NYC’s LGBT Community Center’s annual “Cycle for the Cause” bike ride from Boston to NYC takes place next week, September 15-18. Several prominent New Yorkers – including Naomi Campbell, Bob The Drag Queen, and Patrica Field – are showing their support for The Center’s call to not go BACKWARDS in the fight to #ENDAIDS by posting videos on Instagram using #CycleForTheCause.
The first AIDS Ride was in 1995.
The Ride is an epic four-day experience. Riders stay together in hotels along the route, eat meals together and ride their bikes 275 miles from Boston to New York, passing through 20 cities in between – all to raise money and awareness in the fight to end HIV/AIDS. So far, more than $10 million has been raised to fund the critical HIV/AIDS services The Center provides 365 days a year.
While treatments are available to help manage the disease, the 133,000 New Yorkers and 1.2 million Americans living with HIV continue to experience serious adverse health effects and overwhelming stigma.
Funds raised from the ride this year help to prevent more than 78,400 potential HIV transmissions in the diverse communities served by The Center. They allow The Center to administer as many as 96,000 free, rapid HIV tests , so that everyone has the ability to know their status. They provide referrals to care for more than 104,000 people who are HIV positive, giving them access to the things they need to stay well. The ensure that The Center can help hundreds of LGBT youth deal with substance use and get treatment and they increase The Center’s outreach to educate and inspire more than a million young people to join the fight to end AIDS.
The Ride is fully supported, which means riders are completely taken care of along the way. This includes meals, route planning, rest stops (which are a ton of fun), hotel accommodations, medical services, bike techs, massage crews and much more. But the Cycle for the Cause experience extends way beyond The Ride. Riders train together, raise money together and plan fun chances to hang out together year-round. The entire community helps riders conquer their training, blow past their fundraising goals and – best of all – meet amazing new friends (who can help riders shop for an outfit for Red Dress Day)
