this is our story

‘Hey, Wanna Go for a bike ride?’

With one simple question, Charlie Brown Cycling Club was born.

In 2022, Alexander McCall enlisted his husband, Matt Hirschy, and their best friend Evan Wienck for AIDS/LifeCycle, a storied, seven-day charity bike ride spanning 550 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The three friends named their squad “Team Charlie Brown” after Alexander and Matt’s beloved yellow Labrador Retriever. They spent months training for the event, logging hundreds of miles around Austin, Texas, while also raising more than $12,000 for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

At the end of May 2023, Alexander, Evan, and Matt embarked on a road trip across the southwestern United States, bound for the AIDS/LifeCycle starting line. It would prove to be a transformative adventure.

They rode through sunshine and gorgeous scenery, through cold rain and gusts of wind, through valleys and over massive hills. Inside the “Love Bubble” — the nickname for the AIDS/LifeCycle environment — the three forged new, lasting connections with their community, its history, and with one another.

Beyond the specific triumphs and challenges of AIDS/LifeCycle, the guys saw firsthand what an incredible conduit cycling could be for building relationships and a sense of belonging, and for making an impact in the lives of LGBTQ+ people and the organizations that support them.

Thus, “Team Charlie Brown” became Charlie Brown Cycling Club, an Austin-anchored sports organization open to cyclists of all backgrounds and abilities across the country.

Through our commitments to cycling and activism, CBCC strives to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and create a more inclusive and accepting society. We are actively seeking opportunities to engage on the local and state levels, spread awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention, and highlight the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in sports.

Offering fundraising tools and guidance, as well as extensive training resources, CBCC hopes to raise at least $20,000 for AIDS/LifeCycle 2024 and at least $5,000 for other local events and organizations.