DAY 5. ALC10. Red Dress Day.

Woke up in Santa Maria to a tent city crawling with men and women in red dresses. Sequins. Feather boas. Fake boobs. Fish net stockings. High heels with toe clips for pedaling! This sea of red filed into the streets on bikes, a long red ribbon that stretched all the way to Lompoc. 40 miles in drag.

The looks from drivers and passers
by was something else. Some people cheered. I had a chilling moment at a stop light when a 60ish man in a white pickup pulled up next to me and looked at me out of the corner is eyes, literally the corner of his eyes, with fear and rage. He was utterly disgusted. And his glare was frightening. (Of course I WAS wearing a red dress. And up to that moment the only fear I had was that the taffeta would get caught in my wheel!)

A favorite quote from the day: “My skirt got caught in my break and yanked my balls.”

40 miles is a short day. But lots of hills. Rolled into camp at 3. Passed out in my tent for a nap.

Each night after dinner, in the dining tent, riders and crew listen to ALC community news. A chance for announcements, safety issues, route info, weather report, and so on. But the real focus is brought forward by the leadership of ALC: the CEO’s of thr SF AIDS Foundation and the Gay and Lesbian Center of LA. Stories of the social service programs of these orgs. Short documentary videos and anecdotes from the frontline of gay and lesbian activism.

I have to say that this event is unlike any organized event pr gathering I have ever experienced, by far. Part arduous athletic feat, part serious fundraising enterprise, part vital social activism, part raging party, and all held together inside an incredibly well organized logistically near perfect roving village. I don’t know of any other community gathering like it. Nor of this magnitude. The people who run this event are what we can call real leaders. They have vision. Intelligence. Humor. Compassion. Drive. Communication skills unparalleled. All of which enables them to mobilize 3000 people down the coast of California to fight and end AIDS.

Tonight from the podium: “In 1994 we rode to grieve those we had lost. And we had lost so many. Now we ride to, yes, grieve those we’ve lost, but more so we ride to celebrate those who we will never lose because of the work we have done.”

Medicine has come a long way in 20 years.

Sadly people are infected every day. A stunning statistic: AIDS is the leading cause of death for black women under 40 in this country.

“Sweet Harmony”, an African American trio of gospel singers who have a connection to fight against the disease, sang a stirring rendition of Amazing Grace tonight.

How sweet the sound.

85 miles to Ventura tomorrow.