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The following is an email I sent to the friends and family who supported me in doing the Ride.

To: Friends...
Date: 7/7/99
Subject: AIDS Ride Final Update: Thanks for your support!

I didn't expect to have transition issues coming back from the AIDS Ride. It's been 11 days since we rode in to DC down the closed off Whitehurst Freeway to the Nation's Mall and the Washington Monument. It's been 11 days of emotional ups and downs, physical recouperation, storytelling, and quiet reflection on what was for me a surprisingly powerful event.

Our whole team (as I think everyone who participated on the Ride either as rider or crew) was on a high the day of our final ride-in. Imagine 1766 bicycles slowly parading up Constitution Avenue to our celebration in front of the Capitol. Thousands of people lined the street cheering us in. Music rose in a crescendo as we turned the corner and came to rest in front of a giant stage set up on the grass.

At this point, the riders were going nuts! Everyone was dancing to the music, spraying each other with water from their water bottles, getting pictures taken holding their bikes above their heads (like the guy in the AIDS Ride T-shirts and posters), and generally whoopin' and hollerin'! We were so glad to be there, to have finished the ride, to have accomplished what we did. It felt great!

As the closing ceremony began, the music turned reflective and a speaker read a piece called "The Reason" about the reality of why we need an event like the Ride in the first place. As he was reading, four people walked a riderless bicycle up the center aisle to the stage, a powerful reminder of all of the people who are not alive to have taken part in the Ride because their lives were cut short by AIDS.

We all, no matter how much we actually rode, whether we got sagged (picked up in a van and driven into camp), whether we were rider or crew, felt a great sense of accomplishment at that moment. The five national AIDS Rides over the last six years have sent more than $65 million to AIDS related charities. The AIDS Rides are the single biggest charity fundraiser ever.

Helping people living with HIV is what we accomplished; more than pushing up that last hill into lunch on day 3, more than the heat exhaustion and dehydration, more than blisters and tendonitits, sore rumps and numb fingers; more than the four miles the last rider on day three walked to make it into camp having done the whole course after his chain broke. None of this compares to what it is like to live with HIV. We, the riders and crew, did what we did to help ease the burden for our brothers and sisters living with the disease.

You, my supporters, gave the moral and financial support to make it possible for me to participate. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Lots of people have asked if I would do the Ride again. Those who asked me last Sunday heard me say, simply, "no." Those who have asked later in the week heard varying responses. One of my thoughts on this is that I would like to do another of the Rides, perhaps the San Francisco to LA ride. It's seven days of lots of hills along the beautiful California coastline. As I have talked with people who have been inspired by my participation and are considering riding next year, my excitement has begun to outweigh my sore rear. I can see doing the DC ride again if the stars align themselves right.

In any case, I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in this year's DC AIDS Ride. I am thankful I have a body strong enough to propel me 330 miles in 80, 90, and 100 degree heat. I am thankful I have a group of supportive people around me with whom to train and fundraise. I am thankful I have such a wonderful community of supporters who were willing to put their money where my legs were and give me the gift of this experience while helping people living with HIV.

I am putting together a Web page with more about the Ride. It's not quite finished yet, but I wanted to let you know abou it. You can find it at the following URL:

http://www.efficacy.net/aidsride/

Thanks again for all of your support! I couldn't have done it without you!

Much love,

-Andrew
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Andrew Hedges, andrew@efficacy.net
http://www.efficacy.net/
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi

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