I just wrapped up my eighth AIDS/LifeCycle, an annual 545-mile bike ride from SF to LA over seven days. It’s a fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. I personally raised over $8,200 for the cause, and as a community, we raised over $17 million, a record-breaking amount in AIDS/LifeCycle history. My friend Freddy and I co-captained a sweet little team of 12 people called Morning Buns. See below for my daily dispatches from each day on the ride! More videos can be found on my personal Instagram, @zai.ilsa.
Day 1: San Francisco to Santa Cruz, 81 miles (Strava)
It poured for the first five hours, which was truly miserable. I actually *tried* to tap out at the first rest stop, but when I found out I’d have to wait two hours to get a ride, I decided biking while freezing and drenched to my core was 10% less miserable than sitting still while freezing and drenched to my core, so I ended up doing all 82 miles.
Highlights: Seeing our two roadie teammates in action!! My godmother Elnora is on the lunch team, serving food and racking bikes all day, and my dear friend Charlie is on the Rest Stop 4 team, which is the most intense morale boost rest stop ever. I’m talking elaborate costumes, characters, and literal DANCE CHOREOGRAPHY. And she’s working 6am till 9pm every day, so she has a longer and more intense workload than the cyclists, I think.
Other highlights: The giddiness of Opening Ceremonies with Nicole; another AIDS/LifeCycle in which I end up in an emergency Mylar blanket (two, actually); water sloshing around in the completely waterlogged two pairs of socks I wore; Freddy biking with me allllll day and keeping sane; strangers taking pity on my shivering, chattering ass and warming me up penguin-huddle-style; the warm breakfast burrito a volunteer handed me in my most miserable moments; Dalton cleaning and lubing my chain for me because I was too dead from the ride to do it myself.
I love Team Morning Buns and I’m so happy to be back on AIDS/LifeCycle!
Day 2: Santa Cruz to King City, 106 miles (Strava)
Oh my goodness, soooo much better than Day 1! It was over 100 miles, but everyone’s spirits were HIGH! We had speedy tailwinds, delicious artichokes, and LOTS of Morning Buns bonding time, with each other, and with new friends we met on the road! Really filled my heart.
Day 3: King City to Paso Robles, 65 miles (Strava)
Okay today was hot, like 98 degrees hot, BUT it was so fun from start to finish! Mostly because Nicole rode every last mile with me (even though she could have been waaaaay ahead if she’d wanted to). We laughed, we cried, we wore pool floaties, we learned how to change tubeless flats, we sweated, we rested, and we ended the day with over an HOUR of glorious unstructured team hangout time. I had brought most of these people into AIDS/LifeCycle (and onto Team Morning Buns), and seeing them all become friends with *each other* made me soooo happy!
Last note about today — I’m normally a delicate wilting flower in extreme heat, but I managed my body surprisingly well today, and I’m really proud of that! Stayed on top of sunscreen, food, energy, rest, electrolytes, water, and morale. The only bummer is that my knee doesn’t feel amazing, but it also hasn’t gotten worse.
Day 4, Paso Robles to Santa Maria, 88 miles (Strava)
Halfway to LA! I had some very sweet moments with friends in rest stops (as evidenced by these photos!), but I actually rode alone almost the whole day (88+ miles). I was totally content with it until hour 9, at which point, I was overheating and had a little loneliness + heat meltdown. Freddy miraculously appeared out of nowhere (I hadn’t seen him in at least four hours!), scooped me up, and we did the last eight miles together. Seeing Charlie perform as the Queen of Hearts while eating sno cones with Freddy lifted my spirits real fast!! I got showered in love and hugs and laughs from my team when I got into camp, so I’m going to bed with my heart totally full!
Day 5: Santa Maria to Lompoc, 41 miles (Strava)
Red Dress Day was an absolute riot, mostly due to the fact that I made my entire team dress as strawberries for the entire ride today. We laughed sooooo much today!! The morale was HIGH today!! The tradition is that everyone bikes in red for HIV/AIDS awareness — we form a giant AIDS ribbon as we wind our way down the state.
Day 6, Lompoc to Ventura, 88 miles (Strava)
Had an absolutely wonderful day with my team! By day 6, I had gotten a little stronger and faster, and the hammerfest sprinters in the group decided to take it a little easier (…or were forced to by their injuries). This meant that our paces were much more aligned than usual, and we got to spend more time together in rest stops! Sooooo fun getting more of the crew together throughout the day!
We had a joyful rager of a dance party by the side of Highway 1 at mile 82 (out of 90), which was EXACTLY what my soul needed after six grueling days with no music, and we ended the day with a silent candlelight vigil on the beach to honor those who we’ve lost to HIV and AIDS. It feels important to bear witness to the grief of this community, and to help carry the torch so future generations know their stories.
Day 7, Ventura to Los Angeles, 69 miles (Strava)
Crossed the finish line in LA for the eighth time! Another 545 miles in the books! I’m pretty proud of having stewarded this sweet little team along with my co-captain Freddy, and so grateful for the way these 12 amazing humans took care of one another over the last week.
I’m also pretty proud of my body! I prioritized work and team logistics over my own personal training this season, so I went into the ride a bit undertrained. Despite that, I ended the week with zero visits to medical, zero visits to chiro, and zero visits to bike tech. It was pretty cool to be reminded that my body is more resilient than I give it credit for! I think by this point, my body just knows how slowly I need to pace myself in order for the week to feel sustainable and joyful.
