The Promised Pics

So I'm catching up now that I'm home. Here are some photos of the team on Red Dress (or dress in red) Day. It's a tradition started back in the CAR (California AIDS Ride) era to dress in red on day five so we create a red ribbon flowing across the countryside. The massage team joined in the spirit.

I'll start with me. I brought my stunt kite with me and wanted to fly it at each camp but couldn't quite fit it into my schedule.  But, of course, I had to fly when I was in my posh frock! Now, about the dress, I know, I know! It isn't purely red. Suggestions were: pink, salmon, coral, melon, and on and on. What I do know is that it was in the spirit of red, it fit well enough, I could work in it well enough, and it had bling!

Courtney in burgundy.

                                                                                         Daniel in pearls.

Eric raided grandma's closet!

                                 Charlie's red nightshirt.

Oh la la! The French, they are magnifique, non? Well Kristin certainly is.

Red Dress Day

I thought I'd explain a few details of the Massage Team operations. The organization of this event is amazing. We move a small town of people down the coast of California every day. And, of course, we do it in style!

Massage is part of the Specialty Team which also consists of Medical, Chiropractic, and Sports Medicine. Alisa Curry is our Deputy for the Specialty Team and Patrick Wilson  and Nick Johnson  are the co-captains for the massage team. Check the day two post for a photo of our load of the Gear Truck. So for most days we provided service from 1 pm to 9 pm. There are 26 members of the team including our door folk, Dorris and Dorthy (Rhonda and Tracy (shout out to Tracy's mom, Cindy, following her baby through the blogs.))

My average day began at 5:40 am so Greg could get on the road when bike parking opened. We'd get dressed in the tent--a balancing act on the air mattress, then go to breakfast, Greg would hit the road and I'd return to the tent. I'd pull out clothes and other stuff for the day and repack everything  cause you know how messy living out of a suitcase is. Then off to the massage tent to break down and pack up the 18 tables and myriad other stuff. Check the day two post for a photo of our load of the Gear Truck. By Day Four we'd cut the load down time from an hour to about 35 minutes. We would grab a bus to the next camp. Here's a shot of Lar, the Divalicious Bus Captain. Eat lunch while we wait for the gear truck to arrive and then unload and set up the tent. If all the break down and set up steps went well we'd get done just in time to open at 1 pm, if not we open a little late.

I and the others massaged for five hours a day, 15 minute sessions with five minutes to clean the table, grab a drink or snack, stretch, and signal Dor that we were ready for the next client.

When the shift was over I'd find Greg and grab some dinner and then come to the media tent to blog then go to bed. Which is what I'm going to do now.

PS. I'll post some Red Dress Pics tomorrow.

More for Day Four

Yesterday morning my funk peaked. It wasn’t just a funk though. I was profoundly sad. It seems to happen on every ride. The ride is a joyous, energetic, bawdy celebration of life. It’s also our compassionate response to loss as wide as an ocean. I bring to ALC my own losses and I pick up on what others in the community bring. We lost nearly a generation of gay men, villages in Africa literally decimated, people who never thought AIDS could affect them gone too. So the story of what’s going on for me at the moment, the “funk,” is what it is but there’s the other power behind it. I cried. I cried a lot. Greg held me. I’ve heard it said and experienced it that emotion is energy in motion. Letting it go, opening the heart to it, feeling it, and letting it go opens you to feel more.

Kristine, a massage therapist on our crew and also a chiropractic student at Southern California University of Health Sciences, allowed me a great honor yesterday.  Her father had a mild heart attack on Day 0. He was stable and so she decided to stay with the ride but yesterday he took a turn for the worse.  She scheduled a flight home. She was frightened and sad and torn between needing to be with her father and wanting to stay with the ride. She allowed me to work on her and hold space for all that emotion and her physical and energetic expression of it—helping her to stay grounded. She gave me a gift in return with a reminder of who I am and what I’m about on this earth. Please keep her and her father in your hearts.

We had a constant flow of bodies through the massage tent. You can see the furry pictures from the last post. A shout out to Kathryn’s mom, Janet, who’s gone all techie following us on the ALC blogs.

The man I love, BA BAM in red!

Late Night Post for Day Four

Well, 10:30 feels really late right now. It's been a really full day and a good day. I'll post some words about it tomorrow but here are some pictures to check out now.

Fur was the fashion theme in the massage tent today as Mistress Kathryn so beautifully models.

Grrr, it's Patrick.

The pressure of working the tent flap becomes too much for Dorothy.

Day Three

“I’ll get you my pretty!” So ends a conversation last night with John Hamilton, a friend from the moto safety crew. He’s crewed a few years. We check in on our day and I let him know I’m doing this blog. “Put me in the blog! I’ve got friends who are following the ride through the blogs.” “OK it’s done,” I respond. Greg wonders how I’ll remember John’s last name knowing my notoriously poor name memory. “Alexander Hamilton! That’s how you can remember!” Scott Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton, Lisa Gay Hamilton. Great! Give me a list of names to remember a name! But “I’ll get you my pretty!” who can forget the great Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of Oz?

Joey wants to be in the blog too. He's a massage therapist and triathlete and has crewed the team several times. He took many of the photos on this blog and many ALCers may remember his sweet voice from the talents show last year. He's got an obstinent streek; a group of us had this conversation about vegetarian and vegan meat-like products. Joey believes they shouldn't be because veggies have sworn off ALL things meat. Some of us were of the opinion that people have different motivations amd tastes for meat. I think he was having us on a bit but also a bit not. And on a related topic Greg just told me that after they passed the skinny dipping spot they came upon a cow calfing in a field. Us city slickers are amazed that they do this on their own. Pictures later.

Gotta go back to finish my last shift this evening. Maybe a bit more later if I have the energy. Did I say it's HOT today?

OK It’s Day 2!

5 a.m. so it must be time to wake up.

Shower (what’s up with these new no-cruise shower trucks?), eat (I love oatmeal), roll air mattress (Queen size extra thick), roll sleeping bag, roll tent. Load Specialty Crew’s Gear Truck (Fire-line style, we’re gonna get really good at this!)

On the bus and I’m talking with Kathryn from the Massage Team. She’s telling me about allowing change in her life and following her passion. She went to acupressure school for a new hobby and, after setting up a beautiful studio in her home, is seeing a bunch of clients regularly. Now she’s studying Naturopathic Medicine. Her boyfriend asked her to participate in his passion for the ride and here she is on the massage team. Pretty cool. She tells me to blog about the ride being about opening up your heart. So I am.

We’re here at camp and waiting for the gear truck. And waiting. And I’m getting tired and grumpy.  Truck’s finally here and it’s after 1 pm. A few riders are around and wondering about a massage and I’m still grumpy! Somebody rags on me for something I had nothing to do with. Cranky still.

The team tent is pretty situated now so it’s on to set up our sleeping tents. Goes up pretty easy regardless of the wind. Somebody drags a dripping tent over some massage sheets I put out and I’m still grumpy. A few minutes later I help her set up her tent. She’s grumpy herself and I figure she didn’t notice my sheets. Less grumpy! Ride’s about opening up my heart. Hmm, thanks Kathryn.

I don’t chase the funk away totally though. My head trips about how good some of the other therapists are and compares me unfavorably. Time for a break. Crash in the tent and put some of this down on paper so I’m not up toooo late. Alyssa stops by to tell me dinner’s up by the Med tent and I should go eat before next shift. Good advice, you know, the “eat before you’re hungry, drink before you’re thirsty, pee before…” spiel. Feeling better and out of my head I have some good sessions with folks reporting feeling better. Chokae listens to some of the crap in my head—better out than in! Thank you, man.

Eric, a massage therapist from the Bay Area. I like this shot.

BTW, I checked Information Services and the Camp Store and there are no condoms available on an AIDS Ride. Kinda weird.

Now my boyfriend (who ran 105 miles today!) is reminding me that it’s time to massage him and go to bed!

Day One

Wow, change of perspective is important in life, of course change itself is important. 

I didn’t ride my motorcycle to the Cow Palace this morning. My boyfriend Greg and I got a ride with the friends of our friend, Bob.  I thought we had to wake up at a forsaken hour but these guys came down from Santa Rosa! Musta risen at the crack of two. They came down just to take Bob to opening ceremonies and send him on his way. And they were generous enough to squeeze a few more of us in.  (These guys are bus drivers and so they’re used to waking up early and driving kids around and we were certainly giggling like schools girls.) I was grateful to see the love and support these guys radiated to Bob and was warmed by the glow. They dropped us off and headed back home.

Greg and I got to celebrate our one year anniversary at opening ceremonies. This was my first opening ceremonies—in the past I was always at my first moto-safety stop before ride out. We both got a bit verklempt as the riderless cycle was wheeled by. That’s one of the things I love about him that he’s courageous and strong enough to cry and he’s usually mushy about many of the same things as I am.

If you don’t ride the motorcycle to the Cow Palace you can’t ride it out; so more change. I boarded a bus with my fellow massage therapists and other specialty team members like Chiropractic and Sports Med. Took the fast route to Santa Cruz and grabbed a quick drink and bagel (many others had the beloved black brew for the required caffeine lift.) Unloaded the Specialty Gear Trucks next and set up the Massage Tent.

One of the cool things about the massage team is sharing techniques and tips. Chokae, big Paul, and Kevin demoed shoulder openers, Psoas (hip flexor) stretches, glutes, and low back, from Thai, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, and Shiatsu traditions. All of these we could use to assist riders and crew with their most common complaints. And we did. Opened up for business at about 1 pm and worked the tent up to 9. The theme was school uniforms and so you can image all of the Catholic school girl skirts gone bad.

And the second to last change for the night was doig this blog--I'm a  slow writer so gettting to bed a little late. The last change is waitin for me back at the tent. Nite...

Scott

I'm participating in AIDS/Lifecycle 7 because I can't imagine not showing up when so many people are challenged with HIV and AIDS. I'm a gay man in my mid-forties so I've lost people I love and I've lived daily with HIV-positive partners. I'm here for them. I'm a father of a seventeen year old son so I'm here for him. I'm here for folks in at-risk communities. I'm here for prevention. I'm here for a vaccine. And I'm here for a cure.

I've been on the Motorcycle Safety crew for all of the past AIDS/Lifecycles and loved being on the road and interacting (that should probably be read "flirting") with the riders and helping them to stay safe. This year was time for a change and so I'll be seen in the Massage Tent, helping to ease achy muscles and loosen tight joints. I'm presently changing careers to massage therapy and holistic health so I'm jazzed about working with lots of people who are so dedicated and taking on such a huge athletic challenge.