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Tie a red ribbon round the state of Minnesota. We have our own AIDS ride
The Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride is off and riding July 10-13; it will benefit
nine Minnesota-based AIDS service organizations. St. Joan's Team Oz has
returned to lend their compassionate moxie with presently 22 riders and 13 crew
members on board. Team Oz has been active in six of the seven past AIDS rides with
ridership ranging from a few to 110 riders. Red Ribbon replaces what was
Pallotta Team Works' Twin Cities Chicago AIDS Ride launched in 1996.
TCCAR soon changed its name to the Heartland AIDS Ride covering 500-545 miles over a six day trek. Riders had to individually raise $2,300 the first year and by last year increased fundraising to $2,500. At its peak the ride had nearly 1,700 riders and by last year had dipped to just under 1000. Seven years of rides served to promote crucial HIV awareness and support to financially desperate AIDS service agencies but logistically its overhead increasingly cost more than what the ride could produce for its recipients. To make the ride a success would require that ridership increase each year to keep up with overhead costs.
| This website provided daily coverage of the last 3 Heartland AIDS Rides. To view the coverage, click these links: |
Something had to give. AIDS Ride, under intense scrutiny from riders and
media, shut down last year. The for-profit ride had initially done a world of good
but clearly had financially overstayed its welcome. Instead of paying a
corporation thousands of dollars to market and run the event, the solution was to
create Minnesota's own ride, grass-roots. Running the event themselves, a new
non-profit Minnesota-only ride initiated.
Kari Johnson talked to me about who runs the Red Ribbon Ride and her vital
role as manager. "The nine different agencies came together to form a non-profit
[board] called Minnesota Fighting AIDS On Bikes. They put seed money [up
front] to create the event and they hired me to produce the logistics of the ride.
I answer to them in terms of the budget. It's a team effort. We make those
decisions together." In charge of executing the day to day tasks, Johnson
responded, "I'm the Managing Director and we have a part-time event assistant
[Jennifer Schneider]." Each agency has a committee they head with specific
responsibilities; i.e., Kent Linder of Open Arms handles the recruitment.
The nine Minnesota beneficiaries include African American AIDS Task Force,
AIDS Care Partners (Agape House and Grace House), the Aliveness Project, Clare
Housing, Hope House of St. Croix Valley, Minnesota AIDS Project, Open Arms of
Minnesota, Park House and Rural AIDS Action Network. Riders are required to
raise $1,500 in order to participate in a roughly 325 mile bike ride.
How is the ride going right now? What could we be doing for it? Johnson elaborated, "People don't know how flawless the event's production has gone in terms of all of the logistics. Everything has fallen together so beautifully. A lot of great things have happened and positive energy has been around the ride. The only thing we've struggled with is rider numbers. [Ridership] has been down for a number of reasons: There are people who don't know about the event; people, who from the AIDS Ride, want to take a year off; and a lot of people who see this as a first time event and say 'I'm gonna let them do it the first year and I'll do it next year.' With the economy and the war, people don't think they can fundraise, but people are fundraising. One rider is at just about $10,000. So money is coming in. We don't hear a lot of people struggling that are doing the ride. We see big checks coming through. What we need right now is if you can get your friends and family to register to ride or crew; preferably we need more riders."
Some changes in the ride have much to do with down-sizing. The medical team
this year will be called First Aid. Johnson continued, "We are not doing IVs.
We don't poke. It's more Good Samaritan. We've been good about contacting
hospitals and clinics and training everyone about hypothermia and heatstroke." Even
crew managers will be up to speed on first aid.
People are asked to be as self sufficient as they can. Everyone will have to
provide their own tents, no larger than 10 x 10. Shower facilities are
provided at an elementary school in Lake City the first night, a nunnery at Rochester
the second night and at a high school in Northfield the third night. Energy
bars will be available but in limited quantities. Bike racks will be a thing of
the past. Riders will have to be responsible for their own bikes but camp
sites will be tightly secured.
Cutbacks, however, won't sacrifice fun. The third night, riders can plan on a
prom at camp, so bring that garish dress or that cheesy tux. The theme will
be a flashback to your prom or a chance to create the prom you've never had.
Red Day, an honored tradition of dressing in red for people who have died from
AIDS, is being considered for the third day theme.
The second night will be more meditative. Riders will reflect about "why we are here," camping at a peaceful nunnery called Assisi Heights. They have generously donated their facility for the riders and crew. The first night activity will be relaxed with a cook out and possibly a movie.
Helping one another is what this ride is about. Mojito Restaurant donated an entire evening of profit for the ride. What a great win-win for everyone involved. "We were blown away by the response of the participants and supporters who weren't registered for the ride," responded Johnson. "They had to turn people away at the door." Proceeds for that night equaled nearly $6000.
A list of cheering stations will be available for the public and guests may
visit camp but are not allowed to stay overnight or eat. At any camp sites,
guests are also not allowed to drive or park on the grounds.
Ride out is at 6:30 AM July 10 at Mall of America. Day one will be about a
century (100 miles) in length with the other days decreasing respectively. Day
one and day two have hills. The final day is 40-45 miles with flat terrain, but
ending with one big hill. The ride completes its four day journey at the Prom
Center in Oakdale with a public invited closing ceremony.
"Crew members are also raising money so that's icing on the cake. Their gonna
help ensure that we return the most money back. It's been a goal to return
70%. We are doing are best to ensure that we can get as close to that number as possible.
It's just a goal and it all depends on the number of how many participate and
how much money they raise," concludes Johnson, but, "we still need ridership."
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It's still not too late to ride or crew for Minnesota's Red Ribbon Ride. Please consider a generous contribution for participating riders. Call 612-822-2110 or log onto www.mnredribbonride.org.
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