By Lanz Christian Bañes
Vallejo Times Herald
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A year ago, the most Perry Hookey had ever ridden on his bicycle was probably about 25 miles.
But this weekend, the 46-year old paramedic will join thousands of others for AIDS / LifeCycle, a seven-day bike journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
“It’s a life altering event. It changes you,” said Hookey, a Vacaville resident who has worked for Medic Ambulance for the last seven years.
Hookey heard about the AIDS/LifeCycle from two friends who participated last year. After some research about both the event and the cause -- providing services to people living with HIV and AIDS -- Hookey decided to sign up.
For more than eight months, Hookey has been hitting the road, sometimes biking to and from his Vacaville home and the Medic Ambulance headquarters on Couch Street in Vallejo.
“I’ve seen some hills I literally wanted to cry on during my training,” Hookey said.
Other times, he’s peddling past cow pastures and braving the heat of the Sacramento area.
“You start out doing little 30-mile rides, then you keep adding more miles,” Hookey said.
And now, there are just a few days left until the starting line at Cow Palace.
“I feel like I’ve got a thousand butterflies in my stomach. This time next week, we’re going to be on the road,” Hookey said.
Hookey is part of Team Sacramento and has raised more than $6,000, easily beating his initial goal of $3,000 and a revised goal of $5,000.
“It’s very humbling,” Hookey said of the wealth of support he’s received, from his employer to random members of the community who saw his flier at a Starbucks.
The AIDS/LifeCycle route will take Hookey from the excitement of the Cow Palace to the bluffs of Santa Cruz and on south through flowering ranch lands and rolling hills until a final leg through Santa Monica brings the riders to their destination.
Every night, Hookey will sleep in a tent surrounded by 2,800 other riders and the event’s support staff that ensures riders are following the rules of the road and going through California as safely as possible.
“It’s a show of support from citizens I may never see again,” Hookey said of the cheer squads expected to line parts of the route.
A year ago, Hookey knew little about AIDS/LifeCycle. And now?
“This is something I’m going to do every year,” Hookey said.
Copyright 2012 The Times-Herald
All Rights Reserved