Ok, let me just say this. I hate rain. I really do.
Especially cold rain.
First and foremost, let me say a big THANK YOU
to all
of you who made a donation in support of my bicycle
ride to raise funds and awareness for Multiple
Sclerosis! On behalf of all the riders (by my
estimate,
nearly 2200 of us this year), and the entire MS Society,
your kindness is appreciated.
Now, on to the ride.
The 75 mile journey outbound on Saturday was one of
the absolute best days I have ever ridden.
With the
temperature in the low 70s, a partly sunny sky, and a
slight tailwind, it was one of those days you felt like
you could ride forever. Met a lot of very nice riders
during the trek, and made it to the destination earlier
than I have in any of the previous 5 events. A great day
indeed.
The 75 mile return trip on Sunday was one of the
absolute worst days I have ever ridden. I got
on the
road at 6:45 am. The temperature at that time was
about 54 degrees, and there was a steady rain
coming down.
As we rode, the rain continued to fall harder. By the
10th mile or so, I was absolutely soaked. Dry clothes
and a nice warm blanket would never feel so good (in
the middle of August no less!).
When I got to the lunch stop after about 45 miles of
solid rain and cold, the event coordinators told us that
we were done, and that they were shutting down the
remainder of the route due to riders suffering from
hypothermia, poor visibility, road flooding, and more.
They bussed everyone from this point to the finish line,
and the 2007 event was now over.
This certainly isn't the way I envisioned the day ending,
but am glad that all of us were safe. The
day was a reminder that those we were riding for that
are suffering from MS can't avoid bad days like we had
on Sunday. They must face them each day. We could
have simply opted not to ride and completely avoid the
cold and rain.
Will there be a crazy man on a bike in 2008? Stay
tuned!
Site Map
