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March 25, 2015

Morgan Sommer Puts Heart and Legs Into AIDS/LifeCycle Event

LOS ANGELES—This is Cybersocket co-founder Morgan Sommer's fourth year participating in the rather grueling AIDS/LifeCycle event that challenges teams of bicycle riders, around 2,000 in total, to make the 545 mile ride between San Francisco in seven days to raise awareness and support for the fight against HIV/AIDS. It's also the fourth year during which he has reached out to his friends and peers in the industry to donate whetever amount they can to the cause. "Please support me in this amazing endeavor and make a donation that will help improve the lives of thousands of people who receive vital support, education, and medical treatment from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center," he writes on his blog. "My goal this year is $20,000 and I have a long way to go to get there. Any donation is appreciated." As of the posting of this story, $9,955, or 49 percent, of Morgan's goal, has been donated, but there's still plenty of time to eclipse the old record before the race starts. This year,it takes place between May 31 and June 6. Complete information about the race and the organizations behind it can be found here. AVN contacted Morgan to see how his preparation for the AIDS LifeCycle event was going, and was lucky to catch him as he was preparing to leave for the upcoming The Phoenix Forum in Tempe, Ariz. Are you going to be doing any bike riding in the blazing Arizona sun? I'm not going to be doing any bike rides with anyone; I am hiking with people, but this is my one weekend off from cycling between now and the ride in June. Have you spent a lot of time preparing for the event? Oh, yeah. The ride itself is 545 miles, which you do over seven days, up and over various mountain ranges that are along the coast, so yes, we train for about 2,000 miles over four months before we go. You train in groups? Yes. Here in L.A., there are about 700 of the 2,000 riders who live in Southern California. We're divided up into a bunch of different teams, mostly for purposes of fundraising and training. What hills in Los Angeles prepare you for San Francisco? Nichols Canyon, Franklin Canyon, Beverly Glen, any of the steep hills that go up from Sunset to Mulholland, Mandeville Canyon. And then over in Malibo we ride Latigo Canyon, which is about a 9-1/2 mile hill. And just places like that; riding up and down the hills around here. Are you in the best shape of your life? I would say so, yes. I am certainly in better shape now than I was at 30. Really. How old are you? 46. You're still a baby, my friend. As far as your monetary goals go, do you increase them every year? Is there a process for setting that? It's definitely changed and my expectations have also shifted. The first year, I set a minimum fundraising goal of $3,000. I wasn't sure, I'd never done this kind of thing before, so the first year I set it at $3,000. But because most of the people who donate to my campaign are industry colleagues and friends, I got that amount in two weeks. Then I upped it, and I kept upping it, and the first year I ended up with about $12.000. That sort of snowballed, and the next year I got $16,000, and each year the amount increased, and then last year I set the goal at $20,000, but I didn't make it; so this year I set it at $20,000 again and I'm just working harder at it! But really it's the generosity of the people we know in the industry who keep doing this every year. The list of donors on your site is certainly a testament to industry support. As awareness has grown, have more people become involved? There has been nothing but positive feedback. During the first year I think, one of my friends posted it on GFY, and a couple of douchy folks decided to say some stupid things about AIDS, but they were quickly shut down by other people in the industry for just being stupid, so that's basically the last time anyone like that happened. You do this as yourself, as opposed to as Cybersocket? Definitely. I will use the Cybersocket mailing list once or twice, and I will post it on our web pages and Facebook pages, but for the most part I just reach out to people personally. Does the industry in general have a special responsibility to engage in these types of charities, directed at HIV/AIDS? I don't think we specifically have a responsibility regarding HIV and AIDS; but I do think that as an industry a lot of people are very generous in terms of giving, and I think that prosperous people ultimately do have a responsibility to give back. I'm not talking about this campaign or any other, but I think that for a lot of us as we've grown up, we've realized that just partying and doing our own thing isn't enough. But I also think HIV is a part of the mainstream industry and it's a part of the gay industry. It's not like there's transmissions on set, but in general people having sex contract HIV, and it's a part of everyday life. Whether people want to acknowldge it or not, it's there. We're also seeing how the enemies of the industry are using the HIV incidents that do occur against it, and that has certainly amped up over the condom issue ... Particularly AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation). And the funny thing is that the two main beneficiaries of AIDSLifecycle are the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and The L os Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, two organizations that are solidly behind PrEP, which AHF is 100 percent against. That's interesting. They do some really great work at AHF. I have a lot of friends who are HIV positive who get the medication they need to stay alive for free through AHF. That's a huge thing that they do, but [AHF President] Michael Weinstein is taking this really great thing that they do and contorting it into his own crazy power trip. And it's sad, because I don't ever want to come out and say AHF is bad; It's not. It's this guy, who's got his own little personal vendetta. Yeah, it's really difficult in that way, splitting people's alliegence like that. Anyway, the main reason why I do this particular thing is not even political. HIV affects a massive number of people I know, gay and straight. There are plenty of people in our industry who are HIV positive, but no one ever really talks about it. It's also something that affects our whole culture. I'm not positive, but so many people who I love are. The ride seemed like something fun and challenging to do at first, but once I got hooked on the idea of what it accomplishes, I just kept doing it. Image: Morgan Sommer climbing a hill on day two of last year's AIDS/LifeCycle event.

 
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