AIDS Cyclists Find Refuge At Warren County Campus
More than 1,700 bicyclists, participating in the 1999 American AIDS Ride, found a pleasant, Pleasantville stop at Vance-Granville Community College’s Warren County Campus June 24.
The riders gathered at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh the previous day and started early the morning of the 24th, riding their way to Washington, D.C. The Warren campus was their first rest stop on the trip, which ended June 28.
The support crew for the ride had set up a “Pleasantville” for them, based on the movie of the same name. Riders were greeted as they rode through the streets of Warrenton and turned onto the VGCC campus by young men and women dressed in black-and-white, as the first part of the movie depicted. The greeters gradually changed to colors, as the movie did, later during the morning.
At the campus, riders were able to go to restrooms, eat fruit, get fresh water and juices, get massages and make repairs to their bikes, if necessary. They were scheduled to leave Warrenton in early afternoon for Lawrenceville, Va., where they would spend the night.
The first leg of the trip WAS 104 miles, the longest of the four-day ride to Washington.
This is the fourth year the AIDS ride has stopped in Warrenton and the second it has set up its base at the VGCC campus. The riders were unanimously agreed that Warrenton is a beautiful, friendly town and that the VGCC facility was an excellent stopping place.
To participate in the ride, bicyclists had to raise $1,900 each in pledges. The money raised goes to Food and Friends and to the Whitman Walker Clinic, organizations that provide food, counseling and assistance to AIDS victims.
