Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 19, 2001
Cyclists from all over the country have joined the annual ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a grueling, one-week, 575-mile trek down state Highway 1. The inspiring cause -- and the breathtaking views of the Pacific Coast -- help ease the pain of the punishing hills.
"It's an amazing community of people that are there, dedicated to doing something that changes the lives of people," said 51-year-old Cathy Johnson, who alone has raised more than $22,000 from friends and family to participate in the past three California AIDS Rides. "That's also what gets people past their personal boundaries on a day-to-day basis."
But the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center say Pallotta TeamWorks, the ride's organizer for the past eight years, has mismanaged the event and increased its overhead so much that they are better off running it themselves.
The groups are planning a six-day fund-raising ride, dubbed AIDS/LifeCycle, along the same route next summer, two weeks before the traditional AIDS Ride.
Pallotta Teamworks is suing the nonprofits, and has found a new charity for the AIDS Ride.
"We've raised over $40 million in California since 1994 for people living with HIV and AIDS," said Pallotta spokesman Norm Bowling. "Now the prospect of two competing events is just going to divide the community and will affect everyone ultimately by having less funds raised."
Johnson, who said she was "appalled" that 50 cents for every dollar went to charity, already has signed up for AIDS/LifeCycle.
"All the repeat riders I know are doing LifeCycle because people were really turned off by (the AIDS) Ride last year."
The charities say skyrocketing costs -- from $2,373 per rider in 2000 to $3,022 last year -- cut too far into the money they need to provide services for people living with AIDS and HIV.
"We understand it's an expensive event to produce," said Bonnie Osborn, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. "Our concern is that it's costing more now than in the past."
The California AIDS Ride provides about a quarter of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's $24 million annual operating budget, according to spokesman Gustavo Suarez.
"This year they raised more money than ever before, and we got back a lower percentage," he said. "Something happened to it."
In 2000, the foundation received 65 cents of every dollar raised. Last year, Suarez said, that went down to about 50 cents.
Expenses generally should not exceed 35 cents per dollar, according to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.
The California ride is one of the nation's biggest AIDS rides. Tens of thousands of cyclists have participated in AIDS Rides across the country since 1994, raising nearly $70 million overall.
Riders are supported with meals, medical care, sleeping tents, hot showers and portable toilets. They are followed by trucks and trailers and swept up if they get into trouble. Such logistics ran 37 percent over budget this year, at $2.7 million.
Riders were also hit with a barrage of marketing -- slickly produced books, glossy brochures and signs -- before and during the ride.
Bowling acknowledged that Pallotta ran 8 percent or 9 percent over budget overall this year, but said the AIDS Ride has a "great track record" and that the charities are overstepping their bounds.
He said the company's contract with the charities specifically prohibits them from organizing their own bike-a-thon.
"They can do any kind of fund-raising event they want other than the California AIDS Ride," Bowling said.
The nonprofit agencies believe they are on solid ground.
"There are differences in the route and the focus and the feel of the event," said Gwenn Baldwin, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
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