Turning professional into personal

Paula Silvestrone, a Henrietta resident and executive director of AIDS Rochester, is training for a 560-mile benefit ride.

By COLLEEN M. FARRELL

When she saw the sea of buff and toned bodies, she wasn't dissuaded.

Paula Silvestrone knew that helping people with HIV/AIDS was worth the challenge of riding across the state.

"I went along the first day of the original ride three years ago and I saw that everybody that participated wasn't just totally buff 20-year-olds," said Silvestrone, 52. "A lot of people were in my age group. They weren't totally toned but they were still able to make it."

Now, the Henrietta resident is busy preparing for a grueling trip across New York on the Empire State AIDS Ride. Beginning Aug. 14, her team of 12 will travel 560 miles from Niagara Falls to lower Manhattan.

With riders from sister agencies in Buffalo, Syracuse and New York City, the seven-day rides covers 80 to 85 miles a day. Riders camp in tents each night pitched by volunteer crews. Money raised benefits AIDS Rochester and the AIDS agency in the other three cities.

Silvestrone, who is executive director of AIDS Rochester, an agency that serves clients with HIV/AIDS and helps spread awareness of the disease, never thought she had the capacity to take such a journey.

"I'm nervous about the hills and even though I've put a lot of miles on, to do it seven days in a row - that will be a test for my body and my spirit," Silvestrone said.

Though she was sidelined by a knee injury last year, she dressed in costume every day to cheer on the team.

The group had a lot of fun seeing Silvestrone's different costumes, such as dressing as a man, said rider Kevin Judge, AIDS Rochester board president.

"It was just hilarious," he said. "Just when you were thinking you couldn't go on anymore because you were so hot and so tired," there was Silvestrone dressed in a reggae costume.

He's also impressed by her commitment to the ride after her injury. The Catskills "are an additional challenge for Paula."

"For her to be able to rehab from that and come back and ride this year I think is just amazing," Judge said. "She's extremely dedicated."

Last year, the event raised approximately $40,000 for the Rochester agency.

Out of the total money raised through the ride, half is divided equally among the four agencies. The other half is divided proportionate to what each agency raises.

"The more we raise, the more we get out of that second 50 percent," said Marty Gray, development coordinator.

Individual riders have a minimum fund-raising goal of $3,200. Silvestrone's team has raised more than $56,000.

"I think that's really neat for the riders to really see who they're doing this for," she said.

As of December 2004, there were 3,000 HIV-positive people in the Finger Lakes region, Silvestrone said. An estimated 25 percent of people in the country don't know they're infected, she added.

Last year approximately 100 new cases of HIV were diagnosed in Monroe County. And the rate of new cases among women, particularly African-Americans, is steadily increasing.

"It's an amazing, emotional week," Silvestrone said of the ride. "People are doing it often for reasons that are very personal. It's a special group that takes on something like this so I can't wait to be a part of that as a rider."

She's been personally touched by two extended family members who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Silvestrone will mount a tiara from a HIV/AIDS client who died several years ago on her helmet.

"During the 15 years I've been here, we've lost over 550 clients to AIDS," she said. "And there are people that are younger than me: We lose them in their prime. And the devastation and suffering that this disease has wracked sticks in your heart."

Remembering those lost to the disease gives the ride a different meaning, she said.

"It does creep up on me sometimes," she said. "Some clients you grow closer to than others. Sometimes it will hit me like a hammer on the head."

The ride's a way for her to get involved beyond a professional level and help her own health, too, she said.

"Obviously I've gotten in pretty good shape, but I've actually gained a little weight," she said. "Hopefully some of that is muscle."

As she trains on less-traveled roads, she's gotten to know her community more.

"It's been fabulous," she said. "I mean I know just about every back road in Henrietta and the surrounding towns."

She rides a recumbent bicycle, which differs from a traditional bike because the rider is reclined.

"When people see this yellow funny-looking bicycle around town, it's me," Silvestrone said, laughing. "Say hello!"