MS 150 Bike to the Bay
Finished my eigth year of participating in the MS-150 mile Bike to the Bay. Never gets old for me. This is my reminder race for the year since it is right around the same time as my surgery in 2003. This year we started out early on Saturday with the anticipation of facing monsoon like weather all weekend long. In reality the rain held off, and we had a great ride.
I am privileged to ride with an extended family of ten. My running and cycling buddy has a sister-in-law who has MS. They are excellent crew. We averaged over 17mph most of the way down to Rehoboth but were slowed a little because one of our riders had five flats. We arrived at the finish line for most of the participants (75-miles), and took a deep sigh. We chuckled at the riders who were getting off their bikes and walking around like they had just finished riding a horse. After about 5 minutes, and with refilled waters bottles, we headed out on our return.
We ride about 38 miles on the next leg, and stay at the home of a good friend. This gives us a lot of miles the first day, but it makes day two so much easier. The only problems that my bud on I encountered on the return to Milford was excessive humidity and gnats. The gnats were so bad we were forced to wear bandanas for most of the miles. Even with the bandanas, we ate a few, got them in our ears, and few decided to park themselves in our eyes. When we arrived at our friends house all we could think about was taking a long shower and getting rid of those gnats. That shower was so great. A glad of wine (once every year) and a good dinner and it was off to sleep.
The next morning, we waited for a little bit of daylight and got started on the last 42 miles of the journey. We stopped at the three rest stops, all of which were still setting up, just to thank the volunteers that make this such a great ride. We arrived back at our starting point before the finish line was set up but there were a few people there to cheer us in.
Two great days of riding. 160-miles total. Great support from my cycling buddy taking her turn pulling me along to maintain our pace. So next year we might just do the whole 150-miles in one day. Two more big events left this year and then the bike gets put back into hybernation.
I am privileged to ride with an extended family of ten. My running and cycling buddy has a sister-in-law who has MS. They are excellent crew. We averaged over 17mph most of the way down to Rehoboth but were slowed a little because one of our riders had five flats. We arrived at the finish line for most of the participants (75-miles), and took a deep sigh. We chuckled at the riders who were getting off their bikes and walking around like they had just finished riding a horse. After about 5 minutes, and with refilled waters bottles, we headed out on our return.
We ride about 38 miles on the next leg, and stay at the home of a good friend. This gives us a lot of miles the first day, but it makes day two so much easier. The only problems that my bud on I encountered on the return to Milford was excessive humidity and gnats. The gnats were so bad we were forced to wear bandanas for most of the miles. Even with the bandanas, we ate a few, got them in our ears, and few decided to park themselves in our eyes. When we arrived at our friends house all we could think about was taking a long shower and getting rid of those gnats. That shower was so great. A glad of wine (once every year) and a good dinner and it was off to sleep.
The next morning, we waited for a little bit of daylight and got started on the last 42 miles of the journey. We stopped at the three rest stops, all of which were still setting up, just to thank the volunteers that make this such a great ride. We arrived back at our starting point before the finish line was set up but there were a few people there to cheer us in.
Two great days of riding. 160-miles total. Great support from my cycling buddy taking her turn pulling me along to maintain our pace. So next year we might just do the whole 150-miles in one day. Two more big events left this year and then the bike gets put back into hybernation.
Rob
Congrats! Sounds like a FUN time was had by all! Doesn't it feel amazing to be a part of something so positive and helpful! Hope you savored every minute.
:Danni
:Danni
:Danni >>>AIDS/LifeCycle 10 & 11 Finisher: 545miles on the bike in 7 days <<<
HW390/SW340/CW 208/GW170
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