Benefit

Pedaling for dollars

by Nina Willdorf

You'd seem to need a pretty good reason to spend a weekend pedaling 275 miles, rising each morning at 5:30 a.m. But the Boston-New York AIDS Ride is gearing up for its sixth annual event, which raises money for three AIDS service organizations in Boston and New York, and bicyclists are not in short supply. Around 3000 of them are oiling their gears and stretching their quads in preparation for this year's ride, which will take place September 15, 16, and 17.

Last year, cyclists raised a total of $31.6 million in five nationwide AIDS Rides -- San Francisco to Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago, Houston to Dallas, Boston to New York, and Raleigh to Washington, DC. Organizers this year are hoping for more. The rides, which are sponsored by Tanqueray and produced by Pallotta Teamworks, have rounded up $127 million over the past five years.

After raising a minimum of $1700 in pledges, each rider need only gather together a sleeping bag, some colorful spandex, and the bike itself. At the end of each day, a truck carrying tents and food meets riders at baseball fields, public parks, and schools to set up a conglomeration of 1850 tents. "Tent City" also houses volunteer doctors, registered nurses, massage therapists, and chiropractors, all waiting with ready, limber hands for tired cyclists to arrive. By the end of the weekend, the riders will have wolfed down 4.7 tons of chicken and pasta, 22,000 eggs, and 6000 granola bars (but no Tanqueray).

For John Wolfe, a Cambridge computer consultant, the Boston ride is his fourth trip this year -- and his 18th AIDS Ride overall. "When I started out six years ago, it was more for me than anything else," Wolfe says, "but through the years, knowing so many people with HIV and who have died from AIDS, it's become something that I can't not do. My life's been very good to me, and it's a wonderful way for me to give back."

Ruth Messinger, a former mayoral candidate from New York City, is also planning on going the distance. "The AIDS Ride is definitely a personal challenge, but, more important, it's an opportunity for me to remember the dozens of friends I have lost to AIDS," she says.

The Fenway Community Health Center, New England's largest outpatient AIDS service agency with 6000 clients, is one of the three beneficiaries of the $7 million that this year's ride is expected to bring in. The other two are in New York: the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. Last year, FCHC received $1.9 million from the ride, which amounted to 15 percent of its annual budget. "In this era of tough economic times for health care, it's really a blessing for us," says spokesman Glenn Kaufhold. "Without donations from the ride, we wouldn't be able to provide the quality of care to the extent that we do it now."