Two members of the university’s faculty and staff are putting together an SF State team for June’s AIDS LifeCycle—a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Rob Strong, general manager of SF State’s bookstore, and Don Taylor, dean of the College of Health and Human Services said that so far about six faculty and students expressed an interest in riding with them, and they hope to raise $2500 per person.

“It was an idea that came out of nowhere,” Taylor, 58, said about deciding to do the ride with Strong.

The ride will be longest either of the men have done. Taylor and another friend rode their bikes from Berkeley to South Lake Tahoe in July for a 2-day, 210-mile ride. Strong, 50, said he had just gotten back into cycling at that point, and said he was inspired by their bike trip when he proposed the idea of doing the AIDS LifeCycle ride together.

“That kind of planted the seed,” Strong said.

Taylor said they are in the very beginning phases of planning for the ride, which takes place from June 1-6, but he knows many students and faculty ride their bikes to school every day and part of the reason getting a group together at SF State seemed so appropriate.

“I’m just hopeful we’ll get a strong group,” Taylor said. “If people are active they’ll be able to do the ride. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.”

For information about team building at SF State contact Rob Strong at rstrong@sfsu.edu. You can also find more information on the AIDS LifeCycle ride at http://www.aidslifecycle.org/.