I am sure you're thinking that I've achieved Olympic gold medal status in postponement skills by now, so I'll try to catch up a bit on my AIDS ride effort this year: the AIDS Vaccine Ride 200 in May, supporting the Vaccine Center at Emory University, Atlanta.  


My longtime riding partner, Tracy and I arrived in Atlanta about 5PM on Thursday to a sweltering 93°, then quickly made our way to Emory University, as we were offered medical school dorm lodging since we were the riders who traveled the longest distance.  Turman dorm is a beautiful, new, 4-story 'green' building and we were the only residents other than the RA - nice!  This was great as all of the pre and post ride activities were literally across the road and so was the start/finish line for the ride.  When you already have to pack up gear and bikes, travel cross-country and rent a car for all said gear and bikes, it's a huge help to not have to find off-site lodging and commute for everything.

my side of the dorm room

We settled in quickly after meeting Marc, who coordinated all of the logistics for the ride; this ride is 100% volunteer - so, along with the riders and road crew, the ride management - everyone is a volunteer - donating our time and efforts so that all of the money we raise goes directly to the reason we ride: develop a vaccine to rid our world of HIV/AIDS!
We also quickly found the local Starbucks (we are from Seattle, home of coffee mecca, you know), pizza place, and local bike shop who sponsors this ride.  I spent Friday re-assembling my bike, sorting my clothes and ride gear in readiness to ride over the weekend and prepping all for a very early start on Saturday morning. 
We walked over to the Emory School of Medicine for ride check-in (get rider packets with route information, rider #, emergency contact info, etc) and had a yummy dinner, meeting lots of new friends on Friday then made it an early night as the alarm was set for o'dark hundred!

pre-ride breakfast; Rachel, Mary, Tracy

It was still dark when I brought my overnight bag for gear drop-off and rolled my bike over to the front of the medical school building again Saturday morning.  When I was putting it in the bike rack, another rider tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if he could get some help/ask me some questions.  As it happened, he was an experienced rider but using a borrowed bike with different components than he was used to, so he wanted to ask me if I could coach him on how to change gears!  I'm one of those who would not even use a new saddle or shoes or anything, never mind a new bike on a long ride - whew!  He quickly got the hang of it though and went to practice a bit on quiet campus roads while I went inside for breakfast.  

Mary's bike - ready to ride!

We were able to fuel up well, fill our water bottles, pocket some snacks and head outside for some last minute safety reminders and route updates before we enjoyed the send-off from lots of supporters and a brass band playing Lady Gaga on our rideout...through the streets to connect to a local bike path taking us towards Stone Mountain, site of our first rest stop.
Tracy and I were proudly representing our AIDS rider teammates and wearing our Puget Sound Riders jerseys 

We met up with lots of great folks along the way and we were all very appreciative that the oppressive heat and humidity had disappeared for us to ride out in a light mist, only requiring arm warmers and vests for the cooler early hours of riding.  As a rider who has unfortunately been caught in too many downpours, I now know to pack my rain jacket, just in case, whenever there is threat of rain.  Luckily I only had to carry it and not use it, as the temps were delightful and we rolled through the outskirts of Atlanta, rural backroads, past lots of farms, gorgeous magnolia and oak trees all the way to Rock Eagle 4-H center - our overnight camp 105 miles from the start. 

On Sunday afternoon we all met up at Decatur Square and riders lined up next to each other and our bikes alongside the path, as we silently paid tribute to all of those lost to AIDS - represented by a riderless bike.  We then climbed back on our own bikes, rolled out behind a police escort for the 2 mile ride back to the Emory University campus.  

This was another amazing experience and I'm encouraged anew that we're closing in on our goal: to end AIDS.  Thank you again to my generous donors; together we ARE making a difference!

Tailwinds!

Mary

105 miles are in the book!

Hi all,
Pic is of Tracy and me earlier this afternoon@ 70 miles.  Tha.k you for supporting the AIDS Vaccine 200 ride...it's 100% volunteer - ALL donations go toward a vaccine.
9:15 PM here and I'm about to sleep, then ride it in reverse tomorrow.
Mary

Emory University entrance

I'm in Atlanta...

Staying in a medical school dorm at Emory University...what a beautiful campus!  The Emory Vaccine ctr is the ride beneficiary...will probably meet some researchers at the rider/crew dinner tonight.
My bike is all re-assembled and ready for ride-out @ 7:30 AM, Atlanta time, tomorrow. 
A special shout-out to my friend Carson tomorrow...wishing you smoother roads and tailwinds on lifes journey, Carson...no wrong turns either!

Ready to fly!

My bike is in that bag...ready to head to Atlanta tomorrow; more to come...

Ready to pack...

My bike is clean and ready to be disassembled and packed.  The top tube and down tube have couplers built right in, so that I can take the frame apart and pack in a special case that is neither oversize nor overweight. It gets checked as regular baggage :)  
I'll add that pic later on...

Mt. Rainier and sun!

Last weekend I enjoyed Springtime weather for my training rides-  finally!
Sunday's ride was the longer one, enjoying sunshine throughout-  aahhh!  South of Seattle and all the way down the Kent valley, right through the crosswalk where I was hit 3 years ago, continuing through Sumner and Prying where Mt. Rainier provided a magnificent backdrop-  wow!
1 week from today I leave for Atlanta...final prep and packing list begins...

a sunny training ride - yea!!!

Ahhhhh, how lovely to have sun and warmth on a training ride - finally!   Spotted 2 juvenile deer between the trail and river on the outbound loop; it was @ 10AM, so it seemed kind of late for them to wandering, but it was a treat to see while riding past.   Further south, before we left the trail, there were 2 bald eagles watching the goings on from a treetop; then 4 more flew above, gliding nearby, so that we had to stop and enjoy that regal sight.

Busiest spot of road?  Most dangerous part of the ride?  Why, the Starbucks parking lot and drive-thru access points, of course!!

Only 2 more weekends to finalize training, before I pack my bike and head East for the AIDS Vaccine ride 200 - weekend of 5/14 & 5/15.
 I'd appreciate your support in my fundraising efforts; let's end AIDS!

Thank you,

Mary

Mary Harding's rider page - AIDS Vaccine ride, 2011

Tracy, Mary - 1st sunny training ride, 2011!

Training to ride and raising $ to fund AIDS Vaccine Research!

Training ride today and it was SO wonderful to wake up, look outside (when you live in Seattle and have had as sloppy a Spring as I have, that becomes a habit) and see some sun and blue sky - yea!!   

Most of my training rides for my upcoming AIDS Vaccine ride (4 weeks from now - eek!) have been colder than usual and rain too - ugh!  I packed my rain jacket of course, but was hoping that I wouldn't have to use it.  Wanted to ride 50 miles and settled for 46.5...also, I rode on the same trail and past the same intersection where I was hit by the speeding car just about 3 years ago - the driver also admitted to reaching into the back seat to play with her 2 yo nephew :(

Interesting to see that the bicycles crossing caution signs, which were already there, have been updated to the brighter yellow, along with lots of flashing caution lights and a built-up, repainted crosswalk with reflectors - hope it helps someone else avoid my painful experience.

I got in a couple of other rides on Friday and Saturday, so I'm feeling good about increasing my mileage and endurance for the upcoming ride.  I'll keep going and with your help, we can make history soon in funding a vaccine to end AIDS!  Here's the link for secure online donations:


Mary's rider page: AIDS Vaccine Ride 2011

Tailwinds!
Mary

Riding for the same Reason since 1997 - next up: AIDS Vaccine Ride, May 2011

Yep, it's been a loooong winter and I had a bit of a delay in getting my ride training started recently by a bout with pneumonia - whew!  Legs and lungs sure need to get some riding time now!


My AIDS ride this year will occur sooner than usual in the season - less than 2 months away, actually, as it's mid-May!  I'll again ride in support of AIDS vaccine research - this year the beneficiary is the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University, Atlanta, GA.  The ride leaves Emory University Medical School on Sat, 5/14 to ride @ 103 miles East to Rock Eagle Park, GA, then return on Sunday.  So my training will be focused on miles in order to train for back-to-back century (100+) rides on consecutive days.  I'll have the same goals as usual: finish safely and have fun while raising as much $ as I can to wipe out AIDS.  For that I'd pedal around the world and back!


Please consider joining my support team as a 'spoke sponsor'; secure, online donations can be made anytime on my personal rider page: 


Mary Harding's rider page for AIDS vaccine ride, 2011


I'll post more updates as I get going...thank you.
Tailwinds!
Mary