You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2007.
Pedaling the message that there is life after HIV
By Noah Barron
The pedals turn. Sweat beads on their brows. It’s 9 in the morning in Redondo Beach as the first cyclists zip into the parking lot. Paul Serchia and the other Positive Pedalers crew greet the riders with chopped bananas, Clif Bars and cups of blue Gatorade. But the riders aren’t invited to grab the food themselves. Rather, the crew hands it out to prevent the spread of germs because many of the riders have weakened immune systems and catching a cold could seriously jeopardize their health.
Despite toned legs, slim, tanned frames and the ability to ride hundreds of miles at a stretch, these bike riders have to be ever vigilant in protecting their health. That is because the Positive Pedalers have HIV and some, including Paul Serchia, have full-blown AIDS.
The Positive Pedalers are a group of about 220 HIV-positive cyclists that is participating as a team in the AIDS/Lifecycle bike trip San Francisco to Los Angeles on June 3 through 9, 2007 and is expected to attract more than 2,000 riders overall. The Pos Peds team was founded 12 years ago by Jonathan Pon and Paul Hulse, both of whom have since died of HIV/AIDS-related illness.
The Redondo Beach ride on April 21 was a training session for the longer 545 mile ride. The riders will stay in campgrounds along the way.
Serchia was diagnosed with HIV 16 years ago and in his own words, has been very fortunate. He has avoided opportunistic infections, drug interaction problems and many of the other problems that plague HIV positive people. When the combination therapies became available, Serchia began taking several anti-retroviral drugs and has managed to keep his viral load low and his T-cell count in the range between 50 and 200. T-cells are healthy white blood cells whose presence or absence indicate what stage of damage HIV has inflicted upon the body’s immune system.
Sechia rides his bike as an unmistakable message to the world. He wears his HIV status literally on his sleeve. The shirt he wore read “I’m Positive,” and he views his bike riding as a demonstration that HIV hasn’t ended his life.
“With the Positive Pedalers, we’re all about being active and eliminating the stigma of HIV by showing people that we can do athletic things. I think that’s important.
“Just this morning I went to the post office and I walked up to the window and the woman on the other side of the counter stopped and looked at my shirt and then looked at me,” Serchia said.
