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For the past several years, our webmaster
has participated in the MS150, a 150 mile bike ride to raise funds
for the National MS Society. Sciencegear.com and Big Science
Inc. have become his official corporate sponsor. Your patronage
helps us continue to suppoort this cause.
Continue to read his story below.
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The Big Ride 2006 -----------------------------
Saturday morning, September 16, started
in the cool dark at 5:15a.m.. Mucho grande kudos to Linda for waking
with
me
and driving me to Rockingham (about
70 miles out of Charlotte) to my starting point. She had to be back
by 9 for work (and was a bit late, I might add).
A cool morning dawned as we drove – about 59 degrees and clear;
a better day for riding you couldn’t imagine. I recently joined
the YMCA Xtreme team (which numbers about 120 this year) and as a
member of a “super team” I was one of the first to set
off. The morning mist hung over the fields as we rode out of Rockingham
and into rural NC. We crossed into SC within the hour. Watching for
others in our distinctive blue and green team jerseys, I soon fell
in with a couple other Y team members, Joanie and Greg, who were
riding with Chris, a veteran biker from Waxhaw. We spent the next
several hours together riding the roads in and out of small towns
in South Carolina. Fueled with Gatorade and bananas, snacks, water
and energy bars, we made it into lunch by 10:30a.m. where we caught
our breath long enough to actually introduce ourselves.
Then off again for the remainder of the first day - 72 miles – ending
up at Darlington Speedway around 1p.m. We were greeted with fun and
games, water and massage, a few freebies and our new MS150 jersey,
and then treated to a delicious post-ride grilled chicken dinner.
Saturday evening I headed to a local
hotel to meet up with a friend from scouts with whom I was planning
on riding on Sunday. He
had pulled in his brother (from New Jersey) and brother-in-law
(Tennessee),
each of whom is well over 6’ and younger than I by 10 years
or more. They had started from a different location, biking 100 miles
the first day. After a grumpy 5:30a.m. wakeup Sunday morning, we
made our way back to the raceway for breakfast and then a 7a.m. start
with more than 2000 riders from Monroe, Rockingham and Columbia.
The dark lifted to reveal another cool, refreshing morning (upper
50s) as we started off on the second leg of the trek. We traveled
with a number of groups snaking along in single file through the
back roads of South Carolina throughout the morning. We pumped out
about 60 miles before lunch. There are rest stops about every 10
miles, but we passed by most of them, stopping only twice for a quick
energizing snack and to refill our bottles. The afternoon warmed
quickly as we neared the coast. The average vacationer down here
enjoys the warm afternoon breeze off the ocean, but we cyclists find
this headwind a mixed blessing, indicating the nearing finish line
but adding difficulty to the end of a long road.
We were able to keep up with the group
we were traveling with until they started their kick. About 8 miles
out they picked
up their
pace from about 20 mph to about 23 mph. I struggled to keep
up, but every
stop light or corner allowed me to catch them if I had fallen
back. At about 4 miles out, though, they picked it up again
to around
27 mph. I took a look at my speedometer and my heart rate monitor
and
decided to let them go at that point and I coasted in the last
few miles. After pedaling just under 90 miles, we arrived in
North Myrtle
Beach around 1 p.m., well spent but satisfied with a great
day of riding. We showered and had a bite to eat and then took
a
quick shuttle
to the beach. Last year I didn’t have time for this side
trip, so I really enjoyed being able to do it this year.
The welcome overwhelms me, this year
even more than last. Family, friends, and volunteers cheer us in;
children and siblings hug
brothers, sisters, dads and moms; husbands and wives embrace;
a salt-and-pepper
bearded rider embraces his wheelchair-bound wife. Rider after
rider walk by wearing signs on their back showing those for
whom they
ride, those suffering still, and those who have succumbed to
the disease.
It really brings home what we are all about.
Unfortunately, for the first time in 21 year, not everyone on
the ride made it through. A young 15-year-old girl from Charlotte
riding
a tandem bike with her brother was struck by a truck and
killed during the ride. Two other members of her family were
hospitalized.
It is
tragically ironic that so much has been written in the news
here in Charlotte lately about bikers and drivers sharing the
road
with more or less patience and kindness towards each other
as the roads
get busier, but so little has been said about the true consequences
of a tangle between the two.
Your support for my efforts simply astounds me. I’ve had donations
ranging from $5 to $200. I’ve heard from so many people who
have been willing to support me. I’ve received pledges from
people whom I do not even know. I think when all is tallied, my total
this year will be a little over $1500. Thank you to all who support
this effort to fight MS! Hopefully, one day soon we’ll
find a way to control this painful and debilitating disease.
As for next year, my goal is to become a “Beach Bum,” riding
three years in a row. Watch for my emails next summer!
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