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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Cherie Zepp stretches after a 50-mile training ride.
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Wheels of Fortune Local athletes bring AIDS awareness into the classroomBy Pam Marino
Five ordinary suburban moms are about to do something extraordinary, and in the process they are expanding just what is meant by the notion of "community."
All five moms, who live in the same neighborhood and volunteer at the same Cupertino Union School District school in Sunnyvale, are getting on bikes to ride more than 550 miles for the fifth annual AIDS Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June. Right now they are in training, putting in hundreds of hours and riding thousands of miles in preparation, with their husbands and children urging them on.
And they are fundraising in excess of $12,500. Each rider is required to raise a minimum of $2,500 to participate in the week-long ride that is expected to raise more than $5 million for AIDS charities in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
None of the five--Lisa Houser, Joan Dodge, Heather Perlitch, Debby Inenaga and Sherie Zepp--has experienced a personal loss due to AIDS, but they have one thing in common: They all want to make a difference for society.
Even the staff at the AIDS Ride office in San Francisco is marveling over how five neighbors in the suburbs could make such a major commitment of time and money to AIDS charities, with the support of their families. The women have a combined total of 14 children ranging in ages from 3 to 18.
The very act of committing to the ride has changed them, the women said.
It all started more than a year ago with Houser, who completed the ride herself in 1998. Houser had worked with AIDS patients in the 1980s when she was a physical therapist. She "retired," as she calls it, to become a mom and "professional volunteer." After her mother died unexpectedly, Houser heard about the ride and decided participating would be a fitting tribute, as well as a celebration of being alive.
"This would be something that my mom would be very excited to see me do," she told herself. Houser said she also knew that she was about to embark on something that could be a life-altering event.
Houser had no previous biking experience; in fact, she bought her first bike in preparation for the ride. But before she could begin training she contracted meningitis, which sidelined her in the hospital. As soon as she was well she began training in earnest.
When the big week came, Houser indeed found the experience to be life-changing. But it wasn't just the week itself that was significant, it was the preparation and fundraising, the people she met along the way, and the support she received from not only her family but her neighbors.
"It changed my perspective on community and friends," Houser said. She found her neighbors to be excited and willing to pitch in with money, offers to baby-sit and words of encouragement and support.
After the ride, Houser's friends were so impressed with her accomplishment that they found themselves thinking about what it would be like to make the same trek.
Heather Perlitch changes a flat tire. Tire changing is an important skill to master before tackling the San Francisco-Los Angeles ride.
Inenaga said she and her husband Bruce, who races bikes as a hobby, had been talking about the ride as a way to contribute to society since last year. Bruce encouraged Inenaga--the only mom of the five who works full-time outside of the home--to take on the ride.
Zepp actually considered the ride last year, but was recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. Riding a bike was one of the exercises she could perform as therapy, but it wasn't until this year that she felt ready to tackle the 500-plus-mile ride.
"Now that I'm back in the swing of things, I jumped right in," she said. Zepp finds it easier to train for the ride knowing that she's part of a group.
Dodge knew she wanted to do it, and she convinced Perlitch, who had started biking as a way to get fit about a year ago, to come along for the ride.
"I really feel the same way Lisa [Houser] does about community service," Perlitch said. She said her own parents were very involved in community work, which inspired her to do the same.
The women said that the biggest problem is finding large blocks of time when they can get child care for their training rides. Saturdays are usually spent on rides that last several hours. The recommended amount of training for the June ride is to bike 150 miles a week, with each ride at 40 to 50 miles. As the AIDS ride approaches, that amount goes up. On the ride itself from June 6 to 12, the bikers will be traveling between 70 and 100 miles each day.
An army of volunteers is needed to help the estimated 2,600 riders form a tent city each night, get food, showers, medical attention and other necessities. Tanqueray is the major company sponsoring the ride, and other companies pitch in, like UPS, which donates trucks and crews to load up the tents and gear to set up the next stop. There are also smaller stops every 15 to 20 miles for bikers to refresh themselves during the day.
The women said people of all shapes, abilities and conditions make the ride. The philosophy is that everyone crosses the finish line, so the stragglers are picked up at the end of each day and helped on to the next stop, and eventually to Los Angeles. The camaraderie between riders is "kind of like community should be," Houser said, a "reflection of how the world could be."
Besides fundraising, the ride is also a way to increase awareness about the disease, how to prevent it, and how to help victims, the women said.
In that spirit, the women are volunteering their time to go into classrooms at West Valley Elementary, where they all have children attending, to tell students why they have made a commitment to the AIDS ride.
Last year Houser went into her son Chase's kindergarten classroom with her bike and, wearing her biking clothes, she told the children about the ride. She said she used very simple terms and explained the illness in a limited way as a disease people can get from sharing blood. The children were mainly interested in her bike, and in how Chase was going to keep in contact with his mom while she was gone for a week.
As for the fundraising part of it, Zepp said children understand all about that, especially since West Valley has a walk-a-thon every year which operates in much the same way as the AIDS Ride, asking people for pledges.
This year the women are taking part in Exploration Day on May 4 at West Valley, which is a special day when the children can learn about careers, music, the arts and other subjects. The women will come--gear and all--to explain the ride to the students.
All five of the women said despite the major commitment of time and energy to the ride, they all feel as if they are getting tremendous benefits. Healthier bodies is one, getting to know one another better during training is another. Getting the week in June to meet some incredible people and have some unforgettable experiences, is yet another.
And throughout it all is the idea that they are getting to be a part of a larger community.
"I think I'm expecting to expand my community," Dodge said. "When my kids were little my community was my little house, and then they went to school and the school became my community." Now that her children are older--she has four ranging in age from 5 to 13--her "community" is getting even bigger.
In June it will stretch from beyond Sunnyvale over 500 miles, and the five neighbors will find themselves with 2,500 new neighbors--on wheels.
To help sponsor the women, contact Lisa Houser at 739-6400. To get more information about the AIDS Ride, or to volunteer, call (415) 908-0400.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
