Minneapolis to Chicago

AIDS Ride 2001 Sendoff Party

Mon., July 9 to Sat., July 14

Editor's Note: The SJA Website will be providing daily reports from the road as we did last year. Webteam members Edie Kalweit, Michael Reinbold, Vickie Hepler, Ray Tanis,and Rick Spaulding are also Team Oz members and will be sending back their accounts and images of the experience. This is assuming we get a reliable internet connection from base camps each evening. We hope to improve on last year's coverage with 4 reporters. Last year, Edie did it all! View her reports from last year's ride.
Thanks Edie, Michael, Vickie, Ray and Rick!

For the second year in a row, a wonderful sendoff party was enjoyed by the many Team Oz members, their families and friends at the home of Charlie Kapp and Paul Lipetzky. A comment was made to me that the weather was cooler this year than last. I really hadn't remembered. Last year, my first AIDS Ride experience, was filled with thoughts and perhaps anxieties other than weather at the party!

Riders, riders, riders, what a wonderful sight. From Minneapolis-St. Paul and the suburbs. All supporting a cause that is near and dear to my heart. What a great way to spend a week in the out of doors. It is a week of unconditional tiredness!!! My heart goes out to all who work this ride. Ride on, ride on, ride on.

A book circulated today among the members of Team Oz. Some feelings about the training rides were shared by team members. Some crew recently arriving in town also expressed some of their feelings about the team and our upcoming journey together. Their accounts follow:

Reflections:

• First Time Crew- I first heard of the ride from my uncle (Dick Voss). He had done it five times and was very involved. For me, service for others helps me get my mind off of my own problems, and is very rewarding. This will be the ultimate service project, and I am very excited. My sister also went one other year and got me very involved. My mother is coming with me this year and it will be a wonderful experience. Emily Malay
• First Time Rider- Jim Cassidy, in his earnestly deceptive manner, lured me into this quixotic adventure with his "If I can do it, anyone can." Just now, two days before the ride, I would like to hide under the covers until they've all left for Chicago.
• Editorial comment: You can do it! The ride is easier than training for it. There are 14 hours each day to ride 100 miles. Even some of the very slowest riders on our team rode every mile last year. Training is tough, the ride is long, but very doable! Keep healthy and keep the faith, go slow if that's more comfortable for you, and keep hydrated. Those are the keys to success! You'll surprise yourself at what you can do, remember our slogan "I'm possible." edie (Ms. Slowest of Slows)
• First Time Crew- I recently moved to St. Paul from Atlanta and was looking for a way to be involved in AIDS fundraising up here. My friend, Sandy Joiner, started brainwashing me, and soon I became infected with her enthusiasm. The AIDS Ride just seems like a truly substantial way to honor loved ones who have died of this disease. Nancy Hargrave
• My 1st experience with Team Oz and the Traffic Crew!! I am absolutely in awe of the team spirit and dedication as well as the organization of the Tangueray Group. I'm experiencing excitement, combined with high anxiety!! I'm on the Traffic Crew-I've always volunteered for a variety of things. Since I'm newly divorced, I really can't afford a vacation, (or time away), so this is satisfying both needs. I'm a first timer.
• I will be glad to have my spouse back in a week, but I feel it has been and will be a great experience for her. She has really met some great people and has enjoyed it all!!!
• What can I say!! Team spirit is what this is all about. The end reward for a cure is why people are here to help other people. Go Team Oz!
• I'm doing the AIDS Ride because I think it’s a great way to raise awareness and money for people living with AIDS. Sometimes, I feel powerless to do anything to stop the spread of the illness. This is something tangible, something to help.
• This will be my third AIDS Ride-pedaling to Chicago. What a group! I'm lucky enough to be part of Team Oz as well. I worked with many persons with AIDS in San Francisco and had first hand experience with all the resources, when available, to assist those ill and needing help. They helped me understand what is important in life. I'm so thankful I can help raise awareness, money and care. My husband will also ride and my mother who turned 70 on July 5th will be on crew. This week makes a huge difference in all our lives.
• This is my first AIDS Ride. We do a pledge/charity ride, and this year we're doing this.
• After riding over 1000 miles during the last three months, training for this ride, I'm still not sure I'm ready. But here it goes. The people I've met have been great and supporting. Hopefully, I'll still be standing when it's over and I can thank them all. Mike Beck
• I'm doing the ride to challenge myself and meet new people, but mostly I'm doing this for all the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth I work with, so that HIV/AIDS is gone in their lifetime.
• The reason I want to participate in this event is because I truly believe in the cause. I know a dear friend who is HIV positive and have watched him battle with it. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to share in the AIDS Ride!

  One of many support vehicles.

• My best memory of training was when I was telling Mary McKenna how the lion was the character in Oz I most related to and identified with. But, I had found no lion ornament to attach to my bike or helmet. She had a lion! At the end of the ride she gave me a beanie lion! Thanks Mary! Paul Rozycki
• Up the hills, (d__n wind!), then down (who put this zoo ride together)? Huffing and puffing, cold and rainy, I will never be ready. But, then the hills don't seem to be so hard, encouragement pushes you up, and the zoo is not so bad. Music pushes you up, cheers when you end; maybe I am more ready than I thought. Community, dignity, love and acceptance take the rough edges down a little. Training with a new family, Team Oz!
• This is my third year crewing the AIDS Ride and being with Team Oz-What a remarkable experience. It has changed my life and the rewards are so many- The smiles, the tears, the joy, the love- This is what love of human man is all about and my wish is when I'm older, much older, I'll be doing this with all the wonderful friends of Team Oz-
• This was my second year on Team Oz. Both years have been magical. The friendships started last year with fellow teammates have grown. We understand each other, our life situations, in greater depth and with more understanding. Time together is probably the dearest commodity any of us will ever have to share with others. This week, on our bikes, at rest stops and in camp is time together almost like no other. We will share our joy and pain. Training was somewhat harder for me this year than last. I really need to work on physical fitness this coming year! I wouldn't trade one minute of the training rides for a minute engaged in any other activity, though. Team Oz has become family to me. I am grateful for the efforts of everyone who made our training rides both fun and beneficial.

Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 24 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's.