Miracle number one -- we actually made it to Logan.
Every year is a little bit different. This year felt really different. Half our team couldn't make it and the other half almost didn't make it. Reid and Isaac were on Trek. Emily was busy getting ready to be married. Jacob was on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Taiwan. Lisa had a choir concert and Jenni, well, I'm not sure why Jenni didn't ride. The rest of us were ready to ride when we got the call that dad was in the ER once again. That was the day before we were planning to go to Logan to ride in the MS150. Should we go or should we stay? Dad had been in the hospital on and off for almost a month. June was a crazy month. Our sister Betsy flew out from Tennessee the week before to help with dad. It was decided she would stay and help and we would go ride.
Marianne and her car were running late on their way to Logan so we went to pick up their stuff at registration. I was super tired and apparently didn't look like I was handling the heat really well. When I inquired about picking up an "I Ride with MS" jersey I think the lady assumed that I had MS. She was so nice and treated me like a rock star. At first I thought, "This is really cool. So this is what it's like to ride with MS. VIP treatment." I quickly came back to reality though. I don't want to ride with MS. It's great to be pampered but it's even better to be able to feel my hands and feet and to not have to deal with everything that is MS.
Here's a picture of the kids at the MS Awareness station. You put on goggles smeared with vaseline to approximate what it is like to have vision problems. Try buttoning up a shirt with gloves on! It's hard. Each of the experiences was meant to give people a small idea of what it's like to live with MS. It was a bit of an eye opener.
Friday night. Carbo loading happened at Olive Garden as usual. It was a little strange without Reid. He is the Olive Garden guy. I always associate that part of the ride with Reid :-)
Olive Garden leftovers in Lisa's fridge = lunch for non-riders the next day. Another favorite tradition :-)
Miracle number two -- we made it to the starting line fairly early.
In the morning a very odd thing happened. On the way to the Fairgrounds, between the car and the Fairgrounds I fell. True story. I was trying to get my foot out of the pedal clip so I could get off my bike to cross the road and I fell. All 220 pounds of me. I fell directly on the asphalt. The odd thing, the miracle, is that I didn't get hurt. At all. Seriously. I just got up and I was fine. How does that happen? I thought for sure that I would have some kind of injury that would keep me from riding comfortably very far. Nope. Nada. No bruises. Nothing uncomfortable. At all! We have a saying in our family that if we fall when we are skiing then we've had a good ski day. Looks like I was going to have a great day on the bike! And we did :-) On to the starting line!
We got to the starting line earlier than we had for years -- about 7:15am (start was at 7am) and yet there was hardly anybody there. Where was everybody? Had we missed the big rush or did everybody's team get cut in half this year? It was so odd. We are very slow riders so it was pretty much like a ghost town the whole way.
Miracle number three -- rest stop one and beyond!
None of us had trained. We were all out of shape and wondering how far we could ride. I figured we would lose at least two riders at the first rest stop. We were pleasantly surprised when at the first rest stop everyone declared that they were feeling great. We would all keep going to rest stop two.
Miracle number four -- growing up girls.
The girls were doing so much better than last year. I was really impressed with them. In years past we had a really hard time keeping our bikes upright because the girls were going soooooo slow. We would have to constantly remind them to keep pedaling and to stay in a straight line, especially on the busy scary roads. This year they set the pace (in a good way :-). Good job girls!
On to rest stop two! Newton and pickle shots. We fell in love with the pickle juice shots at Newton this year (see videos). Apparently pickle juice has a lot of wonderful qualities. It helps with muscle cramps, it sweetens the breath, it even helps with weight loss! My new best friend :-)
On the way from rest stop one to rest stop two I got a brilliant idea. We already had a personal SAG vehicle (our sister Lisa) who had agreed to come pick people up at rest stop one if needed. Why not just ride to lunch and have Lisa pick us up from lunch? According to the map if we took the 75 mile route lunch was 46 miles from the start. That's only three miles more then we had originally planned. The original plan was to do the 43 mile loop and end up back at the Fairgrounds for lunch. What is the big deal about lunch on the route you say? Is it the fact that everyone there is a rider or volunteer? Does the food taste better on route? Is it the big shade trees? Or simply just the memories? I don't know. I just know that we were a little bummed years ago when the route was changed so that the 40 milers would have to eat lunch back at the Fairgrounds. So I proposed this marvelous "lunch on the route" plan at rest stop two. We were all excited. Not only would we get to eat lunch on the route we would also avoid all those hot busy roads at the end. I hate the big busy roads on this ride!
Off to rest stop three!
Miracle number five -- 75 mile route.
It was quickly evident that a) we were very slow and b) we were out of shape. At the speed we were going we would completely miss lunch. We got to the cut off where we had to choose -- 43 mile route and lunch at the Fairgrounds or 75 mile route and lunch on the route. Which way? The girls didn't understand the glories of lunch on the route. They were tired and only saw that if we went the 43 mile route we were heading back closer to home and the end. The miracle I think is that we convinced them to take the 75 mile route.
Miracle number six -- lunch.
Lunch on the route brought back memories. Sandwiches. Yoga. Resting under big shade trees. Ahhhhh. Good times.
Miracle number seven -- Killer/Disney Hill.
Lisa came to SAG but brought the wrong car. Only 3 people could go with her. The question was should the others wait for Lisa to come back to get us at lunch or should we soldier on back to Newton and the pickle shots. One factor to consider was Killer Hill. Yep. The famed Killer Hill but this time the route took us on the other side of the hill. It would be long and slow. As I watched Lisa drive off I couldn't help but feel like someone stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean watching the rescue boat sail away. Yes, we could wait at the lunch stop for Lisa to come back and get us, but what would be the fun in that? :-) We decided to call Killer Hill Disney Hill. That sounded much more fun. And off we went.
Riding up Disney Hill I couldn't help picture riding a roller coaster. We were forever on the part of the roller coaster where you slowly go uphill. Click. Click. Click. Never ending. Ok. That's not true. It actually did end. That was miracle seven. We survived Disney Hill and made it back to Newton. Ready to be done.
Ahhhhhhh. We love the spray stations in Newton!
We did a few more pickle shots and without a trace of guilt allowed our support vehicle to whisk us back to the Fairgrounds. Well, to about a block before the Fairgrounds that is. We had to have our triumphal entry :-) That's one of the best parts of the ride. We ride into the Fairgrounds. People cheer. We get a medal. We feel like superstars. It's pretty cool.
Future riders :-)
Getting a ride from Newton meant we didn't ride past Gossner Ice Cream and get our ice cream treat. We did end up at Aggie Ice Cream though later on that day. They have some pretty good ice cream there too ;-)
Miracle number eight -- survival.
We hadn't trained. We rode about 50 miles. And the day after I was actual able to walk. It was super painful. This was the worst I've had it after a ride. I could still technically walk though. And after a few days I was perfectly fine. That is definitely a miracle! I know I say this every year but this time I really mean it .... I'm going to get in shape for next year! Next year..... come join us!
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