I sent out an email yesterday about the MS150 ride. It pretty much glossed over the torture that was the bike ride. Since I've now started a blog, I shall tell the real story. Below is the email that I sent out....I'll put the unedited version below it.
As most everyone knows, I rode the Sam's Club MS150 bike ride this weekend. Here's a recap on how it went:
It was torture, but, I completed it! 162 miles! Whew!
Saturday morning was pretty cold and windy. I believe it started out about 44 degrees with 20-25mph winds. Despite the weather, Saturday's ride went fairly well. It finally warmed up around lunch time and the route turned south so we had a nice tailwind for our last 40 miles of the day. First day, we rode around 84 miles - from RoughRider stadium in Frisco - to Sanger - to the finish at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Sunday morning was chilly, but, little to no wind in the morning. The road surface did not make a pleasant ride for day two. We were on country roads with lots of curves and the road surface was pretty rough - to prevent tires from sliding (so I was told). It is pretty jarring to ride a road bike on that type of surface.
After lunch, the road surfaces got a little better, but, the hills got steeper. By steeper, I mean my speedometer reached 3 mph going up a hill. But, I conquered all the hills! Second day, we rode around 78 miles - from Texas Motor Speedway - to Decatur - to the finish line at Sundance Square in downtown Ft. Worth.
My knees are pretty sore from all the pedaling and my quads protest when I get in/out of chairs. But, I didn't fall off my bike (I usually do..at least once) and I can walk around w/o too many facial grimaces.
My thank you list:
The inventor of 5 hour energy - without it, I don't know if I would have made it up all those hills.
My brother, Eric - for the awesome ipod speakers that went on my bike. It also helped me with all the hills.
Larry - HUGE help - Thanks for carting all our stuff around (all of us too) and meeting us at rest stops w/ extra sunscreen and to cheer us on.
Tom - for driving us to Frisco Friday night and from Ft. Worth back home on Sunday. Also, thanks for the awesome post-ride dinner. It rocked!
Most of all - Thank you to everyone who have donated. So far this year, I've raised over $1300 to fight Multiple Sclerosis and helping to end it's devastating effects.
If you still want to donate - it's not too late! I am still accepting donations through May 30th. You can donate online
http://ms150.org/edon.cfm?id=174842 or via check, made payable to the National MS Society.
Thanks everyone!
So, here's the unedited version:
Saturday -
f*!%#ing cold! We had to crouch down at the start line so that we could try and keep some warmth. Did any of us even think to bring a windbreaker? NO! We all had on our jerseys and bike shorts. That was it! Fingers and toes were numb from the cold. Even leaving the 2nd rest stop at mile 28...still had goosebumps. Ridonkulous! And the wind??? Why was Mother Nature so mad at me? The one element that I cannot fight is wind. It saps my energy and makes me cranky. Seriously, if it weren't for the 5 hr energy...wouldn't have made it.
Sunday - Miss Kitty (thank you Julie for that term) was not pleased on getting back on the bike. It takes 4-5 miles before you are numb again...it's quite painful until that happens. Now, let's talk about the hills. Holy crap on a cracker! I wanted to throw up. I ended up drinking two 5 hr energy bottles...one while actually riding my bike....and they were the hardest freaking hills e-v-e-r. I had to move my handlebars back and forth to keep my bike upright (that's how slow I was going). I also wanted to smack the people who just cruised right on by going up these hills. How the heck can they go that fast? I'm dying over here!
There is the unedited version of the weekend. Does it make you want to sign up for next year's ride? :)
