Next up: Enduro America?

I'd really been hoping to avoid a posting under this title, but the news yesterday effectively demanded it:

The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has approved spending cuts of more than half a billion dollars to the state's budget. Most of the savings are being made in social services - with deep cuts in child welfare programmes, health care for the poor, and HIV/AIDS initiatives. BBC

Services for people with AIDS, which had previously been spared by the Legislature, were reduced by $52 million by Schwarzenegger on Tuesday. That cut will mean no state spending on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, education or housing services for people with the disease. KFF

Education efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS are also expected to be reduced as a result of state budget cuts, according to Megan O’Day, executive director of AIDS Community Research Consortium in Redwood City. Health care costs for an HIV-positive person over 20 years is $600,000, she estimated, compared to $80,000 for a person without HIV during the same period of time. SF Examiner

"It's a heartless act which will set the clock back on AIDS prevention, care and treatment back to where it was 25 years ago," according to Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. KPBS.org

So, it would appear that we may need an Enduro America in the future to help increase awareness of an epidemic that already has hotspots that mirror anything one can find in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Let's hope the California state legislature is successful in halting these cuts, and that the trend doesn't spread to other financially strapped states.

Ride preparation continues ...

It was a busy week for Andrew's Enduro Africa. I spent Monday's lunch at the local AAA getting an international driver's license. The resulting document left me feeling underwhelmed that my money was well spent ($15).

And yesterday morning, I was at the doctor's office getting prescriptions for inoculations and preventive medicine for the trip (i.e., Hep A, typhoid, anti-malarials). I decided against a rabies vaccination on grounds that anything that would bite me out there probably wouldn't leave much behind to treat.

More ride gear has arrived, including jersey, pants, and other protective gear. I had to try it all on to make sure it fit. Ed and Elizabeth can vouch for the fact that it does. All I need now are my helmet and goggles, and I'm ready to roll.

I completed a brief assessment and consultation with a personal trainer last night, but next steps are still in the works.

And finally, I screened into an H1N1 vaccine trial this week for three reasons: 1) to help find an efficacious vaccine before the virus mutates and wreaks complete havoc later this year, 2) because participant reimbursements = EA donations, and 3) to confer personal protection from such antics as the one demonstrated here.

Stay tuned. The adventure continues.

Motorbikes selected for EA 2009