......... -  .

 

AIDS Vaccine Micro-Ride
Rolls On Despite PT Cancellation

 

BY ERNIE MCLEOD

Tlrey’d raised the money. They
were ready to ride. The ride
was canceled. Some of them
rode anyway. That’s the simple ver-
sion of the story. '

The more complicated ver-
sion starts at the beginning ofAugust
when. because they were I200 riders
short of their 2800 goal, Pallotta
TeamWorks (PT) canceled its
Montreal-to-Portland AIDS Vaccine
ride only weeks before it was sched-
uled to take place (see the September
issue of OITM).

For some ofthe riders who
had signed up, however (having
raised the minimum $3500 required
to participate), not riding was not a
valid option. Gregg Gour, a PT
employee at the time, was one of
those who believed the “only respon-_
sible option was to still ride." Gour
and a core group of organizers began .
a round of message board postings.
phone calls. and e-mails that led them
to decide to, "Ride Despite,” a phrase
that became the new event’s slogan. '

' Easier said than done. For-
profit PT (www.bethepeople.com)
had a well-oiled organizational infra-
structure that provided riders with
everything from catered meals to has-
sle-free gear transport to accommo-
dations in an “Amazing Mobile
City.” Further, PT was equipped to
deal with the safety, medical, and lia-
bility issues a large-scale. multi-day
bike trek could produce.

With the planned August 28
Montreal departure date fast
approaching, the newly hatched non-
affiliated ride had little in place
besides enthusiasm.

Susan MacNeil, Executive
Director of AIDS Services for the
Monadnock Region .(ASMR),

received a call (by way of Yankee
Magazine) from John Beal, an organ-
izing team member from Atlanta.
MacNeil’s response to Beal’s appeal
for help was simply to say yes.
Beal also contacted
Vermont CARES for assistance in
coordinating the Vermont leg ofthe
trek and found them “extraordinarily
helpful.” “I must have talked to Tim
Harvey a hundred times on the
phone,” Beal said, adding that
Vermont CARES put a lot of effort
into finding accommodations for the
riders, no easy task at the start of the
college year, and generously allowed
him use of their phones and comput-
ers when he was in the area mapping
out the trek’s course.
In New Hampshire, Susan
MacNeil got permission from
ASMR’s Board of Directors to pro-
vide support services. including use
of the agency’s I5-passenger van.
Meanwhile, ride organizers went
about finding local and national cor-
porate sponsors, arranging for basic
provisions along the entire 400-mile
route. and gathering a diverse team of
volunteers to accompany the riders
and handle everything from boiling
pasta to giving first aid.
Not-for-profit Charity
Treks, LLC was set up to deal with
liability issues, a website appeared
(www.canadaride.com), the ride was
renamed “Montreal to Maine AIDS
Vaccine Bike Trek,” and the number
of riders who could be accommodat-
ed was capped atjust over I00, about
2700 fewer than PT’s original goal.
On August 28, an hour

behind schedule, I00 cyclists aged I7
to 60-plus from across the US and
beyond headed toward the Vemront
border with a support crew of fewer
than 20. Some of the riders were
experienced athletes and veterans of
the PT rides, though the majority

were neophytes and, interestingly,
straight. All the riders were greeted
with a “Hero‘s Welcome” lunch in
North Hero and served the first of
several donated high-carb meals at
North Beach Campground in
Burlington that night.

The second day of the trek
was marred by rains that saturated
both the riders and the Quechee
campground in which they were sup-
posed to spend the night. Some made
do, others pooled out-of-pocket
resources for a motel, sleeping four
to eight to a room.

The volunteer group Susan
MacNeil organized made dinner for
riders the third night at the Cold
Brook Campground in Webster, New
Hampshire. James Kotusky, who
works for Agouron Phannaceuticals
and has also volunteered on several
Vermont CARES Champ Rides
(www.vtcares.org/champride.htm),
was one amateur caterer.

_“We cooked almost 30
pounds of pasta, what seemed like
I000 meatballs, and heated more
tomato sauce than I care to remem-
ber," Kotusky joked, “but most
importantly we pulled it off. I volun-
teered because people needed my
help.”

Susan MacNeil also spoke
about running on “amazing energy”
rather than Pallotta-style “bells and
whistles.” When there were prob-
lems, “every answer was good
enough. We put our faith in the
integrity of well-meaning people who
were going to make it happen. It’s the
kind of grassroots activity you don’t
see much anymore.”

MacNeil acknowledged
that the “safety net” PT provided par-
ticipants’was important. At least one
person joined a support crew instead
of riding due to personal safety con-
cems, though the Charity Treks event

did have medical professionals on
hand and systems in place.

The fourth night when the
riders arrived in Maine, they discov-

, ered that, due to a miscommunica-

tion, the place where they were sup-
posed to set up camp wasn’t going to
work. Substitute accommodations
were found despite the holiday week-
end’s heavy tourist load.

Riders and crew alike were
already in a celebratory mood on the
morning ofthe trek’s fifth and final
day. The weather was lovely. and
with only about 40 miles to go to the
final destination of Payson Park in
Portland, it would be a comparatively
easy ride.

One cyclist, a tiny woman
named Uli, had ridden with a tall
electrical conduit attached to her
bicycle. From this makeshift flagpole
flew a sizable white flag with a big
red ribbon on it. As the ride pro-
gressed other people added smaller
ribbons in memory of loved ones
who’d died ofAIDS. In what Gregg
Gour described as a “spontaneous
and joint decision," for thejourney’s
final stretch riders began lining up
behind the flag to create “an ever-
growing moving memorial“ that
would lead them into Payson Park.

One rider’s bicycle was
stolen at a coffee shop a couple of
miles from the end. He ran the
remaining distance, crossing the fin-
ish line on foot to supportive cheers.

Inside Payson Park more
typical rituals — part celebration, part
elegy — marked the end ofthe trek:
donated sheet cakes iced with con-
gratulatory messages. hands held in a
circle of healing, impromptu speech-
es, many thank yous.

Proceeds from the nonprof-
it Montreal to Maine AIDS Vaccine
Bike Trek will benefit researchers
working to develop an AIDS vaccine

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
UVM’s National Coming out Week Celebrates Changing Academic Climate

(see www.canadaride.c0m for links
and more information). This event
was an all-volunteer effort. one that
participants plan to repeat next year
with time to evaluate what worked.
what didn’t work, and what can be
done to maximize the amount raised
without exceeding grassroots capabil-
ities.

There’s also the issue of
whether financially-strapped ASOs
with limited personnel can afford to
put energy into events — for-profit or
not — which don’t benefit them or
their clients directly. Several New
England ASOS Beal contacted. in
fact, felt they couldn’t do much to
help. Vermont CARES and ASMR
were notable exceptions.

Susan MacNeil understands
why small, overburdened non-profits
might be hesitant to step forward, but
in the end she feels there’s "no
excuse for not participating if partici-
pants are willing to put themselves
and their pocketbooks on the line.
How can we say no?"

Tim Harvey, Program
Director at VT CARES. appreciates
that the organizers of this year’s vac-
cine ride involved the local commu-
nity. and he’s pleased that CARES’s
reputation and contacts were useful
for wading through last-minute logis-
tics. He noted that when the PT ride
came through Vermont last year.
CARES didn’t receive a call.

Harvey stresses, however.
that the Champ Ride — which directly
benefits CARES programs — is a crit-
ical fundraiser for them, and that
involvement in outside events always
has to be balanced against local
needs. If future vaccine rides remain
grassroots. Harvey can imagine a
joint effort that would benefit both
the local community and AIDS
research.

John Beal’s immediate
hope is that those who volunteered
for this year’s trek will do so again.
and that others will join in so that
regionally we can figure out how to
coordinate efforts and best support
each other. V

 

eparting from precedents set in previous
Dyears, the University of Vermont’s

LGBTQA Center will focus on local aca-
demics — plus a movie night and ballroom dancing
— for National Coming Out Week rather than on
national celebrities.

Past celebrations have counted on out
celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Anthony
Rapp to draw students, staff and faculty. But this
year’s events. said Center director Dot Brauer.
highlight UVM faculty and graduate students’
research and teaching.

Brauer denied that the change in focus
is budget‘-driven. “We had the money or could
have raised it, but it was a deliberate choice. There
was some excitement generated by our awards
event in April, and people were excited by the
arrival of our new queer studies faculty member.”

Brauer also said that the incoming class
of first year students “appears to be more inclined
to come out and participate and be active. I’m
anticipating more activism on campus, not just the

same 10 faces.”

She said she has witnessed a trend away
from “a dichotomous way of assigning gender.
That’s not the way young people are identifying
their gender.”

Highlighting a new sense of openness,
Brauer noted that at the opening meeting of the
student organization Free to Be, 30 people -came,
and nearly a third were allies who were “excited
about participating, they really wanted to be in
that environment. Those walls are falling.”

Starting on Monday, October 7 with a
panel presentation — “Coming Out as a Scholar” —
and continuing with a “Faculty/Student Forum on
LGBT Issues in the Curriculum” on Tuesday,
October 8, this year’s events reflect and celebrate
the University’s move toward a more open aca-
demic climate for LGBTQA students and faculty.

For decades more experienced LGBT
faculty on university campuses have advised
younger faculty to avoid academic work focusing
on LGBT issues until afier they have been granted

tenure. Brauer noted that two assistant professors
at UVM tested the existence of possible anti-gay
bias in the tenure process by submitting tenure
applications that reflected teaching and research
focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgen-
dered issues.

In the spring of 2002, both of those can-
didates — Glen Elder, now Associate Professor of
Geography, and Jackie Weinstock, Associate
Professor in Human Development and Family
Studies — were granted tenure. Professor
Weinstock’s application included her development
of the first two LGBT-related courses to be accept-
ed into U_VM’s official course curriculum.

During the same semester, UVM hired
the first faculty member to arrive on campus with
a background in LGBT Studies. Valerie Rohy
joined UVM’s English Department this fall, pre-
pared to teach a course on Lesbians in American
Literature as early as the spring of 2003.

Other highlights of the week include a
special performance of Dancing at Lughnas at the

Royall Tyler Theatre followed by a reception, an .
alumni and parents weekend showing of Scout‘:
Honor, a coffeehouse and open mic featuring the
talent of local young LGBTQA musicians in the
community, and a gala that will include ballroom
dancing and a DJ spinning current’ hits at
Burlington’s City Hall.

October 2002 marks the eleventh year
that UVM has hosted a “National Coming Out
Week" series of events celebratingrthe lesbian.
gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and mem-
bers of its community and their allies. —

All events — from the kickoffmarch on
October 5 to the gala dance on October I0 — are
open to the public. See the Calendar for specific
events and locations. "V

For more information about the National Coming
Out Week activities or LGBTQA Services at U VM.
visit www.uvm.edu/~I.GB Ta or call (802) 656-
863 7.