If there was any way I could have kept riding today, I would have. At lunch I was in sports med working on my knee until it closed and I had to take the sag bus to camp. Andrew used his megaphone to announce "waving your hands at an AIDS/LifeCycle staff is grounds for immediate expulsion from the ride" when I tried to shoo him away from thowing me out. It did give me a chance to talk with Lola on the ride to camp.

I'd gotten her ex-boyfriend Alex into cycling last year, but hadn't met Lola before the ride and what got her to ride AIDS/LifeCycle. Riding with Alex I'd told a lot of stories and she jumped at a chance for the physical challenge while doing something for gay rights and fighting AIDS. I'm proud to be inspiring my friends to do good in this world.

Back at camp I spent over an hour in sports med getting pulled and pushed so I can ride tomorrow. My friend Julie begins training rides reminding people that for all the aches and pains we suffer over these seven days, its still easier than living with AIDS. What she didn't say, and you really must experience is meeting people on the ride who come out to thank us for making it easier for them, even just be possible for them, to live with AIDS.

It really is worth it to me.