California Cyclists Apply Pedal Power to AIDS Fight

Don Doxsee, a married auto parts salesman from Camarillo, didn’t even know anybody with HIV until this week. But he has spent the past six days pedaling up and down miles of hills to fight AIDS, showering at campsites and sleeping in a tent city with thousands of others all engaged in a common cause.

“Everyone is in this together,” Doxsee said. And for the spectators, that sense of mission was clear as this year’s California AIDS Ride cyclists rolled into San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura on Friday.

Green tents lined nearly the entire beach, a virtual mobile city of 2,700 riders, their thirst sated by 37,000 gallons of water--and for other needs, 1,787 Port-a-Potties. This was a time of togetherness, especially for a group of Ventura County riders who have trained together, shared tent space, and even received private massages from a local masseuse.

“It’s the camaraderie” that is great, Doxsee said. He was helped along the way by such spirit boosters as the 30 people in Summerland who held up signs and cheered him on just when he needed it, or the children in the Central California town of Guadalupe who passed out flowers to riders.

Each day during this eighth annual ride the cyclists pedaled about 75 miles. Friday began in Lompoc, with a lunch stop in Santa Barbara, and a trip down the 101 Freeway to the Ventura bike path alongside the ocean. Cyclists will hit the Coliseum in Los Angeles today, beginning about 2 p.m., and will be part of concluding ceremonies scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

The money raised by the 575-mile ride, about $11.8 million, goes in part to AIDS drugs, counseling and prevention programs supplied by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. About 40% of what is raised goes toward overhead.

Many of the riders have friends or family members who are HIV-positive or who have died of AIDS. Some simply support the cause. This year there were 105 HIV-positive riders, who called themselves the Positive Pedalers and affixed orange flags to their bikes to differentiate themselves.

They were one of the inspirations to Marilyn Becker of Thousand Oaks. She was greeted by her daughter and a cadre of co-workers and fans from Royal Oaks Medical Group. She stood at the daily finish line panting, with beads of sweat on her forehead, crowned with a helmet decorated with the names of those who donated the $2,700 it took for her to make the ride.

She was assisted by two co-workers--her personal pit crew--who drove ahead in a car each day. They supplied her with fresh tennis shoes, Gatorade, toothpaste and the other luxuries of life on the road. She had a simple--and ambitious--reason to make the trip.

“I believe we can bring an end to this epidemic,” she said. “I don’t want my grandchildren to know what AIDS is.”

Ventura resident Rich Warner, who owns the Salon Paradiso in Ventura, received a welcome from his proud mother--and her camcorder. He was also looking forward to the opportunity to sleep in his own bed.

He had a bout of dehydration, but, all in all, he was up for the remainder of the tiring ride. So much so, he “strongly suggested” his mother might like to come next time.

Ingrid Warner’s response? “I said, ‘How about a tandem bike?’ ”

Organizers said entire families were involved: grandparents as crew members helping to run the event, with children and grandchildren riding. One San Diego family drove up just to hold a bright pink sign that proclaimed “We Love Nana!”

“I passed women in their 60s and 70s, and married couples, straight, gay, a plethora of people coming out for the same cause,” said Victor Munoz of Pittsburg.

It was enough to make even a tough guy a little emotional.

“I’m a real cynic by nature, but a total believer in this,” said Gary Fisher of San Anselmo, north of San Francisco.