American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy joined thousands of cyclists pedaling through California during a weeklong, 545-mile journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The Olympian biked through Santa Barbara County’s South Coast on Friday, the sixth day of the annual AIDS/LifeCycle event. He said he participated to raise awareness and funding for organizations providing HIV/AIDS-related services and prevention programs.

“It has been a good experience,” Kenworthy, who won a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, told Noozhawk. “Everybody has been lovely. It’s hard and long days — waking up early around 5 a.m. and biking all day in the wind, heat and rain — it’s exhausting, but all part of the experience.”

The now 27-year-old made headlines when he came out as gay in a cover story in ESPN The Magazine in 2015.

He is embarking on the AIDS/LifeCycle trek for the first time this year as part of a group dubbed Team Worthy. Kenworthy is cycling along with his boyfriend and other friends.

More than 2,200 people were cycling out of Lompoc after spending Thursday night at Ryon Memorial Park and traveling Friday en route to San Buenaventura State Beach, with a scheduled lunch stop at Girsh Park in Goleta. Supportive onlookers cheered and gave high-fives along Hollister Avenue in Goleta.

On Saturday, cyclists will continue south to the finish line in Los Angeles.

Participants this year raised more than $16.7 million — the highest fundraising amount in the event’s history — to support services of both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, according to event organizers.

The multiday event is a ride and not a race, organizers said. It aims to raise awareness about the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, in addition to funding critical services such as HIV testing and screenings for other sexually transmitted infections, HIV medical care, prevention services and more.

In addition to riders, AIDS/LifeCycle 2019 features more than 650 volunteer “roadies” supporting participants along the route, according to event organizers.

Riders range in age from 18 to 88. Among the participants, some people have the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, and others are HIV-negative. Members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, allies and 12 countries were represented among the cyclists.

According to event organizers, in the seven days it takes riders to reach Los Angeles, more than 700 people in the United States will contract HIV. In addition, 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the country, and one in seven people living with HIV nationwide are not aware of their status.

The event debuted in 1994 as the California AIDS Ride before it was reconfigured in 2002 to what is known as the AIDS/LifeCycle. 

Before this year’s total, participants had raised more than $263 million and completed more than 60,000 journeys on bikes from San Francisco to Los Angeles, according to organizers. 

“The awareness and funds raised by the AIDS/LifeCycle community are critical components of ending the HIV epidemic — once and for all — for everyone,” San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Joe Hollendoner said in a statement. “Because of the tenacity and enduring commitment of AIDS/LifeCycle participants, San Francisco AIDS Foundation is able to provide 25,000 clients with services that prevent new transmissions and promote the health of those living with HIV, all free of charge.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.