Meet the community on Cycle to Zero
At the end of this month (May 29-31), we are launching our inaugural Cycle to Zero ride. Hundreds of cyclists and volunteer crew members are embarking on a three-day journey from San Francisco up north to Guerneville and back again–joining the event as a way to give back and support the many programs and services provided by SFAF.
We’re inspired by the incredible community coming out to participate, and we wanted to hear directly from a few folks who are taking part in Cycle to Zero. Here’s who they are and why they’re riding or volunteering.
Pollux Lopez
Joining Cycle to Zero this year is Pollux Lopez, a public health professional working in the field of HIV, a regular volunteer for San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and a person living with HIV.
In addition to raising funds to support SFAF through Cycle to Zero, Pollux has previously participated as a cyclist in AIDS/LifeCycle (a 7-day event from San Francisco to Los Angeles), is an advocate and activist through the HIV Advocacy Network (HAN), and has been a member of SFAF’s Ambassador Council since 2024.
Why does he feel compelled to give back to his community?
Pollux explains that he moved to San Francisco from Argentina by way of Spain one month before the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic hit. What was meant to be a two-month visit to our city became a permanent stay as international borders closed and cross-border travel became impossible.
He says that, once he realized he wasn’t going to be able to leave, “The only option I had was to make it work where I was! I had to figure out how I was going to survive.”
As his travel supply of HIV medication dwindled, he worried about where he might find care until a friend pointed him in the direction of SFAF’s location in the Castro.
“SFAF helped me navigate getting enrolled and signed up for my HIV medications before I ran out,” he said. “And they linked me to ongoing HIV care. I was mentally stressed not knowing where to go and how to navigate the system, and they helped me with all of that. All these years later I still remember the nurse at Strut who worked with me.”
On Cycle to Zero this year, Pollux will be part of the volunteer crew that helps run the event.
“I’m very grateful for the exceptional opportunities that have come to me here in San Francisco. Now I get to give back to the places and communities that have given generously to me.”
Jessica Fisher
Jessica Fisher, joining Cycle to Zero as part of team Bank of America / Merrill Lynch, tears up as she thinks about reconnecting with a community built over a decade through AIDS/LifeCycle. A ten year veteran of AIDS/LifeCycle, Fisher and her wife have made lifelong friendships through the ride and look forward every year to a week of community and camaraderie on the ride.
“We were so sad when it was announced that the ride was ending. And feeling like this community that we had come to know and love and be part of for so many years was ending. So I am very much looking forward to seeing this community on Cycle to Zero. It will be such a magical time.”
Fisher said she’s excited to be introduced to a newly imagined event that builds on the successes of AIDS/LifeCycle.
“It’s going to feel new again,” she said. “It won’t be just a shorter version of AIDS/LifeCycle. It does feel like it will be a new and unique experience. So instead of missing AIDS/LifeCycle, we’ll be enjoying and creating this new experience, and building on it for years to come. I’m just so ecstatic to be part of the inaugural year. Especially this one–knowing how celebratory this community always is.”
The Bank of America / Merrill Lynch team will have a “small but mighty” presence on Cycle to Zero (and previously supported AIDS/LifeCycle as well).
“The Bank has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community,” said Fisher. “We were one of the first Fortune 500 companies, to offer same-sex partner benefits well before marriage equality was in place. The bank has fostered a culture of giving back and believes strongly in doing what we can to invest in the strength of the communities in which we operate.
Dennis Dentoni-Lasofsky
Dennis Dentoni-Lasofsky, from Oakland, joins Cycle to Zero as someone who works in the field of HIV and AIDS. He’s a nurse practitioner in infectious disease and HIV research at UCSF.
“I do the ride for a lot of reasons,” he said. “But one is to keep myself involved in the community outside of the clinic room. I ride for the community, and I ride because I know how important the funding is. I’ve worked in places where the funding was pulled and patients lose their meds. Having the San Francisco AIDS Foundation is lifesaving for so many people.”
Dentoni-Lasofsky has been an AIDS/LifeCycle participant since 2014, when he signed up for the first time after being convinced by a friend to join the ride.
“I had never ridden a bike in a serious way, but I sort of fell in love with the community,” he said. “I had only done maybe three training rides before that first ride and was definitely not ready. But I had the power of being indestructible and in my 20s–so I did it. The next year I learned how much more fun it is when you actually are ready for it.”
Dentoni-Lasofsky said he’s looking forward to being back with the community for Cycle to Zero.
“I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people that I’ve come to know and love,” he said.
Brian Stewart
Brian Stewart joins Cycle to Zero from Los Angeles, riding with Peaceful Pedalers. He’s previously participated in AIDS/LifeCycle, after being recruited by a long-time friend who is living with HIV.
“When he shared that with me, I wanted to support him,” said Stewart. “Especially as someone who is part of the health equity space, and as a BIPOC and Queer person of color.”
Stewart has been engaged for many years in HIV, sexual health, and other public policy and systems change work.
In the early 2010s, he led an initiative to re-imagine the focus and direction of an HIV prevention program designed for young Black men having sex with men. In the years since, he’s been engaged in other volunteer and education opportunities in South Africa and in other places across Africa. Most recently, he returned from a trip to Kenya to support a virtual mental health service for young people living with or affected by HIV.
“As a faith-based person, my faith calls me to look after the least and the lost,” he said. “I think we may forget that young Queer people are people that society has historically cast aside at some point. We have to do more to overcome those barriers.”
Stewart is looking forward to the love and camaraderie on Cycle to Zero. “I experienced a love bubble with the AIDS/LifeCycle ride,” he said. “As someone who cares about the services provided by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, whatever I can do, I’m going to do it.”
Haywood Douglas
Haywood Douglas is joining Cycle to Zero after participating for the first time in AIDS/LifeCycle in 2025–the last year of the event. He’ll be riding with Team BOB, as he did for AIDS/LifeCycle.
“Before AIDS/LifeCycle, I wasn’t a cyclist,” he said. “I would ride here and there, but I wasn’t perfect. Now, I would say that I am! We do a lot of riding on the weekends and there are times when I just get on the bike by myself.”
Douglas said that the community on the ride is what he’s looking forward to most this year.
“AIDS/LifeCycle opened me up to a new community of people. And being able to meet new people every day is probably the most exhilarating experience I’ve ever had. There were people that would encourage me throughout the ride – when I thought, ‘I have to stop. I can’t do this.’ And they’d say, ‘You can keep going. You can. It’s for a good cause, at the end of the day.’ It was such a good experience.”
Douglas is inspired by the HIV and LGBTQ+-focused work of San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
“I’m riding for what the ride represents. It’s giving back to the community, and it’s nice to know that the money we’re raising provides for our community.”
Follow along May 29-31
Follow us on Instagram @cycletozero and @sfaidsfound for pictures, videos, and more leading up to and during the event!
