Monday, July 22nd- St. Paul to Menomonie

We are fortunate to have 4 webteam members on Team Oz this year. We received 3 Day 1 descriptions. Rick Spaulding's story and pics which were lost in cyberspace have landed and are included at the bottom of this page.
Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 25 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's.	Bridget Gaeleigh became a SJA parishioner in the fall of 2000. Bridget lives with her two cats in Richfield. During the day she assumes the role of a business/techie in corporate america, but at night she's obsessed with satellite tv medical shows, working out, reading, listening to music and doing fun stuff with friends and family.	Michael Reinbold is a professional photographer and banquet caterer with an extensive theatre background in acting, writing, and directing. He loves all aspects of the arts, staying fit, and helping and inspiring people. A passionate believer in St. Joan of Arc's mission of social justice, Michael is a continuing AIDS Ride participant, Grace House volunteer cook, mass reader, and Joan of Arc choir member. He looks forward to web reporting and photographing for the website.

A Beautiful Day for a Bikeride!

This is Kay and Jim last year. May they rest in peace.

The route of our ride this year is much the same as it was last year. Unlike last year, we were blessed with a beautiful day to ride and delightful weather this evening. I'm sitting outside, enjoying a light breeze (enough to ward off the mosquitoes), and feeling glad to be alive today. Our collective energy level is multiples of what it had been a year ago!

At Pit Stop #3 Jim Cassidy commented, "I think I died here last year!" Rick Spaulding took a photo of he and Kay Sailer beneath the same tree where they iced their heads last year.

I was able to get a shot of Steve Kremer this evening. He's behind the scenes all day getting in with just enough time for dinner prior to the kitchen closing. Team Oz is well recognized and well represented here in the ranks of not only riders, but medical, ice, safety, pit stops and food service.

And since I've mentioned one of St. Joan's musicians, I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that Cyril Paul is quite the athlete. He arrived in camp, many hours before I did. He claims he was "drafting" but the fact is that he is just plain FAST.

Day Zero/Day One
I survived Day Zero and Day One just great! Sunday started at 9 AM Mass with the blessing for Team Oz. Because I'm on crew - not a rider - I had to be at Concordia by 10 AM, where we had all crew training, crew meeting, safety video, registration and got our tee-shirts that identified what crew we belong to.

I'm part of the medical crew, assigned to pit 4 - which is about 70 miles into each days route. So Monday morning, my friend dropped me off at Concordia at 5:30 AM. I boarded the pit 4 van, and after a quick stop at Burger King, we were underway to our pit stop.

We ended up in a beautiful park about 15 miles outside of Menomonie and set up our pit stop. A big canopy, tables, chairs, cots, and medical supplies. We helped the rest of the pit crew unload 70 5 gallon water jugs, and 600 lbs. of ice. Then it was a waiting game for the riders.

The first rider came in at 11:39 AM. We didn't get busy with medical crew duties until about 1:30, then it was pretty steady business until 5:30. Luckily, no major accidents or problems - mostly bee stings, ice packs for sore knees and passing out ibuprofen.

Our pit closed at 6, and we got into base camp at 7. Had some dinner, set up my tent, and sent this article in. Now I'm going to bed!!! More to follow tomorrow....

Bridget Gaeleigh

A Gorgeous Day for a Ride
With gorgeous 79-degree weather and sunny skies with an enabling tailwind behind us, we had a perfect riding day. Opening ceremonies started promptly at 6:30 AM with Jim Maurer eloquently speaking about AIDS Events in Minnesota. Having pushed the "riderless bicycle" at last year's ride, I felt proud to cheer on the four new HIV-Positive Riders this year. They looked so determined, yet fragile. I can say this experience is something you will carry with you for a lifetime.

We started the ride at 7:00 AM sharp. And other than getting the scab on my right knee from a previous accident bumped into and part way torn off, I was fine riding. I made it into camp at 2:30 PM… for a 85 mile day, I made good time.

One unfortunate note: A typical ride usually has around 1700 riders. This year we have dropped to 1190 riders. More on this statistic later.

At camp during news announcements, host Brian Pembleton gave a top ten list of: “Why Port-a-Johns are better than your own bathroom”:

10. Doubles as a sauna.
9. Next person does not expect you to flush.
8. You don’t have to clean on Saturday.
7. No kids hogging the bathroom.
6. Perfect your breath-holding technique.
5. Gatorade could easily pass for sani-flush.
4. Never over flows--you hope!
3. Handy dandy purse shelf.
2. You don't have to face the quandry, Should I fish out what I just dropped in.
1. You get a pretty good idea of what the person ahead of you had for lunch.

Story by Michael Reinbold

Rick's Story Has Landed
The first day of the AIDSRide was perfect. We could not have asked for a better day. The wind was at our backs, the humidity was non-existent, and the sun was shining!

After a moving opening ceremony we rode past the Capitol and out to the Gateway trail. Pit Stop 1 had an Irish theme with two young lasses to welcome us.

At the Grab ‘n Go pit stop in Stillwater I met two of the cutest lemonade vendors ever. Skyler and Soren(below left) (with the help of their Dad) were giving away free lemonade when they weren’t having their picture taken by the admiring crowd. Then it was on to the big hill across the Stillwater bridge. It didn’t seem like much of a challenge with the beautiful weather, ( well….maybe it was a little challenge ) but it felt great to accomplish the climb. There were plenty of riders on the sidelines to cheer us to the top to help take a little of the sting out of it.

It was a welcome site to run across the Team Oz cheering section. Pat, Charlie and Fran(right) were there to wave us on to the tune of “We’re off to see the Wizard”.

Pit Stops are always a welcome site and Sandy was there at Pit 2 directing traffic.

A few of us were able to sit together for a lunch of chicken salad and fruit then it was on to Pit 3 but not without refilling our water bottles with ice handed out by our own Echo Thoren.

Pit 3 had a laid back 60’s theme with Monica making the perfect “flower child” host.

Now, if you remember looking at the pictures from last year, this was the pit where Jim Cassidy and Kay Sailer had to stop under a tree to put ice packs on their heads to keep from falling over. You can see that this year they are very happy campers (bikers? Crew? ). A true testament to the gorgeous day we had. Ah… what a difference a year makes.

Linda also had a good example of what 65 miles does to a bag of Oreos. They were good though!

There was beautiful scenery all the way and the roads were great but it was a great feeling to pull into camp. A good meal and a shower were the toppers on a great day of riding.

At dinner we even got to hear from Jim Maurer(right) how our efforts benefit the various Minnesota Aids organizations who receive contributions from this ride.

I’m going to bed now, secure in the knowledge that we have done a beautiful thing. We really do make a difference out here in the Heartland. You can tell by the faces of the people on the ride and the people that we meet.

and

Rick Spaulding is a photographer specializing in digital photography for the theater and works for National Camera Exchange. He is also an antique dealer and eBay afficianado who enjoys collecting marbles but his true joys in life are his two boys and his beautiful wife, Tinia.

So long for now. Day Two is waiting.

Rick Spaulding