AIDS/Lifecycle 12 - An Unforgettable Journey - Day 0 aka Orientation

Today was a very moving day. I saw so many people I haven't seen in several years and met new people I'll be riding with all week long.

We got there really early and had to wait for about 40 minutes to drop off the bike and bike parking, then proceeded to orientation and safety video. The movie they played was very moving and had many testimonials about HIV and why people do the ride that was very inspiring and renew my faith in this event. Of course I couldn't help to get choked up several times.

I spent most of orientation day with my friend Dave Van Wess Since we didn't want to get separated. We're rooming together right now. We did a lot of training rides in Palm Springs so we're pretty chummy. It was nice to go through Orientation with someone instead of being alone.

We picked up our orientation materials which included luggage tags and participant number to put on my bike and helmet. Rey Rey spent the whole day with me. No one noticed or commented about him since it seems VERY common for people to Camp it up and show their individuality. I'll take pics of some of that tomorrow and provide a lot more pics in future blogs.

Today was really low key, however, the weather is GORGEOUS right now. A beautiful sunny day in the 70's with no winds or fog. It's VERY unusual for this time of year. I guess it's going to be 7 days of gorgeous early California summer weather. I'm soooo stoked about that.

EVERYONE has been amazing, helpful, flirty and fun. That's the culture of the Ride. safety first and watch out for each other. You can feel the energy and excitement in the air. It's palpable and very obvious.

What about me you ask? I can't wait to get up at 4:30am, eat, gear up and go! I've trained long and hard for this and I expect it to pay off with effortless performance over the next 7 days.

Check back tomorrow! Ta Ta for now...

Xoxo
Stefen