Pictures!

Below are some pictures of the team's journey thus far. If you want to see more pictures and have access to the Instagram app on your smart phone, feel free to check out the team's Instagram account "Ride Against AIDS."

Katrina (left) and I with Lake Tahoe in the background.

We stopped towards the end of the descent from Tahoe into Carson City, NV to take pictures.

Signs on the wall of the building of the bar in Middlegate--one of only two stops during our first century day. 

The Border Inn RV Park was directly to the right of the van. 

Group Blog

In addition to reading this blog, you can visit blog.faceaids.org to access the collective FACE AIDS blog, which contains posts from other riders on the team. The team tries to post stories at least several times a week from other riders. Visiting that site will give you great exposure to the stories and perspectives of my teammates!

Delta, UT

I made it through all five riding days this past week to Delta, Utah! Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (as I do every morning) to a gorgeous sunrise over the Nevada mountains. After taking down the tent I share with fellow rider Audrey, packing my things, readying my bike for the day, and eating a quick breakfast out of one of the support vans, I started riding with another rider, Flannery. Since the Border Inn RV park was literally on the border between Nevada and Utah, the "Welcome to Utah: Life Elevated" road sign was the first landmark of our ride. Flannery and I were scared of the “life elevated” part because we were wary of having to do any more climbing. The second landmark road sign was the one declaring that we had entered into a new time zone--very exciting for the both of us! Flannery and I stopped after only the 7th mile marker to stretch and rest because we both felt stiff and tired, and mentally drained from the very long valley we were riding through towards the sight of a huge summit climb. After the climb was the best descent I have experienced thus far on the Ride. Utah is beautiful; the descent carried us down sharp curves through a mountain pass filled with dramatic rock ravines. After the epic descent, however, the day became a slog through the miles because of the extreme heat. Only Valerie’s ipod shuffle (Valerie, another rider, was driving the van and let me borrow her music) and Utah’s ever-dramatic landscapes helped me continue pedaling through the hot wind.

There wasn’t a single gas station or sign of civilization for the first 80 miles of our ride yesterday. Arriving in Delta was incredibly satisfying because it signaled the end of the riding week and the beginning of another blessed rest day. Delta was also a long-awaited oasis for the team because rest days have become designated team organization days—rest days are when we have time to clean out the vans, take care of group business, and have group meetings.

When I was about to write in my journal this morning, I suddenly remembered another anecdote from last Sunday, the team’s first century day. About 40 or so miles into the day, after a series of sustained, gradual climbs, Valerie and I reached the tiny and historic community of Middlegate—the only sign of civilization between Fallon (where we departed from that morning) and Austin (our end destination). Middlegate consisted of a bar that felt straight out of the Old West, a few mobile homes, and a few ancient relics of the olden days (there was a skeleton of an old carriage outside the bar). Valerie and I went into the bar and met a few hitchhikers, one of whom told us that you can cure HIV by drinking water laced with traces of gold metal. Towards the end of our conversation with him, however, a woman sitting nearby took a drag of her cigarette, exhaled, and then turned around and thanked us for what we were doing because her brother died of AIDS.

The further the Ride travels, the more convinced I become of how few degrees of separation there are between a healthy individual and someone affected by HIV/AIDS. 

First Century Ride

It's only Day Ten, and I'm already exhausted. I'm still able to move, but I'm definitely more sore and tan than I've ever been in my life. We rode just under 120 miles on Sunday, 70 miles on Monday, 80 miles on Tuesday, and about 60 miles today--and we still have 90 miles to go tomorrow before our rest day in Delta, Utah. I've finished every day this week (meaning I've completed every ride day this week and have gotten through the miles), but this amount of biking and intense activity is unlike anything I've ever experienced.

This past Sunday the team rode just under 120 miles from Fallon to Austin, and I completed my first century ride. We left early in the morning from the homes of the families where we stayed during our rest day in Fallon, and 7 people out of the 15 of us that rode finished the day. I ended up riding the last 45 miles alone, and in the midst of desert wind and heat conditions as well as the insanity that results from riding a bike alone through Route 50 (a.k.a. "The Loneliest Road in America"), I motivated myself to finish and not call the support van for a pick-up rescue by doing the following things:

1) Saying a few Hail Mary's

2) Listening to the same song, Pitbull's "Bring it Back" on repeat for upwards of two hours to get through the ridiculous amount of climbing required by the route for the day

3) Thinking of the names of everyone who donated to the Ride to support me, who told me their personal stories of friends or family who are/were HIV-positive, who went on training rides with me, and who texted or called me in the past two weeks to cheer me on

4) Thinking of Eden

And that's how I finished my first century (plus almost 20 extra miles)!

Reflections on Day Five (Friday, June 22)

I’m writing to tell you a story from Day Five, when the team rode from Carson City, Nevada to Fallon, Nevada.

After pulling into the parking lot of a Sonic restaurant on the main street of Fallon and grabbing a quick sandwich-and-apple lunch out of the van, I decided I wanted to explore Fallon and its community. I walked a block down the road to Walgreens, and after picking up some groceries, talked to three store employees about HIV/AIDS. I hadn’t planned on doing so when I walked into the store, but after buying snacks I asked them about their perception of the culture surrounding HIV/AIDS in their community. I spoke with a pharmacist and a pharmaceutical technician, both of which had different things to say about HIV/AIDS than one of the other store employees. After leaving Walgreens, I stopped by a coffee shop called The Daily Grind because I saw a sign advertising a live band performance for Friday night. As I was heading into the shop, a woman asked me how long I had been riding for—the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation about the Ride Against AIDS and the team’s mission. The most powerful conversation I had Friday, though, was with a woman (I’ll call her Mary) I met in an antique shop. After hopping off my bike and leaning it against the side of her shop’s building, I introduced myself and asked her how she was. The next thing I knew, we were inside the store exchanging information about our perspectives of how stigma surrounding HIV-positive individuals has evolved since the 80’s. I was privileged as well to hear her personal story. Mary gave birth in the early 80’s in a hospital in Reno and had to have several transfusions. During that same year, her friend (I’ll call her Rebecca) also gave birth and had to have many blood transfusions. There weren’t the same kind of regulations about screening donated blood for diseases back then as there are now. While Mary did not get sick from her transfusions, Rebecca learned soon after her stay in the hospital that she was HIV-positive. Rebecca’s husband filed for divorce, and Rebecca and her son moved in with her parents. Her parents were afraid to tell anyone that she was sick with AIDS as she grew sick over time, and lied to those they knew. Rebecca eventually died, with her illness kept secret.

            It was an honor, and a humbling experience, to be privilege to such a personal story of Mary’s. I left the antique shop mid-afternoon filled with a renewed sense of purposefulness. I felt invigorated by a motivation to to reach out to people in the communities we are visiting, even after long days of biking, because there are opportunities in every place we pedal through to learn about the culture of HIV/AIDS in America and to raise awareness. I can give dignity to those who did not have a voice in society during their fight to survive HIV/AIDS simply by listening to the stories their friends and family choose to share. 

Ride Update

It's the tenth day of the Ride Against AIDS, and I am sitting in a building of an RV park on top of the Nevada/Utah border. We are at the Border Inn RV park, which is the ONLY sign of civilization for miles. The building I'm in has a restaurant, bar, casino, and convenience store inside of it--and, most importantly, air conditioning. Nevada, as it turns out, is incredibly beautiful (it has mountains an dramatic landscapes galore) but is also hot, dusty, and windy.

I apologize to those who have been checking this site for updates for not maintaining the blog better. I have been wanting to blog, but the first week of the Ride was so hectic that I was always too exhausted by the end of the day to write much of anything. Our camping sites the past few days have also lacked cell phone service and internet access. And, as I've recently discovered, strenuous, daily physical activity and constant interaction with a large group of teammates results in a reluctance to interact with the outside world. But I want everyone who has supported me either by donating to FACE AIDS or by encouraging me to know how the Ride is going and how I'm doing, so I will work harder to establish a routine of updating this blog at least a few times a week from now on.

I'll continue to post reflections about the past ten days the rest of the afternoon. Thanks for reading!

Eden

I am equal parts scared and excited that The Ride Against AIDS officially begins in less than 48 hours--we will depart from Ocean Beach on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. I am writing this post from the third floor (where the best Wi-Fi is) of the building in downtown San Francisco that houses the headquarters of FACE AIDS. I arrived in SF on Friday afternoon for orientation, which will continue until our departure on Monday morning. I want to give a special thank-you to my first host family of the summer, Bill and Roberta, who welcomed my dad and I into their home Thursday evening while we traveled through California. They were the most gracious hosts I could ask for while making the quick 24-hour transition between finishing finals and beginning this journey.

The weekend has been incredibly powerful so far--I have not only met my 18 amazing teammates but also heard their personal testimonies of why they are doing the Ride. We also had the incredible privilege of speaking with Gabo, who had the grace, poise, and wisdom to make me cry and laugh through just his spoken word in the course of only a half hour. Gabo is HIV+, but he is also an avid cyclist, caring friend, and caring community member of San Francisco. He is also part of a group called Positive Pedalers in San Francisco, a group of HIV+ men and women that cycle together regularly to support one another and to show the world that they are more than their diagnosis. Visit http://www.pospeds.org/ to learn more about them.

Gabo came to speak to us yesterday evening at the beginning of our orientation and told us his story. I am so grateful to him for sharing his painful, yet hopeful and ultimately inspiring story with us--our team couldn't have asked for a better person to remind us of why we are doing this Ride. We've all worked so hard to fundraise and train these past months. I've poured my heart and soul into preparing for this summer. But this journey is bigger than ourselves--we're showing every person living with HIV, no matter where he or she lives, that we care about them. We care, and we're biking this summer not just to support FACE AIDS programs but to show our solidarity with everyone affected by this disease that is still, after so many years of arduous research and advocacy, surrounded by stigma. Why is it socially acceptable to have cancer, but not be HIV+? Why is this issue not talked about more? I am humbled to be a part of a movement to continue to change the trend of silence about HIV/AIDS, but I am also happy to be biking across the country for a purpose because if I was doing this for myself, I wouldn't have made it this far (and the Ride hasn't even started yet).

Gabo also moved me because he strengthened my resolve in the more personal reason for doing the Ride. My family member, Eden, is very young and HIV+. I have always imagined myself to be helping Eden through my involvement in the Ride, but now I imagine myself and the team to be warriors defending her future as an HIV+ individual in the United States as an adult. I want her to feel comfortable enough to be open about her status, without fear of rejection or prejudice. I want her to have every opportunity available to HIV- individuals. I want her to be healthy, and to be happy and safe while being healthy.

I'll try to post again before we hit the road on Monday!

How To Donate

Hello! Here's a friendly reminder of how to support the Ride and my fundraising goal of $5,000:

You can donate either on-line or by writing a check to FACE AIDS.

• To donate on-line, visit my Citizen Effect page to donate on a secure website that helps me track my donations and gives information about me, FACE AIDS, and the Ride.

• Checks should be made out to "FACE AIDS" with my full name ("Nina Sobotka") in the Memo line. This ensures that your generosity counts towards my fundraising quota. Checks should be mailed to:

FACE AIDS

P.O. Box 46

Palo Alto, CA 94302

Thank you!

Oakshire Brewing

I am happy to be able to write that I have yet another generous local Eugene business to thank for supporting the cause of the Ride Against AIDS: Oakshire Brewing. Thank you to Amanda for speaking with me on the phone, asking me questions about the Ride, and talking about the Ride with her colleagues at Oakshire!

This isn't the first time Oakshire has allocated its resources to support the greater Eugene community. Check out the website at http://oakbrew.com/ and click on the link "Community" under the tab "The Brewery" to learn more about how Oakshire continually gives back to the Eugene community. Also, be sure to let your eyes wander to the right of this page to see their logo!

Oakshire, take note: you all will be on my mind when I'm climbing the Rockies this summer! When I need inspiration during hard rides this summer I'll think of everyone who has donated to support me and the individuals whose lives we are trying to save by fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Rwandan communities.

Cheers!

Nina

The Duck Store!

I'd like to write about another one of my most recent and supportive business sponsors, the University of Oregon book and supply company, the Duck Store! The current managers of the Duck Store generously gave me time to present to them about the Ride and have helped me continue progressing towards my fundraising goal. Their logo is to the right of this post. Having the support of a business that's such an active part of the UO community has given me the drive to continue to work hard for the sake of others. Thank you, Duck Store!

Cheers!

Nina

Montana Cycling and Timing!

A HUGE thanks to my most recent donor, the amazing company Montana Cycling and Timing! Their very generous donation to the Ride Against AIDS has brought my fundraising tally up to over $2,000! Please be sure to notice their logo to the right of this post, and visit their website: http://montanacycling.com/.

I still have a long ways to go before I reach my goal of $5,000 to impact the lives of HIV-affected individuals in Rwandan communities. Please show your solidarity with their struggles and my efforts to help them by donating now! Visit http://www.citizeneffect.org/projects/face-aids-ride-against-aids-2012-nina or click on the "You Can Help!" tab to find out where to send a check.

Thank you for your support!

Nina :)