Northeast AIDSRide 2001 journal (1 of 14)

day zero - getting to Bear Mountain, NY
The sun hasn’t come up yet, but I was awake, frantically checking my bags to make sure I have everything I’d need for the next five days. I tried to take as little as possible, even though I didn’t have to carry it on my bike. I got it down to one medium sized shoulder bag, and I’m convinced that I must have forgotten something.

I took a bus from my house to Davis Square, and caught the train to the expo center on the other side of town. The train was sparsely populated that early in the day, and I could tell by their bike helmets and packs that most of them were heading to the same place I was. A few of us started talking to help keep each other awake and to dissipate the nervousness.

When we got there, at least 7 buses were waiting to take all the Boston area riders down to Bear Mountain. I looked on every bus for my friend Jeremy Goulder but couldn’t find him. We met up at a rest stop along the way.
After a long bus ride, everyone on the bus started to stir. We had reached Bear Mountain. From the road we could see the back of the starting gate that we’d be riding through on the next morning.

This is the back of the starting gate as seen from the bus window as we drove in to Bear Mountain.