Bay Windows - June 15, 2006
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com

"He made the comment that my intense focus on the road when I'm riding, I look like Elvira Gulch," explained Duffy, 50, who serves on the board of one of the sponsors of the ride, AIDS Action Committee (AAC). "She puts her head forward and is very determined. And that became my moniker."

Playing up his nickname, Duffy said his bicycle will feature a Gulch-esque basket attached to the front, complete with a stuffed Toto doll. But on the back of the bike will be a much more powerful symbol, an orange flag signaling that he, along with the other riders with orange flags, is living with HIV. As one of the ride's Positive Peddlers, Duffy will spread the message as he rides across the state that thanks to advances in HIV treatment many people with HIV are healthy enough not only to live normal lives but to take part in athletic events that would leave most people, regardless of their status, gasping for breath. The ride, which runs across the state from Pittsfield to Weston, covers 175 miles in two days.

"I think what happens, and it's something that we every year try to engage people that are positive to participate and to try and challenge themselves... If you have this added challenge it puts a whole new dimension to it, and truthfully that's why I did [my] first [Boston-to-New York ride]," said Duffy. "I did the first one to prove to myself that I can do this, and every year is a reaffirmation of that for me."

He said he first learned about the now-defunct Boston-to-New York ride produced by the company Pallotta TeamWorks while living in Puerto Rico in 1995, and even though he had not been on a bike since he was just 12 years-old, he decided to go for it. After the Boston-to-New York ride ended, Duffy got involved in the Mass Red Ribbon Ride, which launched the summer of 2004. Yet after a decade of rides Duffy said that while he may stay involved as a crew member for the ride, this will be his last year as a rider.

"It takes a lot of energy to train, and I ride not only this ride but sometimes the [multiple sclerosis] ride, and I ride [the] Harbor to the Bay [AIDS ride], and it takes a lot of time," said Duffy.

Many of the members of Wicked Wheels of the East said they first got involved in the ride at Duffy's urging, and they said the Mass. Red Ribbon Ride was the first long-distance bike ride they had ever done. Andrew Fullem, Duffy's partner and director of John Snow, Inc.'s Center for HIV and AIDS and a board member of AAC, said that when he began training for his first ride last year he wondered whether he would be able to complete the 175-mile trek.

"I was definitely nervous about it. There's a hill on the first day that everybody talks about, it sounds like you're gong to be riding up Mount Kilimanjaro," said Fullem, 40. Yet after training with the team over the summer, including rides along the coast of Provincetown, Fullem said he felt more confident.

Tim Leahy, a Dorchester resident and development director of Community Servings, said when Duffy recruited him for the ride last year he also had never done a long-distance ride. After spending last summer going on training ride after training ride he built up enough endurance and enough confidence to do the ride, and now he's a diehard charity ride fan.

"I love the whole biking fundraisers, period," said Leahy, 43. "I think it's a fun way to do it. And I'm a little competitive, so on a fundraising bike ride like that you get to compete on so many different levels, against yourself, against the other riders, either on a fundraising level or a physical level. But there's a lot of camaraderie with the other riders. There's a lot of fun energy."

For Ken Johnson, who joined the team during the ride's first year, the appeal of the ride is not the sense of competition but of community, not only from the riders but from the crew members and the bike shops that donate their services and help organize training rides and biking workshops.

"It's very, very positive. It's amazing how everyone works together and just makes this whole thing happen because it's all volunteers. People are standing around handing out food in 90 degree weather, which isn't pleasant, and everyone's cheering and clapping when you pull into the pit stops," said Johnson, 48, of Lynnfield.

Organizers have designed the ride so that people who cannot complete the course can choose to ride just one day. There are also vans that drive along the route that can pick up riders or offer assistance if they have trouble making it the whole 175 miles. But for Duffy, part of the thrill of these AIDS rides has come from pushing himself beyond his limits.

"There are times when you literally are standing up in the clips and your bike shaking but you just refuse to get off. But the flip side of that is tremendous accomplishment. If you get through all that it's a great sense of empowerment," said Duffy.

It's not too late to take part in this year's Mass Red Ribbon Ride. For more information visit www.massredribbonride.org or call 617.450.1100.

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