Senior citizen cyclist continues to expand horizons
At 73 years old, Sara Hart is pushing back against the concept of too late.
The Los Altos senior living community resident felt now was the time to begin evaluating her life and taking drastic action. She is purging her belongings in order to downsize living situations, writing a book and starting on the weekend, riding her bike down the California coastline.
Hart is one of thousands of people from around the world who are involved with this year’s AIDS/LifeCycle ride, embarking on a sevenday, 545-mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for the disease. She has done the ride three times before — in 1997, 1999, and 2001 — but this year’s ride poses some particular challenges.
“One’s body changes a lot in 17 years,” Hart laughed.
Her inspiration came in February, when she was reflecting on a few questions with a group of friends. They asked each other what it was too late to do, what it was too soon to do, and what it was the perfect time to do. Hart confidently said that it was too late for her to do the AIDS/LifeCycle ride again. But as she lay in bed that night, she wondered if that were true.
After consulting with a fellow cycling friend who had completed the ride nearly two decades ago, Hart decided to sign up. It was relatively late and she wouldn’t have time to properly train. Making matters worse, it rained every weekend in March, cutting into her only free time to build her stamina. Her bike even got stolen. But she had made up her mind.
“We lost too many beautiful people when the AIDS epidemic first hit, and we can’t let that happen again,” Hart said.
One of AIDS/LifeCycle’s primary aims is to raise money for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation, this year raising $16.6 million by the start of the ride. Each participating cyclist must raise at least $3,000 for the cause. Hart brought in $3,600, mainly from individual donors and friends who were shocked by, but supportive, of her undertaking.
Hart is accustomed to hard work and difficult goals. After working for Pfizer pharmaceuticals for 20 years, she sold most of what she owned and moved from Connecticut to San Francisco to start her own consulting firm, Hartcom. She works with clients — including Microsoft, UC Berkeley and Johnson & Johnson — on leadership and people development.
Recently, Hart moved into a retirement community and again jettisoned the majority
of her belongings. It was an emotional process, but Hart was ready.
“I’ve had a personal project since the mid-’90s that is designed to answer the question: ‘How will I know when I have enough?’” Hart said.
She wrote a book about the process, “The Upside of Downsizing: Getting to Enough,” which she hopes can provide guidance and comfort to the elderly and retirement communities while discouraging over consumption.
Today, Hart and the rest of the cyclists and volunteers set off on their journey, which will include a mass of riders, trucks, portable toilets
and showers, tents and gear moving down the coast.
Along the way, as the group passes through small communities and farmlands, people come out with signs, banners and pompoms to show their support. Hart remembers stopping to talk to some of these well-wishers on a previous ride, when one little boy asked for her autograph. Embarrassed but touched, she obliged.
While she fully committed herself to the ride this year, Hart understood things would be different this time around.
“I’ve had to come to realize that I probably will not be able to ride every day, every mile,” Hart said. “Most days we do between 80 and 100 miles, and my body is just not that strong; it’s strong but not that strong. I’m going to do absolutely the best I can, and I will go until I can’t turn the pedal any more.”
No matter how she gets there, Hart said with a laugh that she’ll consider it a successful ride if she ends up with her bike at the finish line in Los Angeles.
At the conclusion of a previous ride, Hart remembers all of the cyclists donning colored shirts, their procession forming a moving rainbow. Hart believes this “breathtaking, truly awesome” moment was transformative for the riders and supporters alike. She is confident this year’s ride will be just as rewarding.
“It’s exhausting and tiring and your butt is unbelievably sore,” Hart said. “But it’s awesome in the truest sense of the word.”
On June 26, Hart is hosting a book launch of her book at The Terraces in Los Altos, 373 Pine Lane, for residents, friends and other guests.