We were the first ones in line for tent assignment, and while waiting for that line to open we bought commemorative jerseys at the Camp Store. Can you believe I wear an Xsmall?

The tent assignment team managed to put all four of our tents next to one another, just as we had hoped. We got red tags with our tent number to go on our gear bags and a blue tag to carry on our person.

After that we went to check-in and I actually had to wait behind one person! [/sarcasm] There we signed all the waivers and received stickers with our rider numbers to put on our helmets and bikes.

The final step was to check our bikes into bike parking where we collect them tomorrow morning for ride-out at 6am (after opening ceremonies).

When did you watch the safety video, you ask? The pre-requisite for all the above steps and the reason orientation takes so long for most people? Suffice to say we did watch it, and have the wristbands to prove it, but if I told you any more I’d have to kill ‘ya. Thank you, Emily!!!

Pictures here are of Adriene, Justin, and I sporting the ALC8 jerseys, our fantastic roadies Greg (driving sweep) and Jim (volunteering both in SF and in LA), and the line for the safety video which we managed to avoid.

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At lunch in Pt. Reyes lost his sandwich between the deli and our picnic spot; fortunately there was enough food to go around. After the long ride out there, those sandwiches never tasted so good.

Addy got a little sore on the way home but girl scout Emily saved the day with Advil. Within 20 minutes Addy had a smile on her face again and was leading the charge home. Although the forcast predicted 70s there was a chill in the wind and I was under dressed. Addy let me use her arm warmers and upon our return I had a long soak in a hot tub to avert getting sick.

Go team!

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As I write this I’m at 70% of my goal; I need to raise $886 in the next month and a half. Can you help with a small donation to a worthy cause? If yes, visit http://tofighthiv.org/goto/shannon. The beneficiary of these funds, The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, provides leadership in preventing new HIV infections.

Rodeo themed costume party. Raffles, silent auction, pole dancing lessons, drink specials, and lots of great music.

Performers:
Digital Rust
The Whoa Nellies
Motion Potion
The Cons

$15 cover – all proceeds will be donated to the SF AIDS Foundation and AIDS/Lifecycle 8 and will help our team reach our goals of $3000 each.

Wednesday, April 15th 2009
8pm – 2am
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell @ Van Ness, San Francisco

My friends and I are preparing for LifeCycle 8 this June, when we will join 2500 others and ride our bicycles from San Francisco to Los Angeles (545 miles) over the course of a week. The event raises money for The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, who provides leadership in preventing new HIV infections. I am $1750 away from achieving my fundraising goal; can you help with a small donation? Every little bit counts!!

To help me to participate in this event, and to support a worthy cause, visit http://tofighthiv.org/goto/shannon

I rode out near the end of the pack and was feeling really good. After passing what I believed to be most of the riders, by Corte Madera I found a group whose pace was similar and I started to feel like I was getting a good workout. However as soon as we hit the first hill on Paradise Drive I found my legs wanted more, jumped to the head of the group by the top, and soon was on my own. I set a great pace to Belvedere and was feeling thrilled. It was a beautiful, clear, warm morning. There was the usual crowd at Cafe Acri, but not knowing anyone I filled up my bottle from the water fountain and headed for home.

Leaving Belvedere I forgot to restart my bike computer. I always do that when I stop. I should really just let the auto-pause do it’s work and not manually stop the timer.

Along the way out and back I saw several cyclists getting tickets from local police. On the way out we passed a team in training who had all apperently received $150 fines for riding out of the bike lane! As a cautious rider I didn’t feel like I was at risk but after seeing these incidents I followed my understanding of the law to a T.

The climb out of Sausalito was the easiest it’s ever been for me. I guess a Summer climbing Tam paid off!

I arrived back at the Sport Basement at 11:30; 2.5 hours was exactly what I estimated the ride would take. I would have headed straight home from the GG bridge, but the event organizers wanted us to sign in so they could tell who might still be out on the route in need of help. There were two shaded tables; one on either side of the parking lot entrance, and as I rolled up to the one on the right the volunteer asked if I was there to participate in the ride. I could see a group of riders stretching in a circle and guessed that this was the beginner group warming up before their ride. I was proud to say that I had just finished the Advanced ride and needed to sign in. When he handed me the clip-board I found it blank, and filled in my name at the top!

It could be that there were other sign-in forms completed and I just got the first slot on an empty page, and there was the other table, and of course I didn’t stop for long in Belvedere either, but it made me feel good to think that I might have made it back first. I don’t kid myself that I’m a strong rider (how many times have I struggled to keep up with a group of 50-somethings over Tam and back?) but these small accomplishments, evidence of improvement, provide inspiration and courage which I can draw on for other challenges in my life.