With the support of his Sutter Health colleagues, Jaime Peruffo-Gambale, a nurse at Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), took part in the last ever AIDS/LifeCycle ride.
In 2008, Jaime Peruffo-Gambale, an Interventional Radiology nurse at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco, donned his cycling uniform and participated in his first AIDS/LifeCycle ride.
CPMC nurse Jaime Peruffo-Gambale proudly displays the medal he earned for completing the final AIDS/LifeCycle ride in June 2025.
Motivated by the loss of his parent to HIV and committed to raising awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS education, research and support, Peruffo-Gambale kept on pedaling. Over the past 17 years, he’s participated in ten AIDS LifeCycle rides as a cyclist and a ride nurse offering medical support to participants.
This year’s event on June 1-7 was the AIDS/LifeCycle organization’s last. It was especially meaningful to Peruffo-Gambale because it gave him the chance to reflect on how the ride has allowed him to mourn, grieve, laugh, cry and grow.
“It was the last one ever, so that was sentimental to me,” he said. “And organizations like the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which are very near and dear to my heart, need funding.”
Peruffo-Gambale was one of the event’s top fundraisers, raising more than $31,000. And he rode every single mile of the 545-mile ride, which stretches from San Francisco to Los Angeles and includes a combined 30,000 feet of climbing. The ride is a labor of love that allows Peruffo-Gambale to honor his family member, those living with HIV/AIDS and those who have been lost.
He doesn’t ride alone. Peruffo-Gambale was one of 20 members of the SF Baes cycling team to climb hills and pedal roads on their way to Los Angeles. Together, the group raised more than $200,000 for organizations that AIDS/LifeCycle supports. But ride participants do more than raise money; they raise awareness and educate communities along the event route. Their fundraising even goes as far as supporting public school systems in small, agricultural communities.
It’s the giving and the event’s shared sense of purpose that’s kept Peruffo-Gambale coming back all these years.
“The love bubble, the community, fighting stigma…it’s not just queer people on the ride; there’s straight people,” he said. “It’s pretty remarkable how the community comes together to support these organizations and each other through the week.”
Peruffo-Gambale raised more than $31,000 for HIV/AIDS research as part of this year’s AIDS/Lifecycle ride.
Peruffo-Gambale received his own share of support while training for the ride, an undertaking that began in September 2024. His Sutter Health colleagues took some of his shifts so he could train on the weekends. Some cheered him on as he built endurance on the roads of Marin. And there were those who traveled to Los Angeles to be there for him when he crossed the AIDS/LifeCycle finish line.
“It takes months of physical and mental preparation to complete this ride, and Jamie has been fully committed to the cause while continuing his work here at CPMC Van Ness,” said Sharyl French, manager, Imaging Service Line. “Jamie reflects Sutter Health’s culture of community involvement and compassion, and we’re so proud to be his colleagues.”
Anil Dutt, an interventional angiography charge nurse at CPMC’s Van Ness campus, also expressed his admiration for Peruffo-Gambale’s dedication. “It was inspiring to see how much work Jaime put into this ride,” he said.
“I’m shocked and so grateful,” Peruffo-Gambale said about the outpouring of love. And while the AIDS/LifeCycle ride may have reached the finish line, he’s ready to do it all over again. Peruffo-Gambale has his sights set on two new three-day weekend rides in San Francisco and Los Angeles that will allow him to continue raising funds and support the community.
“My plan is to ride one and be a ride nurse on the other,” he said.
