Positive pedalers

Positive Pedalers is a group of people living with HIV/AIDS committed to building a supportive and inclusive community for others and themselves through participation in bicycle-related activities.

Positive Pedalers comprises nearly 600 men and women with HIV/AIDS from across the United States, including California, Minnesota, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, New York, to name a few. Positive Pedalers also has an international presence in a small number of countries. Positive Pedalers eagerly welcomes new members, wherever they live. Belonging to Positive Pedalers is free of charge. Membership privileges include receiving a newsletter, "Positive Traction", and email announcements. Information at pospeds.org [http://www.pospeds.org Positive Pedalers - Homepage ] ] includes an up-to-date calendar of events in California and AIDS fundraising rides across the country.

Positive Pedalers also welcomes people who are not HIV-positive to enlist with the group as supporters.

In the group’s mission statement, Positive Pedalers declares: “We are a group of people living with HIV/AIDS committed to eliminating stigma through our positive public example.”

Positive Pedalers are closely connected to AIDS/LifeCycle, an annual fund-raising event produced by two of the largest organizations in California that provide services for people living with HIV/AIDS: the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Prior to AIDS/LifeCycle [http://www.aidslifecycle.org AIDS/LifeCycle | 7-Day 545 Mile Cycling Event to Support HIV/AIDS Services ] ] ’s creation in 2002, nine California AIDSRides took place. Positive Pedalers also had a strong presence in the Boston>New York AIDS Rides, Twin Cities>Chicago AIDS Rides and Texas AIDS Rides to name just a few. Some members of Positive Pedalers have participated in all nine California AIDS Rides & all five AIDS/LifeCycle events. Some have participated in up to six AIDS Rides in one year. A Minnesota Positive Pedaler has completed over 30 AIDS Rides since 1997. He has ridden around the US including Alaska, Canada and Europe.

AIDS/LifeCycle 7, held in June 2008, raised $11.6 million for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. It was the most successful AIDS/LifeCycle ever.

The Board

A 14-member Board that includes members living in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, California, Portland, Oregon and New York City, governs Positive Pedalers. The all-volunteer Positive Pedalers Board includes longtime members and others who are new to the organization. Two emeritus members also participate in the Positive Pedalers Board.

Activities

A set of aims of Positive Pedalers, adopted by the Board, articulates the activities of the group.

These aims are stated as follows:
*Expand awareness and recognition of people living with HIV/AIDS
*Encourage active participation of members in the work of the group.
*Actively participate in AIDS/LifeCycle or other AIDS Related multi day cycling events around the US
*Promote and support positive participation in other HIV/AIDS cycling-related fundraisers
*Maintain a strong working Board
*Ensure adequate funding of the group's activities

Positive Pedalers is committed to maintaining a strong presence in AIDS/LifeCycle. Many members of Positive Pedalers are clients of those organizations, and participate in AIDS/LifeCycle among other multi day cycling events around the US as a way of acknowledging the impact of those organizations on their ability to cope with living with HIV. Individual members of Positive Pedalers provide a positive example for other participants of AIDS/LifeCycle, and the group as a whole plays a special role in the opening ceremonies of the event.

AIDS/LifeCycle 8 will begin in San Francisco on Sunday, May 31, 2009 and conclude on Saturday, June 6 in Los Angeles. In 2008, 2,500 riders participated in AIDS/LifeCycle 7, and more than 500 volunteers served as “roadies.” For each of the seven days of the annual AIDS/LifeCycle, riders and roadies travel up to 105 miles (168 km) along a 545-mile (872 km) route between San Francisco and Los Angeles, stopping at campsites at the end of each day’s route. Each rider is required to raise at least $3,000 in order to participate in AIDS/LifeCycle 8 as a rider.

In the months leading up to AIDS/LifeCycle, many members of Positive Pedalers participate in training rides to prepare for the multi-day ride in June. Several members of Positive Pedalers serve as Training Ride Leaders, and possess certification to provide guidance and supervision for other riders in ALC-sponsored training rides. About 300 members of Positive Pedalers participated in AIDS/LifeCycle 7 as riders and roadies.

Members of Positive Pedalers can often be identified on rides by the official Positive Pedalers jersey, T-shirt or orange flags with the Positive Pedalers logo. The Positive Pedalers logo, designed by Michael Brown, is a circle with the words “Positive” and “Pedalers” forming segments of the circle’s perimeter. One quadrant of the circle is a bicycle wheel and tire; another quadrant is a bicycle gear. In the center of the wheel is a bold plus sign with the word “HIV” in its center.

Spelling

The group’s formal name is “Positive Pedalers of California.” The group is also known informally as “Pos Peds,” sometimes seen spelled “Poz Peds.” (“Poz” is widely used as a shorthand way of referring to someone who is HIV-positive, or infected with HIV.)

History

In 2006, David Duncan and Wilfredo Ortiz, two longtime members of Positive Pedalers and current Positive Pedalers Board members, prepared historical reviews of the organization, which were used to prepare the summary here.

Positive Pedalers originated in the second California AIDS Ride in 1995. Jonathon Pon, a participant in the first California AIDS Ride, recognized a need to recognize and support HIV-positive riders on that ride. In California AIDS Ride 3 (1996), Jonathon Pon, Donald David Ferhenbach and others formally launched Positive Pedalers. Jonathon Pon worked with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to secure a telephone number and mailing address for Positive Pedalers. That year, the first Positive Pedalers Board was formed.

The group gained recognition and community support in the following few years. In 2000, the City of San Francisco recognized Positive Pedalers with a plaque and presentation at City Hall. The years 2000 and 2001, when California AIDS Rides 7 and 8 attracted 3,000 participants each year, are recalled as being peak years for Positive Pedalers.

Positive Pedalers founder Jonathon Pon died in his sleep in Houston, Texas, in December 2001. An annual Positive Pedalers ride in northern California is named in his memory.

Pallotta TeamWorks, the company that produced the California AIDS Ride, and the two beneficiaries, San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, split in 2002, with the Foundation and the Center holding its first AIDS/LifeCycle within a few weeks of the final California AIDS Ride. Positive Pedalers maintained neutrality in the conflict between Pallotta TeamWorks and the two organizations, with members of Positive Pedalers participating in both events.

Today, Positive Pedalers has a strong relationship with AIDS/LifeCycle while also supporting HIV-positive cyclists in other cities, such as Dallas, New York City, Twin Cities, Washington DC, Chicago and Boston to name a few. Its website, www.pospeds.org, serves as the primary portal for information on the group and its current activities. A group called PosPedsConnect was established in 2007 to facilitate communication among members of Positive Pedalers.

References