Crew rocks!

That's what everyone says, and it's true.

If you're thinking about crewing:

This web site was put together to answer questions you may have to help you make that decision. We also have a number of orientation sessions scheduled to provide you with information and get your questions answered, see Overview/Orientation Sessions.

What is Crew?

Crew members are just as important, if not more important, than riders. They assist in every possible way to make sure that all participants complete the ride safely and successfully. As a crew member, you will be assisting the riders and TPAN and BEHIV staff members to make sure that all participants in the Ride for Aids Chicago are safe, on route, and energized. We ask that you pay the $85 registration fee to help offset the costs associated with lodging and food, and fundraise yourself! Crew members are encouraged to create their own teams, personalize their fundraising web pages, and raise a minimum of $500 to help show additional support to riders.

If you've already registered:

This web site contains some valuable information about the ride, HIV/AIDS, the beneficiaries. Under the The Ride tab at the top you'll find information about the ride itself and under the Why We Ride tab you'll find information about HIV/AIDS and the beneficiaries.

There are many tasks and jobs that need to be taken care of for an event of this nature to be successful. Below is a short list of some of the activities that the crew helps out with, after you register to be a crew member, we'll contact you about your interests and your crew assignment.

Crew Assignments
Route Crew
Be the "roaming" route vehicles, prepared to respond to any unanticipated needs. Vehicles will be loaded with extra water and snacks and will support the ride in any way necessary, and will be on-call during the event to shuttle people and items as needed. Much of the crew will be involved in this aspect. If you have a vehicle and/or a bike rack, it is exceptionally helpful.

Rider/Crew Check-In
Taking place at opening/closing ceremonies, lunch pit stop and camp. Helping keep tabs on where everyone is.

Lunch and Pit Stop Crews
Coordination of food, supplies, and atmosphere of the pit stops including such things as preparing food and drink and welcoming riders and crew. Want to really make the riders feel special? How about adding a theme to your pit-stop?

Gear Crew
Able to lift heavy bags and have fun? Help transport rider and crew bags as well as food and water from opening to camp and back.

Camp Liaison
Welcome riders and crew to camp, assist with camp-fire and entertainment, set-up and clean-up.

Bike Technicians
Support riders in assisting with repairs, flats, and general bike maintenance.

Crew Training

Training to be a Crew member is a little different than training to ride 180 miles on your bicycle.

Depending on your what it is you're doing, you may need no training at all. We will hold some informational workshops for Crew members. As we schedule those we will contact you and post the information here.

Ride Packet

We have put together an extensive ride packet that answers all the questions you may have about the ride. Most of the information contained in the packet is also found on this web site. We will send each participant a copy of the packet. You can also download the packet here in Adobe PDF format (this will open a new browser window). The packet is 24 pages.

Download Ride Packet

Please download the Ride Packet here in Adobe PDF format (this will open a new browser window). The packet is 24 pages. Please e-mail Rhett Lindsay at r.lindsay@tpan.com if you are unable to download the packet.

Ride for AIDS Chicago is a two-day, 180-mile, bicycling event created by volunteers and designed to raise needed monies for TPAN and BEHIV. We're completely grass roots and committed to returning 100% of donations we receive to our beneficiaries: Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) and Better Existence with HIV (BEHIV).

Unlike other rides of this kind, Ride for AIDS Chicago is committed to returning 100% of your pledges to the beneficiaries. We did it with the past years of the ride, so we have a pretty good track record. We are able to do this by keeping costs down. Your registration fee along with corporate sponsorship dollars covers the expenses of doing the event.