102186344703467308535.0004891fb2bd9c90a095c&ll=36.463263,-121.405106&spn=0.379378,0.780716&z=11


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Day 1: Tent City

The camps are tent cities packed close together: they look like a cross between a refugee camp and a music festival, but the food is fabulous and there are hot showers.

Mike and I are tent mates, which works well, because we both try and out-orderly the other.

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Day 1: Map

Map of the second half of the route at http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215357222291930401319.000488693882ebba2f2c0




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Day 1: Kite Surfing

There is a beach north of Santa Cruz which attracts scores of kite surfers. its was beautiful to stop for 5 minutes and watch them.

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Day 1: Googlers

I'm cycling with a group of Googlers; today we all wore Google Maps jerseys. This is my friend Nathan behind all that sun block.

Day 1: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

Got up at 4am after only 5 hours sleep. Cow Palace is a giant concrete bunker south of San Francisco and in thickening fog with thousands of cyclists it was surreal. The kick-off event was like a mass gymnastic performance.

Within a couple of hours, I had my first of many punctures. A little further down the road, Nathan was helping another cyclist to fix another puncture.

In the late morning, we were riding directly under the fog line; then it lifted to show blue sky.

Day 0: Registration

 Today was a day of last minute bike changes, and then the rush of the registration and the realisation that we're finally there, and this is about to begin. This is me and my biking buddy Mike, who I did most of the training with.

 The armbands made the whole things feel even more like a music festival than it did already. This marks me as having done the safety training, being registered for the ride, and being a registered vegetarian (this latter one gave me access to the express vegetarian queues!)

And here's Julian who got caught by the wardrobe people and got to experience how it feels being turned into Nancy Reagan in less than 5 minutes.