Pointed Thoughts and Facts Before Departure July 16, 2001 This one's dedicated to all the skeptics and the jaded. Few people I know have wryly suggested that I'm off to some biking vacation. In response to this, I shamelessly borrow Lance Armstrong's words: This week, "It's not about the bike." I enlisted the help and support of family, friends, clients, and strangers who bravely chose to support the cause for which I ride and -- by God -- I will ride. As I depart for New York today, I leave you with some sobering details that compelled me to join this movement. In 1984, the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler predicted that an AIDS vaccine would be ready for testing within two years and in the market in three years. Seventeen years have passed since those federal officials and this prominent scientist, in a moment of wishful thinking that they will never live down, stood up at a news conference and made this announcement. There is still no AIDS vaccine. Not even close. Each year, 5.5-million people are newly infected with HIV -- that is 15-thousand new cases per day. One out of every 100 people worldwide between the ages of 15 and 40 is infected. Transmission of HIV among gay and bisexual men age 23 to 29 is being contracted at the same rate it did when the epidemic peaked in the mid 1980's. AIDS is growing twice as fast among those over 50 than those under age 50. Have you had any doubts about the worthiness of the fight against AIDS? Consider this: In 1,821 people died of AIDS in San Francisco in 1984. This year, 56 people have died of AIDS in San Francisco. The Northeast AIDSRide provides 60% of the budget for Callen Lorde, one of the beneficiaries located in New York. Fenway Community Health, a Boston-based beneficiary of this event, fights a bold battle against AIDS in part by promising access to AIDS/HIV treatment regardless of a patient's ability to pay.
Introduction | The Event | The Cause | Meet the Rider | Get Involved | The Sponsors News & Photos | Rider Goods | Message Board © Copyright 2001-2003 Eshutter Creative LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "AIDSRide" is a registered trademark of Pallotta TeamWorks.