Ride of my life

WATCH: The True Stories Behind the AIDS/LifeCycle Passion

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The stories of the AIDS/LifeCycle riders are inspiring.

With every conversation I’ve had during the AIDS/LifeCycle ride, I’ve become more humbled and ever more inspired by the passion driving the riders.

I had not initially known much about the ride, and I assumed that the majority of participants were HIV positive and/or gay. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There is an astonishing array of motivations, ranging from the death of a best friend to the accidental infection of a loved one through a blood transfusion. Black, white, Latino; gay, straight, transgender; young, middle-aged and old…the AIDS/LifeCycle community is as diverse as the society it represents.

I spent much of my time covering the ride capturing video stories of the LifeCycle riders. I call the series “We Are AIDS/LifeCycle,” and this is what some of the dedicated riders had to share.

Thomas Gay, from Denver, CO:

http://youtu.be/hkZUZcYqqTg

Mel Embree, from Los Angeles, CA:

http://youtu.be/kd-tqr0l99w

Ken “Chicken Lady” Thompson, from

http://youtu.be/kqiFKcUNW98

Aidan Alberto, from San Francisco, CA:

http://youtu.be/O7AdhjmzFtE

Robert Ben Scoder:

http://youtu.be/WTTByBAsR9w

Victoria Shelton-Gilbert, from Oakland, CA:

http://youtu.be/fZSWY2U-5ck

Kevin Cathcart, the Executive Director of Lamda Legal:

http://youtu.be/oL-E5qGLcXo

Greg Heinz, from San Francisco, CA:

http://youtu.be/k3m3rg1qXio

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