aids/lifecycle nine.

me and awesome annette on red dress day.

slideshow.

yet another amazing experience over and done, but a thing i still struggle to describe. it's so hard to translate all of the feelings we walk away with to our friends and families who weren't there. i can say that we all jump in for different reasons, and those reasons may bend and change from year to year. the ride itself becomes a whole community of people doing this good thing, and for seven days of pain, triumph, and mind-blowing hard work, all we know is each other. we eat together, sleep together, and encourage each other through the most beautiful landscapes one minute and the most difficult challenges the next. i've made great friends and i feel like i change a little more each time for the better from that part alone. we get to do this wonderful thing together and experience all of that enrichment, and then we get to be real heroes too; to each other, and to anyone touched by the AIDS epidemic. it's awesome.

i'm already signed up for next year's ride. bring it on, year three!