AIDS LifeCycle Fund

I moved to Tulsa three years ago, at the start of 2020. Six weeks after I arrived, Covid put the country on lockdown, and I got sick. Really sick. Months later, I’d learn that the airborne virus we’d all been scrubbing our hands of wasn’t the culprit. My body had seroconverted from an infection to HIV.

I’m grateful for the privileges afforded to me and the decades of activism that make living with HIV today manageable. My diagnosis came during a very isolating time, and I’ve struggled to find community here in Oklahoma.

After graduating college in 2009, I moved to San Francisco to expand what I knew to be possible. That’s when I learned about AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, benefiting San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Since 1994 participants have raised more than $300 million to support life-saving services, end the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, and honor those who have passed.

With a mix of nerves and excitement, I'm officially registered for the 2023 ride in June, and I need your help getting there!

I’m a full-time bike commuter and have gotten around without a car for the last 13 years. Turns out cycling as a sport is not cheap. With the funds raised so far, I've been able to buy a proper bike, and I've slowly been acquiring the required equipment and gear, but I have a lot left to buy, along with my travel to/from California.

I can’t thank you enough for supporting me through this journey. It’s not only a worthwhile cause but an opportunity to create a community of friends and others who are poz that I know will be with me for life.

With love,

Ryan