The SF-to-LA AIDS/LifeCycle Ride Is Ending, But the ‘Love Bubble’ Community Lives on

After three decades of promoting AIDS awareness and raising money for advocacy efforts throughout California, AIDS/LifeCycle has announced that next year’s annual bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles will be the last.

It marks the end of an era for what was an iconic event for a generation of Bay Area residents, stirring mixed emotions among its longtime participants. Organizers cited rising operational costs and declining participation since the COVID-19 pandemic in the indefinite cancellation.

More than 1,000 riders gather each year at the Cow Palace in Daly City for the strictly noncompetitive 545-mile bike ride lasting seven days. The “Love Bubble,” as the event is known to its avid participants, is an important source of community for many who have joined the cycling odyssey.

“It has touched and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of riders and our volunteer roadies,” said Tyler TerMeer, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “I’m a person who’s been living with HIV for the last 20 years of my life, long before I was the CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation. I found AIDS/LifeCycle, and I became a participant as a rider 16 years ago, and it has been an incredibly important part of my own life.”

According to TerMeer, the decision to end AIDS/LifeCycle was extremely difficult because of what the experience means to so many of its participants. He noted that being part of the ride allowed him to build a support network of “belonging, pride, acceptance and love.”

The event first began as the California AIDS Ride in 1994, during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the state. In 2002, it was rebranded as the AIDS/LifeCycle, with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center as its primary benefactors.

In the last 30 years, the ride has raised over $300 million for these two organizations, money that has been used to provide medical and social services to those affected with HIV and AIDS.

For San Francisco resident and longtime AIDS/LifeCycle rider Jim Winslow, the annual event has allowed him to foster relationships both new and old.

Winslow participated in the AIDS/LifeCycle ride 17 times alongside his husband, who died last year. During one of those rides, they met a lesbian couple whom they’d go on to befriend. Winslow’s husband eventually became the couple’s sperm donor, resulting in a baby girl.

“It’s something that’s created a community to help those of us affected by the AIDS epidemic — who’ve lost so many people — find a way to fight back, a way to create visibility in the state of California for people with HIV,” Winslow said.

But Winslow said he understands why the decision to end the rides was made.

Each year, cyclists who wish to participate in the AIDS/LifeCycle ride must fundraise a minimum of $3,500 per person. In 2022, the ride attracted over 2,000 cyclists and raised more than $17 million. But those numbers have rapidly declined as the costs of hosting the rides increased dramatically.

According to Winslow, it’s not too much of a surprise. In recent years, increased HIV/AIDS awareness and medical advancements, including the preventive drug PrEP, have resulted in lower infection rates.

“The cause has changed so much over the years,” Winslow said. “It went from something that was so core to all of us in the community to support to what is now a more manageable disease.”

He said it’s an opportunity for AIDS/LifeCycle riders to shift their attention to the other issues facing the LGBTQ community instead of focusing on the actual event itself.

TerMeer agreed with the sentiment. He also added that despite the reduced numbers, he still wants the community to work together to uplift the people who suffer from HIV or AIDS or who may be at higher risk of contracting the disease. According to TerMeer, the ride’s legacy of support will continue.

The final AIDS/LifeCycle ride will take place in June 2025. As of now, there are no plans for a new cycling event, but community discussions are underway.

“Some of my closest friends and chosen family are people that I have met on this ride over the last 16 years, and I don’t take it lightly when I say that this event is life-changing,” TerMeer said. “So many people have met the love of their life, their best friends, the people that they call in the happiest and the hardest of times, and that is true for me as well.”