Just over three decades ago, a group of people set out on a 545-mile bicycle journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a weeklong trek that took them along rugged coastlines, through verdant agricultural fields and along vast stretches of highway.
Then called the California AIDS Ride, the annual event evolved in 2002 to the AIDS/LifeCycle. It is the world’s largest annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser, and benefits the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
The riders passed through Santa Cruz County early on Monday.
With 2,067 cyclists and about 800 road crew participating in this year’s event—and more than $300 million raised since its inception—few would question either its success or its allure.
Despite this, crossing the finish line on June 7 will have bittersweet significance for the riders, since the event is ending its 31-year run this year.
Tyler TerMeer, San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO, said the event has seen a decline in participation, despite record-breaking attendance after the Covid-19 pandemic.
After decreases in 2023 and 24, organizers saw shifts in the way people participate in their communities.
“They were hanging out in smaller groups, not going to large events,” he said. “But also people’s jobs changed, the way they were able to raise money changed, the amount of time they could take off work changed, and this ride was a very large commitment.”
And so, as costs of producing the event increased as revenues decreased, organizers wanted to make sure they were being good stewards of their donors’ funds.
“At the end of the day, we wanted to make a really thoughtful decision for the participants of the AIDS/LifeCycle community,” TerMeer said. “And if we were going to end the ride, to do so in a way that would allow them to feel closure to something that has been so meaningful to so many people for so many years.”
TerMeer, who has been living with HIV for more than two decades, said he found the ride about 17 years ago, a discovery that changed his life.
“I found some of the people I consider my closest friends and chosen family on this ride,” he said. “I learned about real community and real leadership, and I cannot imagine my life up until this point without it. I know that I will always carry so much of what I learned, so many of the people, so many of the stories forever. This community is just so magical; it is what we want the world to look like every day.”
The announcement that this year would be AIDS/LifeCycle’s swan song drew an immediate response, TerMeer said.
“When we announced the final ride, we saw an immense amount of love for our community,” he said. “We sold out very quickly. We just have so much love out on the road right now.”
TerMeer stressed that the organizations that have heretofore benefitted from the ride will still be engaging their missions, and that they still need donors.
And more events are in the works, including a three-day cycling event from San Francisco through Sonoma wine country, and the return of a running event called the Big Gay 10K, TerMeer said.
“LifeCycle has always been more than the miles we ride,” he said. “It’s about the movement that we have been committed to, not only the HIV movement, but the movement of our bodies and the movement of the stories that we’ve collected and the movement of the people that we carry in our hearts. And I think that we’re really committed to figuring out how the heart of AIDS/LifeCycle continues into the future.”
Now if they would just put their genitals where they belong