Day 4: Kingston to Johnstown (109.9 km)

I was fully back in the saddle today, dear readers. I have blisters in places I never thought I would blister and I've used an amount of diaper cream that would be alarming for a grown woman in any other context. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day, we had a strong tailwind, and the route has started to slope downhill as we begin our descent to sea level. We rode past the Thousand Islands, which are beautiful and also the site of some of the world's most precise engineering. I saw a tiny island - say ten feet by ten feet - and someone had built a cottage on it that was nine feet by nine feet. The people of the Thousand Islands are a whimsical and eccentric lot. I like them.

Tonight at camp we held a candle lit sharing ceremony where people talked about their experiences with HIV/AIDS, their reasons for riding, and the ways in which they fight stigma in their communities. I shared my story, which actually started five years ago when an acquaintance of mine, a lovely woman called Jen (not her real name), shared with me that she was HIV positive. She told me a lot about what it was like to live with HIV. It was incredibly generous of her to do that, and it was an important learning experience for me because all my previous knowledge about HIV came from Rent. Fast forward several years and someone who I know and love tested positive for HIV. It was hard and uncertain and scary for everyone, but because Jen had taken the time to educate me I knew that HIV was a condition to be managed rather than a death sentence, and that the new meds are so good that they can get one's viral load to an undetectable level. I was able to be a much better support to my loved one in that situation because of her. I'm on this ride now because I want to keep learning about the positive community so that I can be the most supportive and loving ally I can be, and the fiercest advocate. Many of the people doing this ride have HIV themselves, and many of them spoke about it tonight. I can't share their stories but I can tell you this: it's easy to be a fierce advocate for such a fierce community.

I'm so happy to be doing this ride and I'm so grateful for the way I've been welcomed into the bike rally family. And I'm deeply grateful and happy that you, dear readers, are supporting me and this wonderful cause.