More than 20 Cornell Outdoor Education (COE) students and staff have formed a team for the AIDS RIDE for Life '05, an annual 100-mile bicycle ride around Cayuga Lake to benefit HIV/AIDS services in Tompkins and Cortland counties. This year's ride is being held Saturday, Sept. 10.

Team members include staff from COE, student instructors, community instructors/volunteers and friends of COE. The mission of Cornell Outdoor Education, which serves more than 10,000 participants each year, is to develop teamwork, leadership and growth through outdoor experience.

Said team captain Mike Cecere, M.Eng. '93, "It seemed a good way to get a bunch of folks who are excited about the outdoors together to raise money for a critical cause and have fun doing it. It is a good fit with COE because the activity involves challenge, combined with the opportunity of learning new skills that will last a lifetime."

Team COE currently has 21 members, with several more participants in the wings. The team hopes to raise $10,000 for the ride.

The AIDS RIDE for Life has raised $400,000 during its first six years. This year more than 200 riders will continue the fight against AIDS by supporting services here in Tompkins and Cortland counties.

When asked why they were dedicating weeks of training to one long, long day on an uncomfortable bicycle seat and fund raising, Team COE members have a variety of rationales. "I was psyched about the first-time riders, seeing them get excited about riding and the cause," said Cecere. Theo Theobald '90, COE's marketing director and a formative member of the team, added, "Some of our riders had never ridden 10 miles straight before they started training for the ride."

COE student instructor Amanda Magee '08, ILR, is one of those new riders. "I've never done something like this before," she explained, "but I always wanted to get into cycling. The cause and camaraderie, and especially the challenge, were great excuses to justify buying my bike. To me, bicycling represents freedom and mobility.

"The most I had ridden before starting to train was down to the local coffee shop a few miles away," Magee continued. "With the support of the team and the miles I've put in on training rides, I am pretty sure I can finish; I am just a little worried about being saddle sore!"

"I got started because I was so impressed with the training and commitment riders were making,"saidCecere, "and the difference they were making in the community."

"It is too easy to get isolated on the hill; this gives us a chance to give back to the community," Theobald said. "Being part of growing something, getting one more person to ride, that feels good."

Mark Holton, Ph.D. '99, will be doing the ride on a "row bike," a rowing machine on wheels. The team has calculated that he will need to do at least 14,000 sit-ups to complete the ride.

Go to http://www.stapinc.org/rider_info.html for more information about the ride or to get involved in a variety of roles -- as riders, volunteers at checkpoints or donors. It's not too late to get involved, organizers said.