Riding for a mission for AIDS/HIV

Glen Weinzimer did not feel well for a year.

He couldn’t sleep, had trouble breathing and found himself leaving work early more often than not.

“In August 1993, I had run out of I-just-don’t-feel-goods,” said Weinzimer, who worked at the Bonaventure Intercontinental Hotel in Weston at the time. “I said, ‘I’m leaving and I don’t know when I’m coming back.’ ”

He went to the doctor, but his doctor couldn’t pinpoint his illness. His last option: Test him for HIV, even though Weinzimer was in a longstanding relationship. Weinzimer’s results returned positive.

“I had seven T cells and a viral load that was out of control,” he said.

The doctor said he had been infected for at least seven years and predicted he’d only have a week to live. Two decades have passed and Weinzimer is still challenging that prediction.

“I got past the experts saying I wouldn’t make it, and now I feel an obligation for those who are affected,” he said.

It’s why Weinzimer, 53, created the SMART Ride 10 years ago. It is the country’s second- largest AIDS/HIV ride in the nation, after a seven-day ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Cyclists ride 165 miles from Miami to Key West over two days to raise funds for local AIDS/HIV agencies and spread awareness about the disease.

This year’s 10th anniversary ride will commence Friday at dawn at the MorningStar Renewal Center in Pinecrest, ending Saturday night at Duval Street in Key West.

“The first year we had less than 200 people, now we have 900 registered,” said Weinzimer, who created the ride in 2003 to prove a point. “We as individuals really could make the difference. We could raise the money and have 100 percent go to agencies.”

That’s why Leah Payne, 40, an avid cyclist from Tampa who’s participated in the ride since it first began, returns year after year.

“[Other rides] were very impersonal. I raised money and didn’t know where my money was going. It didn’t mean what I wanted it to mean,” said Payne. “I've met a lot of good people. It made fund-raising fun.’’

Funds raised by participants are split in two ways: half goes into a pool to be divided by all the benefiting agencies, and the other half goes toward the agency of the fundraiser’s choice.

This year the ride is benefiting seven agencies across Florida: AIDS Help; Pridelines Youth Services; Children’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center; Pride Center at Equality Park; Comprehensive AIDS Program of Palm Beach County; Miracle of Love, and Metro Wellness and Community Centers.

Marie Hayes, program director of the Comprehensive Family AIDS Program at the Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale, has experienced the difference the SMART ride makes.

Last year her agency raised the most money, more than $140,000.