Day -1; San Diego to San Francisco

Well followers. Here it is, I am on my way to the ride. I could hardly get any sleep last night. I had a great night; cooked dinner for Jose for a quiet night in. A heartfelt hug, kiss and words goodbye and I'm off to bed, exhausted. Then like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can't sleep ;) I am too filled with anticipation of the day to come and the journey laid out before me. I try to remind myself to release all expectations and be in the moment, but it didn't work. I am now too caught up, burning up from the heat trapped in my house and thirsty. I finally manage sleep but for maybe four hours or so. I get up at 415 and a nice quiet morning listening to the birds outside with my cup of coffee, last minute packing and then a mini stroll around the block. I enjoyed this quiet moment, thinking fondly to my home in Colorado and how peaceful it is there and the camping trips I did with the family growing up. I am excited to soon be on this outdoor journey on a bike with 3000 new family members.

David and Logan arrive promptly 30 min late ;) and we pack up and are off. 6 1/2 hours from LA to San Francisco and 7 days to get back ;) About 60 miles out from San Francisco, a mini freak out moment. Seeing the miles and miles of open prairie land, and the hours in the truck, I realize I have to ride all of this back. That's a long, long way. Maybe I should've flown out here. Much shorter in the mind to have flown it than drive it. David, taunts me. Tells me that I have 7 days to ride back :-) Yikes. But I'm still excited!

Logan and David at our Lunch Stop somewhere in BFE California. Blanch and Fiona on the back of David's truck.  Look at the quote. "You're off to Great Places! Today is your Day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!" Dr. Seuss  David's SAG truck was Dr. Seuss themed and provided great quotes for the ride and motivation for our tired asses :)

So we pull into San Francisco and there it is, Cow Palace!! Shit! I yelped out loud just a hair. Now this is real. Up till now, it was all in the head.  But to see the enormity of Cow Palace and the enormity of what is to come, it just became real. My emotions are on a roller coaster right now.  Good emotions, but a little scared.

A view from the Alpine Inn looking towards Cow Palace.  This place was huge!

We get to Alpine Suites and it has a wonderful, perfectly centered view of Cow Palace. I take a moment and David totally sees it. He sees that this real to me. Thank the lord David was there.  He smiles knowing that I am soaking this in, maybe a little nervous.  But he pats me on the back and reminds me that "no one said saving lives was going to be easy".  I am overwhelmed and nervous.  I hope to successfully complete this in one piece. I take my emotions and I released it to the universe and accepted the emotions that have and will hit me. But then, oh lord, here comes Doreen. Doreen has done every AIDS Ride and AIDS Lifecycle since year one. She is an inspiration.  Full of life, energy and love.  She is wonderful in every sense of the word. I was fortunate to once ride briefly with her and enjoyed soaking in her presence, as it is pure love energy. However, three weeks ago she got into a bike wreck and fractured her arms. Doreen, mother of safe riding got seriously injured riding. This was hard to see, especially after having many a person remind me to be safe and ask only that I come back in one piece. I am sad that she cant ride this year (she will be doing a SAG bus) and nervous as I remember that this sport can cause me serious injury, no matter how safe I am (she injured herself while in the process of trying to keep her fellow riders safe, basically taking one for the team. Damn ruts in the road)  Her story though, and commitment to making a difference, keeps me on my bike peddling. As her hankie said a few years back, I will have hard days but I don't wake up every day with AIDS. So, I will keep peddling. I can't bitch. Yeah, she has a broken arm, and she will ride again. And no matter what comes of me from this ride, I don't know what it is like to have AIDS.  So I will peddle. And for my friends, family and boyfriend, I will promise you I will do so safely and come back to you in one piece, with maybe a sunburn and a few scratches only.

See, I'll be safe.  There is a medical car, one of MANY!

We head over to Cow Palace so David can upload his truck to sweep. Now it hits me. To see all the vehicles (sweep,food, gear, medical, logistics, media, etc.) put this all into perspective. We are a moving city and they know what they are doing. We drop off our bikes and we are a day early. So we see a handful of bikes in an empty room of bike racks. Tomorrow this area will be full with bikes. This is happening and now I am just floating through the motions almost emotionless but drowning in emotions.  This is surreal and unreal.

 The rows of empty bike racks. This will be filled very soon.

Off to a send off party at the Lookout. It was FUN! Now I am getting into the spirit and excitement of the ride. We are surrounded by riders, roadies and supporters. I meet a great gay couple who are doing moto support (sounds fun) and parking. I met the man in the dress on the hill, he will be out there every day on a hill in a dress to cheer us up the hill. I met a girl who had yet to finish raising funds, but flashed a boobie to a gay for cash (she may have been tipsy). I also meet the gayest of gays, which reminds me sometimes why I don't like gays and a few pretentious gays. But all are there for the support an to raise money for a cause. I put my differences aside and open myself to the people and love that is there.  It is odd, I really am not into the gay scene of gay.  And the Lookout had all of that.  But I had a blast, and here followers, an admitance.  I had a couple drags off a cigarette.  I know I know.  I debated telling you all this.  But this is my online journal and account of the ride and it happened.  I only did so because I did.  There really is no explanation for my actions.  I don't regret it, but feel guilty for doing so.  I have given my body a complete overhaul for health and here I am taking drags of a cigarette.  But the temporary high it provided was memorable.

Back to the hotel where we order a pizza and wolf it down. I love food! :-) then off to bed. This day has been long.