We Had Positive Pedalers' Day

Tuesday 30 November has come and gone. I had received my Pos Peds jersey a few days before (just in time for the photo shoot with the Deputy Lord Mayor), and wore it for my Club rides early Tuesday. Pity it poured with rain - as soon as i got home I had to wash and dry it, in time for Positive Pedalers' Day starting at 11.00am.

There were about 15 cyclists who braved the unseasonal wet weather, for a Pos Ped ride around Sydney City. Then a ceremony at Town Hall - the Lord Mayor (still on crutches after she broke her ankle cycling :( ), the Deputy Lord Mayor, and about 60 people: Pos, Neg, cyclists, walkers, whoever.

Some short speeches - the Lord Mayor spoke of the need for inclusiveness and for retention of HIV on the agenda. Robert Lake, CEO of Positive Living NSW spoke how the medications enable so many of us to do so many things, and how this had caused a change in name and emphasis : no longer People Living with HIV/AIDS, but instead: Positive Living. My message was how HIV had stopped me from cycling, due to fear of not getting the requisite medical attention if I crashed, and my joy of learning that my concern is unfounded. We can live Life! despite HIV!

I look forward to a repeat next year.

Positive Pedalers' Day in Sydney

On 13 September 2010, Sydney City Council resolved to dedicate and declare a day as Positive Pedalers’ Day in Sydney. It is proposed to be held on or near World AIDS Day, 1 December (the start of our summer).
The proposal arises from the great work done by Grady Allison of Positive Pedalers in the USA, who managed to get declarations made on 30 April 2010 by the cities of New York, Minneapolis, Austin, Texas, San Francisco, West Hollywood, CA, and the States of New York, New Jersey, and the State of California. I was present in San Francisco - it was fantastic!
The Sydney Councillors have been supportive from the moment I contacted them to have a similar day in Sydney. The main benefit will come through publicity, both before and after the event, to reach out to all cyclists with HIV and their friends and families, and further reduce stigma and discrimination.

Response at Gay Games showed RAAM project worthwhile

I handed out about 800 pamphlets about our project of a HIV+ team to do RAAM in 2011. I was extremely heartened by the positive response - everyone was in support!
I was also made aware of the utility of the project, when a number of other athletes were willing to share quietly that they too are HIV+, and when a professional guy from Western Europe confides that I'm the first person whom he has met knowingly with HIV. We're lucky with the medications these days - it makes our appearances the same as other people. But it also means that stigma against HIV+ persons can continue anonimously.

3 x Gold at Gay Games Cologne (and some new teeth!)

At very short notice I was able to race my bike in Cologne Germany at the World Gay Games, with 10,000 athletes from all over the world. There was a lot of very strong, able and focussed athletes. I had entered the Road Race, the Criterium, and the Time Trial, but could take with me only one bike, so I took the TT bike, and hoped to rent a road bike once in Cologne. That did not work out for the Sunday.

Even so, I did go to the Road Race circuit, to withdraw (can’t do the road race on my TT bike!). But there, Aussie Olympian Michelle Ferris very kindly lent me her bike! The route was more like a crit than a road race – 20 x 2.2km laps of suburban streets, with 90 degree turns and 2 small roundabouts. With over 75 competitors, the road was full! I was determined to stay in the front bunch the whole way, and that proved successful - I came 7^th overall, averaging 41.25km/hr, and I won the MM5.

The criterium on Tuesday was a very challenging circuit – it was a 975metre rectangle around 4 soccer fields. Two lengths of the track were 4-5 metres wide, and the other two were only 3 metres wide, so it was all extremely tight. It was also wet and slippery. My goal was to stay upright, so I ensured that I had no other riders in the 30metres in front of me. I did not care if others were drafting behind me – an unusual strategy for a crit but at least they would not take me with them if they fell. I came 5^th overall, and won the MM5!

Then my own real race – the TT. It was a complex 10km circuit with 3 u-turns and 2 x 90 degree turns. More than half of it was on the freeway, which was closed for the occasion (!). But the closure meant that we had only a short window of time for the TT, and it was changed from 20km to 10km. Hard and Fast!!. Given the multiple u-turns, at 15:20, I was very happy- I got the hat trick: 3 x gold!

Then I was riding home. Cologne has lots of cycleways alongside the footpaths, but often with a 3-5cm height difference. At dusk, I hit that height difference, received 7 stiches in my head, and 3 new teeth. L But Team Sydney, the Sports Organisation responsible for the gay athletes from Sydney, as well as the Dutch cyclists were fantastic in their assistance.

The camaraderie amongst the cyclists was terrific – we all had a fantastic time whilst engaged in solid competition. We had riders from all over Europe, USA, Russia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil. At the Games in other sports, there were competitors from countries such as Ghana, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Iraq and UAE. The challenges that they face merely by attending the Gay Games makes it all worthwhile.

"coming out" at work - declaring my HIV status

Last night, we had Friday night drinks at work with a big difference. I made a (planned) speech, about doing RAAM, and why we're doing it. That meant declaring my HIV+ status to all my work colleages. I was apprehensive, but I need not have worried. They were all fantastic, and fully support us in our Project, as well as me being HIV+ ! :)

Team Time Trial Championships in NSW

I competed in the NSW Team Time Trial Championships last Sunday. It was a magnificent day, with 108 teams competing in various categories. My team was in the +150 category (where the combined age of the 3 youngest members is at least 150 - yes, we were born earlier!) We came 4th out of 26. Whilst getting 4th is always unfortunate, it was a nevertheless a great result and good training for RAAM (our time was 1:00:28 - just like a 1hour RAAM ride slot for our Team!). Individual TT's at the end of July. STEVEN

Blog working! + History of this Project

Not being technically savvy, I've had some problems with the blog. Fortunately my cycling buddy Fran has helped - Thank You!

So this Post is a rundown of what has happened in the last few months to get this Project going.

For a long time I had known about RAAM. But HIV+ people could not enter the USA like other people, so the possibility of me doing RAAM was remote. That changed on 4 January 2010, when the USA relaxed the visa requirements. A few weeks later, at a 200km ride in Victoria Aus, I saw a person wearing a RAAM jersey. I raced across and said "I want to earn one of those!". The person was Glenn Druery who confirmed the difficulty in doing RAAM - but that did not deter me.

The challenge was getting a team together. The criteria are numerous: good rider, endurance rider, HIV+, willing to disclose. I scoured the World. I left pamphlets in major HIV hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne. I joined various forums. All with little positive outcome. A guy in London was interested, and met all criteria but was unwilling to disclose his HIV status to the USA Dept of Home Security. The South African cycling bodies were unwilling to put a notice on their website "because HIV status is a sensitive issue in South Africa". But that's precisely why we're doing the Project - to reduce stigma and sensitivity!

Positive Pedalers in USA have been a great help. They put me in contact with Jim in New York, who responded within seconds of learning about the Project. I went to the USA in April/May, and joined the Jon Pon Ride north of San Francisco, and was able to make a short speech at dinner, whereafter Didier jumped aboard!

The pamphlets in the hospitals have had some response, including from a person in Sydney. Sadly, he decided to opt out of the Project, fearing the enormity of the challenge. I think he underestimates his capabilities.

I've no doubt that we will get a 4th Rider soon. Then for the crew!

Positive Pedalers Day in San Francisco and elsewhere

30th April 2010 was Positive Pedalers' Day in San Francisco and West Hollywood CA, New York, Minneapolis, Austin TX, and the States of New York, New Jersey, and the State of California. See www.pospeds.org. Steven was present at the declaration in San Francisco. "To stand on the City Hall Steps with Councillors, Senate representatives and together with so many HIV+ persons was unbelievably empowering" - The Declaration is a very positive statement to assist in reducing stigma. Thank you Grady and all at Pos Peds for the hard work in arranging those declarations!