2025 TRUDGING BUDDIES CAPTAIN NOMINEES
The role of Trudging Buddies Captain is a critical one to our success. The following five people have stepped up to serve as a captain in the 2024-25 season, and we must select four to serve. The ideal candidates will demonstrate a willingness to be of service, capacity (time and energy to execute tasks, Planning and organizational skills, positive attitude, leadership, problem-solving, interpersonal and communication skills. Please cast your vote HERE no later than THURSDAY, JUNE 27 at 6 pm PT.
RAMIRO SALAZAR
I am Ramiro, and I am thrilled at the possibility of being a Trudging Buddies captain for the 2024-2025 training season. For the upcoming season, I envision a team that embraces diversity by welcoming and recruiting people of color, people of diverse gender expressions, individuals from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, as well as our straight allies. I would also encourage forming ride groups so riders of similar skill levels can ride together on training rides, ensuring that cyclists old and new are truly “Never Alone.” I would like to continue this year’s traditions of fun and fellowship with more game nights, pool parties, hikes, and even a camping trip. Lastly, I’d like to make sure that every new rider feels welcomed, loved, and prepared every time they hop on their bike. This is my fifth year living clean and sober, and it will be my third time training for AIDS/Lifecycle. These past two rides have taught me so much about my abilities and resilience, the synergistic power and creativity of our team, how to approach challenging situations with kindness and love, and most importantly, how to honor our legacy of people in recovery.
MAGGIE PRICE
A couple of years ago, I joined a Trudging Buddies training ride that I found on the ALC Training Calendar. I was a new and inexperienced rider and had no idea what to expect. I knew nothing about the team or its members and felt very nervous. To my surprise, the experience immediately felt serendipitous. As a sober queer person searching for connection, I had stumbled upon a community of sober riders! Everyone was so welcoming. The team ride was very organized with route sheets and planned stops, and my intrepidness quickly lifted. During the ride, team members were looking out for each other’s safety, helping each other with mechanical issues along the way, and giving tips to new riders such as myself. I couldn’t believe how supportive everyone was. I quickly learned that with the Trudging Buddies, no one gets left behind.
Since then, Trudging Buddies has continued to be a strong pillar of support and community for me as I progress in cycling and celebrate more time in sobriety. I am extremely grateful for this support and am honored to potentially be of service as a Team Captain and give back to the organization that has given me so much.
I want to continue to embody the Trudging Buddies team motto of “Never Alone.” This means we have each other’s backs both on the road as we train and participate in AIDS/Lifecycle, and in our off-the-road journey with sobriety and through service to the community.
As a Team Captain, I aim to facilitate safe and organized training rides, as well as clinics and seminars for new riders to ensure the safe completion of the ride.
Not only would I like to see us reach and surpass our fundraising goals to support the SF and LA LGBT centers, but I would also like to see Trudging Buddies be recognized for direct community involvement. I envision this through the continued sobriety meetings already established by the team, as well as active volunteering opportunities with the centers and more face-to-face interactions with the population we are raising money for.
I understand this will be a Herculean effort, accomplished only together as a strong and unified team, with the help of additional Team Captains, but I am looking forward to the challenge.
MIKE NELSON
My vision for TB is to continue the legacy of love and fellowship that has been established over the last 10 years. I would focus on recruiting new members and cultivating outposts in other cities so our motto “Never Alone” continues to resonate across our community.
I bring enthusiasm and heart to the role of captain. I have already been given so much by being a part of the team, and I want to give back.
What I love most about our team is how welcoming it is. Whether a rider is brand new or experienced, they are welcome to make progress in their recovery and on their journeys as cyclists. I also love how many of the values of 12-step recovery overlap with the values of ALC. Service, unity, fellowship, progress not perfection, keep coming back—these are all themes that are present in the ride and recovery.
ADAM PAPISH
My vision for this team is to eventually grow beyond just ALC and truly start to branch out to other cities and countries, eyeing team participation in other events or events of our own making. Obviously, that’s not a one-year process, but we can definitely further it along. Part of this is cultivating a team with members that more closely represent the broader community we aim to serve. I like to think I bring a sense of inclusiveness, teamwork, mentorship, creativity, and bad humor to the table, as well as an ability to listen and hear people. There are too many things I love about this team, but I’ll pick one. I love that this team, no matter who you are or where you are in life, provides us with a sense of community that most of us didn’t even realize was missing in our lives. I know that was the case for me. I want us to continue to bring the joy of that realization to as many people as possible.
ROBERT EVANS
I envision Trudging Buddies continuing to be the largest, most inclusive, stellar fundraising, and amazing cycling team of AIDS Lifecycle. This was my first year doing ALC and being on the Trudging Buddies, and I have never felt more supported by a group of sober people. One idea for the team is getting corporate sponsorship for the team kits. I would love it if there was an opening day kit that was free to the team. I want to bridge the gap between new riders and seasoned riders by having some type of TB mixer and TB riding buddy system. I am so excited about recruiting other people in our sober community to join TB. This year riding with the team was truly life-changing. I got to see not only myself but humanity in a new and beautiful way. I am very connected in the LA queer sober community and would be an asset to the team in recruitment. I also have ideas on how we could integrate stretching into our training rides. My name is Robert Evans, and I approve this message.