Day Five
Day Five was noted for the funniest part of all of Lifecycle: our fastest rider hit a cow. Yes, a cow. He was off-route (bad rider! bad rider!) somewhere near Vandenburg, cycling along at his customary 35 mph, when he ran into a cow on the road. He zigged left, the cow zigged left, he zigged right, the cow zigged right, and bam! over the handlebars he went. I must hand it to him for having the most innovative bike accident I’ve ever heard of.
I developed some knee problems on Day 5 (the result of a missing cleat screw in my left shoe), so wound up missing the most memorable part of Day 5: riding 6-7 miles up a hill just to do a little U-turn and come back down again. The ALC organizers swear it’s for safety reasons–crossing Highway 1 at the most logical place would be just too dangerous–but I have my dark suspicions, which mostly involve a night of drunken debauchery on the part of the route organizer.
Day 5 is also “Dress in Red” day (the idea being to create a giant red AIDS ribbon with the riders), which some riders changed to “Red Dress Day”.
Day 6
Day 6 was relatively easy, although somewhat long…I think it was something like 91 miles, but can’t quite remember.
Day 6 was “Naughty in Pink” day…I wore a go-go-girl bikini top I’d gotten in Bangkok, covered in pink sequins and with a dangly fringe. Plus a pink tutu, fluorescent pink fishnets, and an 8′ bullwhip with pink roses on the handle…it was quite the outfit.
I broke down by the side of the road on Day 6 (blew out a back tire somewhere in suburban Santa Barbara), and since all the drivers were stopping to look at the fenderbender anyway, I pulled out the whip and started doing a little go-go-cyclist show by the side of the road. Heaven only knows what the local folk thought of it…fortunately, a sweep vehicle showed up almost immediately to take me to Bike Tech, which ended the show.
Tutu of the Day! Tiger in a tutu...the jersey has tiger eyes, and there's a tiger nose and ears on the helmet.
And who says guys don't look good in slinky red dresses? This was my favorite photo of the entire ride.
Yea, a veritable chorus line of guys in red dresses...
...and a few more...
I, of course, couldn't resist getting a photo of myself with them...
...and here is me with Pat Christen, Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and Chicken Lady...
...and me with some more of SFAF's staff (left to right, their Webmaster, Asst Director AIDS Lifecycle, and my very own Cycle Buddy)
Day 5 was pretty short, so I got a chance to swing on the swing! Every time I swung, the tutu would flip up, which made it even more amusing.
Tutu of the Day! Note the red devil horns on the helmet, the red roses, the fabulous bikini top (click for a closer view), pink tutu, and pink whip.
Quite fetching, if I do say so myself...
Heaven and Hell: if you take a closer look, you'll see that the angel's robe reads "Hurt Me".
I think that can be arranged... :-)
I started out in a pink jersey, because the morning was cold. Fortunately, it warmed up during the day.
Me grooving to the music at one of the pit stops (sans jersey).
Day 6 featured the fabulous Space pit stop, full of fantastic space aliens with ray guns. Fortunately, they were friendly...
I've only got one decent photo from Day 7 because my camera was running out of batteries...but here is the Tutu of the Day! Red tutu with AIDS Ribbons, and last year's official ALC1 jersey.
That's it, folks!! For more interesting stuff, read my online journal on the official AIDS Lifecycle Webcast...
...or join us next year! I'm already registered...come see next year's tutus! (Because it's not a Ride, darling...it's a fashion show!)