The Crawford family has an annual tradition to spend early June biking 545 miles along California’s most scenic roads with the AIDS/LifeCycle 10.
That means in May they spend lots of time training and building up their strength atop a bike.
This is Robin’s seventh year participating in the event that takes cyclists from San Francisco to Los Angeles over a seven-day journey. His son, Clint, who came out as a transsexual this year and is now known as Char, has joined her dad for the last five years. Robin’s brother, Phil, came aboard last year for his first ride, but due to a sore ankle requiring surgery will not be making the trek again this year.
For many years, this ride has been the highlight of Robin’s summer. This year’s ride begins June 5, the 30th anniversary of the day the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention first reported cases of AIDS.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great vacation riding through parts of California the way it looked when I was a kid,” Robin, 60, said.
Char, 26, agreed. “It’s remarkable to see so much farmland untouched. You can’t get a closer look at our beautiful and very diverse state unless you walk the whole thing,” she said.
Last year’s ride presented weather challenges. The cyclists recalled riding into a fierce 30-mph headwind that required them to pedal downhill instead of having a chance to rest.
The 2,500 slots to fill in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle filled up quicker than ever this year, so the cyclists are on track to raise a record amount of funding for the charities that benefit from it. Those organizations are the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In 2008, the last record year, cyclists raised $12.3 million to support those organizations.
Those organizations, in turn, are able to make a difference in the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center provides direct support for people living with AIDS here and abroad. They also support research to prevent new HIV infections.
“For a whole week, you are supported by this whole community of riders who are cheering you on. We are there because we have a clear goal that provides clear, concrete services to the community that needs it,” Char said.
“I am surrounded by this community the rest of the year, as well. Some have received vital services from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. They would not be able to make ends meet. They would really be suffering. This is really important work they do.”
Last year, a woman rode her dad’s old rundown bike, and refused a modernized switch from the road crew, because she had promised him she’d ride it to Los Angeles. He perished from AIDS last year.
“This provides resources for others who wouldn’t get help and that’s satisfying,” Robin said. “Many of the people are riding because they have lost people dear to them. They know how important it is to see no one who has this illness is abandoned.”
A breakthrough in the availability of AIDS drugs brought the price down in third world countries thanks to former President Bill Clinton’s Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative. That non-profit’s work parallels the work of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Robin and Char are training hard this month to maintain a good level of fitness. Char rides two days a week for four hours at a stretch along paths in San Francisco where she lives.
“I plan to ramp up the training before the ride, but I’m feeling pretty confident now,” she said. “I have passed my self-imposed minimum levels. Other years I have trained less and still did well.”
Robin has been riding to Woodside and back and around San Francisco, sometimes under unpleasant weather conditions where he has called his wife, Nancy, to pick him up out of the cold, heavy wind. She has never failed to do so. He plans to bike to Santa Rosa in a day as part of his annual preparation.
“Once I do that, I’m ready,” he said. Robin is a local attorney and a parish associate at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. Char works as a butcher in San Francisco and is also a notary.
She said her decision to come out this year was exciting. “It was time. It was past time. The closet could not contain me anymore. I have a supportive family and community. It’s worked well. I’m being more truthful in my interactions,” she said.
She’s also adopted a stylish dress, wearing leather pants, leather boots, leather tie, a woman’s military shirt, leather jacket and leather gloves. Her hair is styled in a Chelsea hair style from the 70s, closely cropped on top with long strands in the back and sides.
She does a lot of volunteer work, including education about communication and safe sex, organizing and helping to run events in the San Francisco leather community. She’s also working on her first noir mystery novel set in San Francisco.
“I have been a member of the alternative sexual community in San Francisco. I have had relationships that have made this more than the event. These are people. It’s personal,” she said.
Each cyclist commits to raising $3000 to participate. So far, Robin has raised enough money, but Char has not and still needs help. She is registered under the name Clinton Crawford, participant number 4712, because she registered before coming out this year.
Go to www.aidslifecycle.org to support her participation. “We are supported by people’s donations and by the support of those who are eager for this to be successful,” Robin said.
