Day 1

Braking the Cycle is underway. Francesco, Chris, Dim and I bussed from Manhattan to Gettysburg yesterday. The bus ride was fun. We met some of our fellow riders and watched The Truman Show.

In Gettysburg, we had to sit through the safety presentation, and the orientation. They memorialized all the people rider's had dedicated the event to, including Keith Smith, Wesley Light and Richard Lewis. Finally we had to deal with confirming our donations ($3500/rider), dealing with medical waivers, and checking our bikes. Frank and I stayed at the Wyndham and Dim and Chris stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. We needed to be out of the hotel at 5:30 AM.

Arriving this morning, breakfast started at 6AM. At 7 was welcoming ceremonies. They asked riders to shout out names of people they knew who had been taken by HIV/AIDS. I shouted Keith Smith. Throughout the ride I told people about what a wonderful person Keith was and all he had accomplished.

Today's ride was 95 miles. I have to admit to being an impatient biker. Chris and I started out together, but eventually I had to break away. Eventually I caught up to another rider who was about my speed. We ended up biking the entire route together. Alan lives in Manhattan and has a partner in Princeton.

The ride is very well organized. There are rest stops about every 10 or 15 miles, and they make sure everyone is well hydrated (aka, that we pee a lot). There are crews that make sure dangerous intersections have people to guide the riders. There are medical teams at every rest stop if someone is hurt. And, if you get into trouble, there are vans to take you to the next rest stop or help with road-side bike repairs.

The route started by looping around Gettysburg, travel through Adams to York counties, then into Lancaster. There were two big climbs, the longest about 1.2 miles and the second a bit shorter.

Alan and I averaged 15 miles per hour. Dim and Christine did about 14 miles per hour. Francesco didn't have a bike computer, but suffered a knee injury and had to shuttle the last few miles of the ride.

More tomorrow.