Fundraising

I have to raise 3,000 by June 1st. That's a lot of money. This is one of the things I've been dreading. On my own I've spent a total of $1127 just to get started!! I'm starting to think that these types of things are more for the wealthy people of the world.
I hate asking for money. My job is piecemeal. Every time someone gets a massage from me I have to ask for money. Which is fine. But sometimes I hate it. I wish I could just get paid from someone else and not have to ask my clients for money. What I do is expensive. I know it, they know it. Insurance doesn't cover it generally. But it really should be considered something everyone does to maintain their health. It's the only thing I've found that keeps my body from falling apart. For me, my work being so physical, I have to have massages. Otherwise I can't keep working.

I'm going to have to ask my friends and clients to donate to my cause. Just to be sure I called my ALC rep Hillary.

"what if I can't raise enough money?" I said. "We have a program where we give you an extra few months to pay it off" she replied. Hmm. So I still have to fully raise the money. "Yes." The money apparently gets used immediately. So any money I raise instantly goes towards AIDS research and care. I started to feel a sinking feeling. Not because I don't want to support this wonderful program but because I'm not sure I can. There's only way to find out. I signed a contract. I'm in it.

Self Care Maniac

The knee pain and tightness all over my body intensified over the last month. It's gotten so bad that I started getting 2 massages a week for a little while there. One week it was three. A thai massage,(60$) wasn't enough. A korean massage? (65$) Not quite. Finally I went back to Michelle Malloy in SF (80$). She's great. Probably would have needed more from her too but I had done as much as physically possible to loosen up. I wasn't doing enough apparently.

You will need a foam roller (32$) if you ever plan on doing long distance work outs. Or if you don't but you have a serious amount of tension. I wanted to die but things are easing up now.

Also you must soak in hot water. My favorite places to do this are Imperial Spa (20$) and Kabuki (free with ALC card!)

Do it. Like it. Love it.

I over did it

Maybe it was all the spin classes. The new shoes (100$ REI)with clip in cleats (25$). The new bike. I don't know. But I feel a lot of tightness in my knees. In fact it hurts to bend and turn. Like they're sort of fragile. Tell me if I'm wrong but I don't think I'm supposed to feel this way.I suspect that clipping in activates your quads in a way that's different from when you have completely free movement of the foot. Every time you lift your leg you're pulling on the quad. Which, is most efficient but hard to adapt to.

Training

Let me tell you this training business is hard. I did my first "official" training ride on Thursday. It was a 36 mile ride that left from the Dolores Park and went to Pacifica. Round trip. I looked at the training schedule the night before. It said "steep climbs" "strenous". I'm going to be honest here. I didn't actually believe them. I mean, I've seen the people who do the Aids Ride. Well some of them. They are not thin. That doesn't mean they can't crank. I've known too many outrageously good overweight athletes. But, I wasn't sure if they were just embellishing. You know, saying "steep" so you would take it seriously if you were a novice. Which, I did not consider myself to be.

I was wrong. I am a novice. I am also feeling like a truck hit me.

I've never biked for 7 hours. Nor have a climbed so many hills on a bike before. I take it all back.

Seat Change Request

Ok it's been a few weeks now and the seat that came with my bike is killing me! I'm not sure if it's even made to be sat on. From what I can tell it's made of leather and steal. I don't sense ANY padding! I've been training on my indoor trainer and a spin class held at Mission Cliff's. I need new shoes too. Man!

Getting a Bike

The day after I signed up to do the Aids LifeCycle I went looking for a new bike. I didn't have much money and I wasn't completely sure what bike to get. But, I knew I needed a decent road bike. I just didn't want to pay thousands of dollars. So I started with the one place I always go when I'm buying or selling things, Craigslist.There it was, an add for a barely used Biachi Imola. I called immediately. The girl selling already had a perspective buyer. "Could I come to see it now?" I have a date!....forget it.. Yes I could come now.

I've never used a human as collateral before. But I did this day and as I felt the wind in my hair I knew this was worth it. I bought the bike. 700 hundred smackers! Not as cheap as I expected. That brings my total to 745 dollars with bike and sign up fee.

btw. Did you know there was a grand prix/ formula driver named Jules Bianchi? This picture came up when I was searching for images of my bike online. When I read further I discovered a young formula atlantic driver named Simona De Silvestro. The site stated that Swiss Simona dominated round two of Formula Atlantic at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. She turned her first pole position into her second victory in this very competitive series. It's a challenging course. The Atlantic circuit is open wheeled racing. Imagine taking a go kart up to 120 miles an hour. You feel everything.

Awesome! She's my new inspiration!! You Go Girl!!

(anyone who knows my love of racing will understand this segway)

Welcome to ALC. I found my next challenge!

It’s a 7-day, 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles that raises money and awareness for the HIV and AIDS services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. This marks the ninth year for AIDS/LifeCycle and the seventeenth for the event overall, and during the week of June 6-12, 2010, thousands of Cyclists and volunteer Roadies will come together to do something incredible. Something that will change lives. Something that YOU can be a part of! You only need to register; we’ll help you train and fundraise. What are you waiting for?

That was what I read moments before signing my name on the dotted line. It's Febuary and I've just decided to jump into training for the Aids Ride!!

It's been a person goal of mine to someday do this ride. It's for a great cause and it's mentally and physically challenging. Now that I've signed up and I'm looking at the total number of miles and days, I'm starting to think this may be harder than I thought. Only one way to find out!