Research, Campus & community, Mind & body, Campus news

Cal cyclists blog their way to L.A. on AIDS benefit ride

By Public Affairs

cyclists

As they pedal down the California coast, members of the AIDS Life/Cycle Cal team — students, staff, alums and their loved ones — are posting photos on social media and blogging about their 545-mile benefit ride. The cyclists left San Francisco on Sunday and will arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 4. You can follow their progress here.

“At Orientation Day, I signed a banner which was to be incorporated into Sunday’s opening ceremonies,” Berkeley staff member Harry Stark writes. “On it I listed the names of close personal friends I lost to HIV/AIDS during the ’80s and ’90s.”

Riders’ blog posts also reflect the joys of touring the California coast on two wheels.

“At so many points, I was reminded of his descriptions of Salinas and neighboring towns,” Ph.D. candidate Christine Ho says of Day 2. “Like in the opening scene in Grapes of Wrath, where Tom Joad meets the preacher after seeking shade from a single tree under the scorching hot sun, I saw many oak trees scattered among acres of yellow grass.”

The Cal team includes 30 cyclists and two volunteer “roadies” (who help make the event run smoothly) — all working to raise money and awareness of HIV and AIDS.

For an introduction to the ride and photos of the team, see this NewsCenter piece by longtime AIDS Life/Cycle participant Christine Shaff, a staffer in the campus’s Real Estate unit.