Thigh Masters

 Shirley Jaglowski, a "happy 50-year-old" from Salt Lake City who is a location manager for a car dealership, spoke on PosPeds Night her first year on the ride. "I remember telling my story," she recounts, "and afterward a woman came up to me and she was just bawling. She said, 'I'm positive too, and nobody knows it.' And I just remember crying with her and giving her a hug. We actually rode the next 200 miles together, side by side, just sharing our stories and sharing our strength."

But the message of hope and understanding also winds its way into the far nooks and crannies of American life. PosPeds board cochair Nathan Menard, a 49-year-old architect from Orange County, Calif., who has been HIV-positive for more than half his life, says, "I'm not your typical person living with HIV. I'm married, heterosexual, I have a wife and child." And doing fund-raising for AIDS/LifeCycle has allowed him to talk openly for the first time with people in his surrounding community, which doesn't exactly have HIV on its radar. "These are parents of my son's friends. It's one of those 'Oh, my gosh! I had no idea' types of things," he says of their reactions when he goes asking for donations and discloses his status. "And then they become avid supporters. They become spokespeople for the disease."

Participating in the rides "was the beginning of my new life, of being able to live and to understand that it wasn't something that I needed to be ashamed of," Menard says. "For 10 years I didn't do anything. I wouldn't even [spend time discussing my feelings about] being HIV-positive with my wife. Now I can openly talk about HIV."

Of his experiences riding with the group, he adds, "It's just nice to be able to have camaraderie with others that are positive. You always get into the conversation of what your numbers are -- what's your viral load, what's your T-cell count -- and how healthy you are."

Getting on the bike also just so happens to help nurture healthy bodies. "Cycling has enabled me to be in the best shape that I've ever been in my life," Williams says, proudly citing that at 5 feet 10 inches he weighs 165 pounds with 9% body fat. "And I'm 51 years old! I don't think I look it. I definitely don't feel it."

Ciano, who at the same height as Williams has dropped from 194 to 171 pounds and has watched his waist shrink from 33 to 31 inches, says looks are one thing, but the most important factor in his participation in the group is to keep HIV in the public consciousness. "Just like [what went] on with Haiti [after its devastating earthquake]," he says. "After a few months people start to forget what's really affecting all of us. And so by doing this, it helps us to remember those who unfortunately aren't able to be here now."