World AIDS Day is Wednesday, Dec. 1, marking the 30th year of the pandemic. It's not a happy anniversary.
To commemorate this milestone, bicyclists in San Francisco and Los Angeles are holding World AIDS Day bike rides on Sunday.
Participants are asked to wear red.
Positive Pedalers, a group of HIV positive cyclists and their supporters, will sponsor a 30-mile ride that winds through the city, pausing at important locations in the history of AIDS. Riders will meet 8 a.m. at McLaren Lodge at Golden Gate Park (Fell and Stanyan).
Among the stops: San Francisco State University — established an AIDS task force in 1985; UC-San Francisco — together with the biotech firms is the forefront of AIDS/HIV research; City Hall — architect of the San Francisco Model for dealing with AIDS; Castro District — devastated by the AIDS epidemic and home to AIDS response advocates; and the National AIDS Memorial Grove.
More details at the Facebook page or Positive Pedalers website.
Participants will attend a 7:45 a.m. service and 8 a.m. start at Bike Effect, 910 Broadway in Santa Monica. The 30-mile ride will wind through Santa Monica and Beverly Hills to the Los Angeles Mission, where the cyclists will pause to commemorate those who have died and to meet people being served HIV Healthcare services of the mission.
More details and RSVP at World AIDS Day Ride Los Angeles Facebook page.
AIDS day
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first AIDS diagnosis in the US. It's also the year that a Canadian flight attendant visited many bathhouses in New York City and later became known as “Patient Zero” for his connection to many cases of AIDS.
Organizers of World AIDS Day seek to tackle HIV prejudice and urge others to protect themselves from HIV transmision.
Find local events for World AIDS Day here
The 10th anniversary of the AIDS LifeCycle bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles is scheduled June 5 to 11, 2011.
If you know of other World AIDS Day bike rides, please leave a link in the comment section.
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