Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas joined today in a journey of support on bicycle from Minnesota's Twin Cities to Chicago in the Heartland AIDS Ride.

The six-day, 500-mile bicycle trip will leave Minneapolis-St.Paul and go through the small towns across the Mississippi River, along the back roads of Wisconsin and across farms, fields and state forests.

As approximately 1,700 bike-riders cross into Illinois, there will be red ribbons on telephone poles along the route as a sign of community support.

AIDS has killed 20 million people globally. Worldwide, almost 2,000 unborn babies are infected with HIV daily.

"This is one of the great causes of our time and I want to make a difference for AIDS awareness," Pappas said.

The ride will culminate at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, with a Victory Ride at Montrose Harbor in Chicago's Lincoln Park.

The fee for each rider is $2,500. The AidsRide began in 1994. Today over 100,000 people in the United States trek thousands of miles of road netting over $200 million for AIDS and breast-cancer charities.

In June, Pappas participated in the Three-Day Avon Breast Cancer Walkathon from Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Chicago to raise money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. This year more than $11 million has been raised from the walk, surpassing the fund-raising record of $7.5 million set in New York City last year.