Monday, April 6, 1998 | 9:48 a.m.
When he finished it last year, he realized it had changed his life forever.
Now, Jeff Sproul is planning to do it again -- pedal his bicycle 585 miles in a week to raise money for AIDS research and services.
Sproul, co-owner of Headlines hair salon at 3421 E. Tropicana Ave., has begun training for AIDS Ride 5, which will take him from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Sproul will be among 2,500 riders participating in this year's event May 31-June 6. The 40-year-old hairstylist first participated in the benefit last year when the ride raised $9.4 million for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
"The ride raises awareness (of AIDS), and it's such a monumental thing to do," Sproul said. He, along with partner Connie Johnson, purchased Headlines in 1984 after working as a hairdresser for several years.
"For me the ride is a personal challenge, and when it was over last year, it became a life-changing experience. It let me know deep down inside that I can do anything I want to do," Sproul said.
A 1975 graduate of Valley High School, Sproul first became interested in the ride in 1996 when a 60-year-old friend and client participated in it.
"That really touched me," Sproul said. "I thought if she can do it, I can, too."
During the ride last year, Sproul said he never thought of giving up.
"There were times I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but I got it into my mind that quitting was not an option."
Riders must secure $2,500 in pledges by May 15 in order to participate in the fund-raiser. So far, Sproul, who does much of his training in the Summerlin area because of the hilly terrain, has raised $1,000 in pledges.
"My personal goal is $10,000," said Sproul, who collected $5,000 in pledges for last year's ride.
Sproul knows many people with AIDS and has known many more who have died from the disease. Those friends and acquaintances provided the inspiration he needed to complete last years's exhausting trek.
"I rode for them, and in my mind they were with me for every mile of the journey," he said.
To train for the arduous trek, Sproul lifts weights, participates in spin classes (aerobics on a bicycle), and rides 100 miles each week.
"I'm hoping for good weather like last year. I'm hoping it's not windy. That's the worst," Sproul said. "The terrain from San Francisco to Los Angeles is very hilly, very tough, so you have to be in great shape. Even with good weather, the ride is an enormous challenge."
Likewise, Sproul explained, persons with AIDS also face an enormous challenge just to survive.
"That's why we participate in the AIDS Ride," Sproul said. "The battle against AIDS is very tough, and there's so much expense involved with medical treatment. That's what a lot of the money we raise goes toward."
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