Amidst all the daily mayhem in which we regard bullies, bluster and bad behavior as the norm, it’s a usually disheartening struggle to find real heroes. But I recently found some, however unsung as they might be.
They’re the riders and support crew of the AIDS Ride Wisconsin. Better known among participants under its former moniker, AIDS Network Cycles Together (ACT), the annual, fundraising, three-day bicycle trek just took place last weekend. Pete Minns, a colleague from our days as members of the PrideFest board of directors, has always been an obsessive volunteer for LGBTQ health-related causes. He asked if I’d come along for an AIDS Ride training session. It would just be for a single day’s 74-mile ride, beginning in Madison. I’d be in a sweep car, the support crew that follows the riders in case of breakdowns, mechanical or otherwise, as well as to ferry water for pit stops. Of course, I took him up on the offer.
We started off in Madison and, via county roads traveled into the Wisconsin countryside. The majestic rolling hills dotted with silos and grazing cows, cut with ribbons of two-lane roads, offer a bucolic quiet. But those charming postcard hills can challenge the hardiest of cyclists.
Traveling in the sweep car behind them, I could only marvel at their stamina and perseverance as they surmounted one dramatic incline after another and disappeared over the crest. I should mention that, of the 11 training that day, the majority were seniors and veterans of most, if not all, the previous 16 ACT rides. One, a 72-year-old rider, suggested there were a number of participants older than himself. Another intrepid rider confided that his endurance was in great part due to being part of the pack.
There were four times as many people on the actual AIDS Ride plus the volunteer sweep, route-marking and medical crews. On the first day, they rode from Madison to Waukesha. Day two was Century Day (aka Superhero Day, with some cyclists in costume). As the name implies, the route covered a grueling 100 miles from Waukesha and back again. Finally, the third day was the return to Madison and the closing ceremony. In all, the riders pedaled 275 miles through bugs, heat, hills and headwinds.
In ACT’s early years, there were several times the number of riders. But, given all the charity rides and walks, there’s a lot of competition. Perhaps the urgency of the cause has waned in some people’s minds as well, and there’s the demand of a three-day tour (it used to be six). Besides, if one is moved to donate, it’s merely a matter of a few keystrokes on a smartphone. For those who remain, however, the mission and motivation remain.
As rider Terry Christopher summed up, “Through the challenges and whatever else that came our way, we worked together as a team to crank through the miles to help the clients of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, while also remembering those friends and loved ones we have lost. It was, and always is, a pleasure to ride with such dedicated, supportive and love-filled folks that is this AIDS Ride Community.”
