The eighth annual AIDS/LifeCycle—a 545-mile HIV fund-raising trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles—attracted more than 2,100 bicyclists when it kicked off Sunday, May 31, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Riders came from 41 states and 14 countries to support HIV care and services in California.

“We raised $10 million that is really critically needed, in spite of the economy and particularly in light of the cuts that the governor is proposing for HIV care,” said Debra Holtz, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which cosponsors the event with the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.

Holtz referred to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed $55.5 million in cuts to programs overseen by the state’s Office of AIDS, including its AIDS drug assistance program.