tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42089131026506156482024-03-13T09:43:26.793-07:00Team Iron EaglesUtah has one of the highest incidence rates of Multiple Sclerosis in the country with over 30,000 Utahns affected by MS. The money we fundraise goes directly to fund the vital research that leads to effective treatments and, one day, a cure for this disease. Want to help? <a href="https://mssociety.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=31264">JOIN US</a> in our quest to end this disease. Thank you! Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-8504641714808073962023-10-31T09:55:00.005-07:002023-10-31T14:32:11.417-07:00BikeMS 2023<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr-xB2jYuRJElei1zNAvOmhOmKS7fvdzIIIGvQYXNO14jJQ2MZVNnVZLqcRmeGyeMmYUra2ynGAzEZXQZp1axyPk_IFMfNoSw-TyO7PS8KLfxgR_-CA2ZOXwtf5tdhU5-1fHcWeh8G_CExa7feJRpQzD4l6Yrz1Z_SDqmNhp0qNl1tZDKXgzChNYB5iM/s4032/IMG_4939.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr-xB2jYuRJElei1zNAvOmhOmKS7fvdzIIIGvQYXNO14jJQ2MZVNnVZLqcRmeGyeMmYUra2ynGAzEZXQZp1axyPk_IFMfNoSw-TyO7PS8KLfxgR_-CA2ZOXwtf5tdhU5-1fHcWeh8G_CExa7feJRpQzD4l6Yrz1Z_SDqmNhp0qNl1tZDKXgzChNYB5iM/s320/IMG_4939.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rest stop selfies</td></tr></tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjha74Gs5SufRRI9Ye6FJhjdelkwNVEqlM_0eakSd-fJ4yN34jMBU2qxBaaI4ZGlPVlQuEOPEc2WcYjfOMcwWnoWDov3bOw0Ye9JHdlFCdB63K0VUy0R4t5F2qjRF64zOxAhgREQ90JY6hOBOHVTFKzvE-1csynic2QyWdt-ZmV8cJ2mK5XMcv2jtr2Uko/s3088/IMG_9043.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjha74Gs5SufRRI9Ye6FJhjdelkwNVEqlM_0eakSd-fJ4yN34jMBU2qxBaaI4ZGlPVlQuEOPEc2WcYjfOMcwWnoWDov3bOw0Ye9JHdlFCdB63K0VUy0R4t5F2qjRF64zOxAhgREQ90JY6hOBOHVTFKzvE-1csynic2QyWdt-ZmV8cJ2mK5XMcv2jtr2Uko/s320/IMG_9043.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rest stop selfies</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsTstvmy2-ZN1LE5d1vbuED51IGpMQBWfyzk0swKaoe4vmMLYPLph0TndMqQrIg0PVlzdkf8Iafnf3YEDDLV4znWh-rvJx_7NZALw7rzSLDcsbakj26rnlWs0vJWYnDltNNLh07J5UuKZ-1bNaAkEAAnPWCcvbQrgCiM2mKqbBV6HJkp_7wtI11xxCGQ/s4032/IMG_9427.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsTstvmy2-ZN1LE5d1vbuED51IGpMQBWfyzk0swKaoe4vmMLYPLph0TndMqQrIg0PVlzdkf8Iafnf3YEDDLV4znWh-rvJx_7NZALw7rzSLDcsbakj26rnlWs0vJWYnDltNNLh07J5UuKZ-1bNaAkEAAnPWCcvbQrgCiM2mKqbBV6HJkp_7wtI11xxCGQ/s320/IMG_9427.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reid and his boys. Isaac and Joseph rode more than 30.<br />Not sure exactly how far. </td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC-nNSm8CJ9jgC4tkAqsh3Cl_F1FFaFx7o81HzdG3A51z_55yRl35xti0AnGCOpAM4UFQfxtxxrYZUXh4cYT-47RBvPxTmf3p1HCxFmOBJs4aBDMMQqcK3giLfXH0mBLRFW9x-E6r2PpEqKBRY-1mSGxy0ELgG63E_nUYFPfvAELPWQoU5HSp1uKluQ8/s4032/IMG_9429.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC-nNSm8CJ9jgC4tkAqsh3Cl_F1FFaFx7o81HzdG3A51z_55yRl35xti0AnGCOpAM4UFQfxtxxrYZUXh4cYT-47RBvPxTmf3p1HCxFmOBJs4aBDMMQqcK3giLfXH0mBLRFW9x-E6r2PpEqKBRY-1mSGxy0ELgG63E_nUYFPfvAELPWQoU5HSp1uKluQ8/s320/IMG_9429.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Micah painted my nails. <br />I think they match the BikeMS colors quite well.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaivFwRqBg2SJuDt61FrSNDTXArgbvllCkYbTLivCkRZL2IiVVDdHtocxs3b_v5nrEelkZRr7UztdaANaLhmrtJEPFZKRxDcwMInOhR8BqvFX_1k8toAghZ4QeTSpR9Tccl1aLtBNnfOWcymC6UHkdMotbXrQ3vEum7h9Epy7MevrdXMKqtVdXVEnlcQY/s4032/IMG_1816.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaivFwRqBg2SJuDt61FrSNDTXArgbvllCkYbTLivCkRZL2IiVVDdHtocxs3b_v5nrEelkZRr7UztdaANaLhmrtJEPFZKRxDcwMInOhR8BqvFX_1k8toAghZ4QeTSpR9Tccl1aLtBNnfOWcymC6UHkdMotbXrQ3vEum7h9Epy7MevrdXMKqtVdXVEnlcQY/s320/IMG_1816.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PZch39GduULA5RBtQ4YMWzkXo1GyrgwcfJ85iu8zGZq3LY9GT1u_YYsUmr-XvzriGpfpPf6WHhta7TKHBm3UdkHupFeGPU4LLzrRywV_rk_Mg8FH6GbNx4a66WQcT5XJ_O7Uccqwtb2AydsIKeqi5yOxPjKr5dk-tHX_lAkrwwp80INoafO3ygvOESk/s4032/IMG_1817.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PZch39GduULA5RBtQ4YMWzkXo1GyrgwcfJ85iu8zGZq3LY9GT1u_YYsUmr-XvzriGpfpPf6WHhta7TKHBm3UdkHupFeGPU4LLzrRywV_rk_Mg8FH6GbNx4a66WQcT5XJ_O7Uccqwtb2AydsIKeqi5yOxPjKr5dk-tHX_lAkrwwp80INoafO3ygvOESk/s320/IMG_1817.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh049TRnjs4PDsecaEQRYw4Ti85XiN0RXQMN40HgqhovYF-A1qQ2X_2PpMYVeFHsNscm0VjkAuWJzsf4st5bE3mpRjNdqdbIeynzlmzwQmi9hOxuzS2v8EDr4k6loCpJPcF_6SAQiY20bs0Ca3qb9azX-o4-0_RUMlAJ2T9MzmM8HVvYYd0d64dx_1YipI/s4032/IMG_1818.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh049TRnjs4PDsecaEQRYw4Ti85XiN0RXQMN40HgqhovYF-A1qQ2X_2PpMYVeFHsNscm0VjkAuWJzsf4st5bE3mpRjNdqdbIeynzlmzwQmi9hOxuzS2v8EDr4k6loCpJPcF_6SAQiY20bs0Ca3qb9azX-o4-0_RUMlAJ2T9MzmM8HVvYYd0d64dx_1YipI/s320/IMG_1818.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNZvm0XpvhMbrvPuGISPR9rXxpjRiad6-IltFz_-i7kT11BxPx2ZDzRSte6Ba3bJVyFdgFLrnDmZNODUu1RpEpdCHPmOG9hDGaIu2ih25H1Xv7txpSaPno3WodAl7EdViMetuYm62K43WVYrjXUO9Rh2xZXQPv7JjXvGtwird5gFrdeVt_lhJEkLxjmc/s2610/IMG_9411.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1987" data-original-width="2610" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNZvm0XpvhMbrvPuGISPR9rXxpjRiad6-IltFz_-i7kT11BxPx2ZDzRSte6Ba3bJVyFdgFLrnDmZNODUu1RpEpdCHPmOG9hDGaIu2ih25H1Xv7txpSaPno3WodAl7EdViMetuYm62K43WVYrjXUO9Rh2xZXQPv7JjXvGtwird5gFrdeVt_lhJEkLxjmc/s320/IMG_9411.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional before shot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEga3lJns8HU3TinmUH5QGiRPoYxAULJjzSfFo_FCqINeZW19CSpE7iZ0eIgmrUjgFpMZOe0_fqgAHdZnhDzJj9CMq8NY27wt8Qjwjhu51uo1uFwHk7ZOp0hFa-6MZV4Ywh3IWX-6cZalHrkQj_Wphq7GDRwX2XLnTBkYd0ffRU-6BXgoaD9YDmBkWRW0/s4032/IMG_9414.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEga3lJns8HU3TinmUH5QGiRPoYxAULJjzSfFo_FCqINeZW19CSpE7iZ0eIgmrUjgFpMZOe0_fqgAHdZnhDzJj9CMq8NY27wt8Qjwjhu51uo1uFwHk7ZOp0hFa-6MZV4Ywh3IWX-6cZalHrkQj_Wphq7GDRwX2XLnTBkYd0ffRU-6BXgoaD9YDmBkWRW0/s320/IMG_9414.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to ride</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtCRwyWG8TKzpIWCINdPOtPnl4PvVx1Vs_4VLAJqnqkVsGh1lNHgOUxQ87khEWizFnzFFqqnVefQDbddJUeJjGgv8wv9NBJUH9-46GP33e6VxG20gfyMpbnVNtZI7cDpgXCQLXAIE9fBaqQNYwPD775TY4ahQQQ9N2GKICoDHbx6UhOYsNHfFS9mygKI/s4032/IMG_9415.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtCRwyWG8TKzpIWCINdPOtPnl4PvVx1Vs_4VLAJqnqkVsGh1lNHgOUxQ87khEWizFnzFFqqnVefQDbddJUeJjGgv8wv9NBJUH9-46GP33e6VxG20gfyMpbnVNtZI7cDpgXCQLXAIE9fBaqQNYwPD775TY4ahQQQ9N2GKICoDHbx6UhOYsNHfFS9mygKI/s320/IMG_9415.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the start line</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlLqeY8oTxHYT435w_SnccIeP9WqGzx6hzGZ9rutwFlRpqTvZEHCOEpb71BA_SBzfCCQCxxFScUCmOTWyrU_J6sjvPnIGQGipiAyGtV_zjru_QRKhunLUQI1mFoHgB3n9xDbe68EOHb8_D6QdE9YTNomR5kMV1pJ28_nUNkG424TfGK4QZNEBcfCTY1I/s4032/IMG_9416.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlLqeY8oTxHYT435w_SnccIeP9WqGzx6hzGZ9rutwFlRpqTvZEHCOEpb71BA_SBzfCCQCxxFScUCmOTWyrU_J6sjvPnIGQGipiAyGtV_zjru_QRKhunLUQI1mFoHgB3n9xDbe68EOHb8_D6QdE9YTNomR5kMV1pJ28_nUNkG424TfGK4QZNEBcfCTY1I/s320/IMG_9416.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posing with the lemon shorts.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq8yK1fCmF7tl3OH5u7ncPFJnzEWqUg7edEdLesH6wWVwy0AZObJYvXwwlLiB4lJWp6zteWBvm3w7SIyjaY7W3CxAq6qyYMriWv_Hlcy1TIbkhtL_fqZPZegLxSudfrh4jsffA3xbfW0kD6YR1e7fMEb5aedSB2d-JH3mJKdY7Y4dnczicPMa2OxcS-E/s4032/IMG_9419.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq8yK1fCmF7tl3OH5u7ncPFJnzEWqUg7edEdLesH6wWVwy0AZObJYvXwwlLiB4lJWp6zteWBvm3w7SIyjaY7W3CxAq6qyYMriWv_Hlcy1TIbkhtL_fqZPZegLxSudfrh4jsffA3xbfW0kD6YR1e7fMEb5aedSB2d-JH3mJKdY7Y4dnczicPMa2OxcS-E/s320/IMG_9419.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 30 mile club at the finish line<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUoPya7fcP2pOfMBecEDVC4FFOEOEfvbmtQH9MJ5RhEo6kjmbKQjdWPp9h-xId0zdDepeTSpouiYO_MPc114prRpi2ah9eD6hCWX5c1-o3eiRAsRpLFk4Pm-xJrY_7YCH2P-cO7HtK5zB9njvfoSE5qVFr8hOeYwsvm6shRYCSEffZE-2NZWg24HjpFw/s4032/IMG_9423.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUoPya7fcP2pOfMBecEDVC4FFOEOEfvbmtQH9MJ5RhEo6kjmbKQjdWPp9h-xId0zdDepeTSpouiYO_MPc114prRpi2ah9eD6hCWX5c1-o3eiRAsRpLFk4Pm-xJrY_7YCH2P-cO7HtK5zB9njvfoSE5qVFr8hOeYwsvm6shRYCSEffZE-2NZWg24HjpFw/s320/IMG_9423.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The loyal support crew</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I went to heaven this past weekend. I rode an eBike.<p></p><p>
Matthew wasn't going to come to BikeMS this year. He had band and he had already missed a bunch of band for the International Science Fair. So we were planning on him being home and taking care of dogs (Chewy and Zoey). That was ok with me because I was going to ride his road bike, the red bike I handed down to him when I got my mountain bike. Then, at the last minute, his band teacher gave him permission to miss the parade. Good news -- I was so glad that he was going to make it. Bad news -- I was now going to have to ride a mountain bike. I had ridden a mountain bike on BikeMS once before. It wasn't bad but I was much younger then and in better shape.
</p><p>
We quickly found a place for the dogs to be and loaded the bikes. </p><p>Driving through Sardine canyon I was reminded of the beauty of Cache county. I told Bill we should look into moving up here. He reminded me of the cold. I didn't really think it would be bad until we got to Lisa's house and stepped out of the car. It was cold. It was the end of June and it was cold. Yep. Logan will have to be a vacation spot for us :-)</p><p>This year I noticed a lot of "I Ride With MS" jerseys. Is that because there are eBikes now or do we have better treatments or are there a lot less riders and a larger percentage are people with MS? I don't know. </p><p>
I have decided that I am too out of shape to ride a mountain bike anymore. The first leg of the day was quiet. I slowly pedaled and the rest of the team slowly got further and further away until I thought it was only me and Bill. People kept passing us by. I seemed to be standing still. It was bizarre. By the time we were almost to the first rest stop I had determined that I would have to turn around and go back. I just wasn't able to keep up and I didn't feel like I could go on. Was it the bike? Was it age or being out of shape? I don't know. I just was really struggling. At the first rest stop I told Reid that I was going to head back. He offered to let me ride his electric bike. I couldn't believe it. He was actually going to trade his electric bike for my massive super heavy mountain bike. Incredibly, even after knowing all the details, he was still willing to trade. I've never ridden an eBike. I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. I don't think I'll ever ride BikeMS without an electric bike ever again.
</p><p>It was Heavenly.</p><p>For the most part I just rode with it on Eco, the lowest setting. That was enough though. Even just a little boost made all the difference. Suddenly I was energized. I could go on. </p><p>Between rest stop one and two there is the infamous Killer Hill. I was excited to get to the hill and cruise up the hill on the eBike. When I got there I geared all the way down and was able to tackle the hill with only Eco mode. That was beautiful. We were still way behind the main group of the team. Bill and I ended up biking with Emily Lara. She was really struggling. When she came to the hill she just got off her bike and started walking up. I decided to bike back down and let her ride the eBike up the hill. When I got to her I suddenly had a very selfish thought. I didn't want to give up the eBike. I did though. The problem was that she was too short for the bike. We would have to adjust it. We walked to the top of the hill where Bill was. He had tools to adjust the seat. At that point though EL didn't want to use the eBike. When we got to rest stop two I again offered the eBike. She seemed offended though and upset that I kept offering so I finally stopped offering. I offered the bike to Lisa too. She had injured her knee earlier in the week. She turned it down too. Fine with me. I was loving the bike. And Reid seemed ok with the mountain bike. We were just about to decide to complete the 43 mile route when Annalisa reminded me that she and Matthew were going to mow a lawn when we got back. So we decided to turn back and just do 30. Marianne was really sad. She had her electric bike and she really wanted to do lunch in Lewiston. I didn't think Lisa could keep up with me and M on our electric bikes though, especially with a bad knee. So we ended up heading back and only doing 30. We were so glad we did. Marianne's battery died and even with the wonderfulness of the eBike we still had sore bums, hands and shoulders. Thirty miles was plenty. </p><p>
And that was that. I have been researching eBikes ever since :-)
</p><p><br /></p>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-78905774938973442462022-07-30T13:40:00.005-07:002023-10-31T10:30:50.346-07:00BikeMS 2022 Michelle's take on the world<div style="text-align: left;"><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">BikeMS 2022</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really need to write this blog within a week of coming home from BikeMS. Luckily we have pictures. That's the best part of the blog anyway, eh? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCK3uxZru8aLeyqqz6dOoxaKhVnRcytJddTgrn9enZ3IjMvSfTakVoC2yF5SgNuW0hYRNV__YjaBanNBj4zj0qzYcytpvNiz9vojIv7vU6SBgMsU8y97ui8H-6sIu_8hxe0NexcGQ3h1BDZ9-j7w0EY3jg4GHNbYSYYUsSAYHpH2_hHFgZFMROPG3/s2048/A8FE012C-727D-456A-B4CD-B7CD7DF21A18.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCK3uxZru8aLeyqqz6dOoxaKhVnRcytJddTgrn9enZ3IjMvSfTakVoC2yF5SgNuW0hYRNV__YjaBanNBj4zj0qzYcytpvNiz9vojIv7vU6SBgMsU8y97ui8H-6sIu_8hxe0NexcGQ3h1BDZ9-j7w0EY3jg4GHNbYSYYUsSAYHpH2_hHFgZFMROPG3/w576-h383/A8FE012C-727D-456A-B4CD-B7CD7DF21A18.jpeg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The riders with support crew minus Scott, Stephen and Jacob</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year we had 9 riders. Five Dolinars, Marianne and Emily Lara, Kathryn and Jacob. Two riders under 18. And one of those, Annalisa, almost 18. Things have changed a lot over the years. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirAqsfi_vlPirLQI742PLh4GZr8P1zKAiVNL7biKA15RMdVfLXMd2qYAr_iMTkdorJh5-bTtOD0Jt9J2nA4wevUXsMKNshvkMR-3p6PWtq4VjImQSE-kTLy6VvRHizsdp_kfggX_4XQ1wnF5BwzBwIBR9NnK4awR63WYBs4jvFG1E6YCHwjh58KI7/s4032/16B5273F-55D3-4771-BBE2-DCD862FB967B.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirAqsfi_vlPirLQI742PLh4GZr8P1zKAiVNL7biKA15RMdVfLXMd2qYAr_iMTkdorJh5-bTtOD0Jt9J2nA4wevUXsMKNshvkMR-3p6PWtq4VjImQSE-kTLy6VvRHizsdp_kfggX_4XQ1wnF5BwzBwIBR9NnK4awR63WYBs4jvFG1E6YCHwjh58KI7/w568-h427/16B5273F-55D3-4771-BBE2-DCD862FB967B.heic" width="568" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The riders</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_M2DWxWR0SY8irliw4ghCuYYk9HyL6MgQEbuVUqYCU8e60TbaRiBFBE4fOPU2rAOFWUVfcFAET67TJUowViL_W6RCNWj2iOm1gU5KpiWyC0hiISGtFI2hoTx4_rl3m7du3x-CRZMZwkXHyilb0eo98OUPxeKUgZEDhRB_NTv0lrDutQrsuCIoUt3I/s1600/B219B5C9-3606-4EEE-8FED-4D9B8CC226BE.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_M2DWxWR0SY8irliw4ghCuYYk9HyL6MgQEbuVUqYCU8e60TbaRiBFBE4fOPU2rAOFWUVfcFAET67TJUowViL_W6RCNWj2iOm1gU5KpiWyC0hiISGtFI2hoTx4_rl3m7du3x-CRZMZwkXHyilb0eo98OUPxeKUgZEDhRB_NTv0lrDutQrsuCIoUt3I/w446-h595/B219B5C9-3606-4EEE-8FED-4D9B8CC226BE.jpeg" width="446" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite pics of M</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9WQ-fFrC32k0rG81LitXnk8wwX1MP8zPhh1o-PUYLVZ3sPA4FMx7-qu2MbUlZ_opNgIN-LfVV3HV67z86-PS72omYac0PKPfdmkSFb50ioP-AGuO2aoUvD-VMrJMRKCHeQaeYD_t78dW3Eg8yiTz4CS9hySWV7mRPqLOQi_oic2QH3q7mwatnbug/s4032/FFD0B62A-EFAA-463C-90B1-F94A96A4ACB7.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="573" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9WQ-fFrC32k0rG81LitXnk8wwX1MP8zPhh1o-PUYLVZ3sPA4FMx7-qu2MbUlZ_opNgIN-LfVV3HV67z86-PS72omYac0PKPfdmkSFb50ioP-AGuO2aoUvD-VMrJMRKCHeQaeYD_t78dW3Eg8yiTz4CS9hySWV7mRPqLOQi_oic2QH3q7mwatnbug/w430-h573/FFD0B62A-EFAA-463C-90B1-F94A96A4ACB7.heic" width="430" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breaking the rules :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I wasn't sure how far I would be able to go this year. I thought perhaps this might be the year that I went to the first rest stop and turned around. Two things happened to change that. Reid ended up not coming this year. He did however send his bike. I brought my mountain bike and was planning on riding that but as the event got closer I got more and more nervous about riding such a heavy bike. When Jacob mentioned that he had brought his dad's bike for anyone who might need it I eagerly accepted. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQ7Nb6qE_4m4p68kCGFbTV7xCgG06jBDaUFzU4WL8JDRDsclQ3LbETQeIMmlg2KwmiJyTfBnm-bPsl0i5i9Ocs2MZY6hmhXly_2AwohfPVoAq29FAgquds3Kj2js0ow7_XqdGev9XacACObsIypJoM42WVIYENbTicd8l5jVX44xlpiwdwmsT4qkV/s2048/482EC81A-43A6-4D64-8137-802D72B3D62E.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQ7Nb6qE_4m4p68kCGFbTV7xCgG06jBDaUFzU4WL8JDRDsclQ3LbETQeIMmlg2KwmiJyTfBnm-bPsl0i5i9Ocs2MZY6hmhXly_2AwohfPVoAq29FAgquds3Kj2js0ow7_XqdGev9XacACObsIypJoM42WVIYENbTicd8l5jVX44xlpiwdwmsT4qkV/w499-h332/482EC81A-43A6-4D64-8137-802D72B3D62E.jpeg" width="499" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look who found pickle juice :-) First rest stop.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoD8jp4YWkCyquN_2GkolIhu0vvVcIPJR_zjpB1BzWIIDiykM9JnnDisgCyMZAY8K-8qvkGUMve4XnqxdSp2w4at7udjzW2F09JMD-xA_ue5p4zomsncygbMBk335JnoIDETEEsiRqUIkP1iwi8vVYiSjYrGXQr5K-Ct6mU4l6BXNdHij2XbCj6ha/s4032/586E3FC7-18AD-4318-A4A9-4B951F51775D.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoD8jp4YWkCyquN_2GkolIhu0vvVcIPJR_zjpB1BzWIIDiykM9JnnDisgCyMZAY8K-8qvkGUMve4XnqxdSp2w4at7udjzW2F09JMD-xA_ue5p4zomsncygbMBk335JnoIDETEEsiRqUIkP1iwi8vVYiSjYrGXQr5K-Ct6mU4l6BXNdHij2XbCj6ha/w505-h379/586E3FC7-18AD-4318-A4A9-4B951F51775D.heic" width="505" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pickle juice packs a punch!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was so nice to be on a road bike again. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. The second thing that changed my mind about turning around at the first rest stop was Marianne and Annalisa's desire to do the 100 mile route. At the first rest stop we decided to split up. Part of the team decided to go to Newton and then turn around. 30 miles total. The other group was going to try and do the 100 mile route. Crazy, I know. I felt really good riding Reid's bike. I knew I could do more than 30. I didn't think I could do 100 though and I knew Bill could definitely do the 100 miles so it made sense to send him with the 100 mile crew and I would go with the 30 mile crew. Then I realized something. All the 30 milers were over 18! They didn't need me. And that is how I ended up on the 100 mile crew.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3wscfUi5DhV2LQfNIZTP9Y0JBcA15JVDUXl72l_gWSGjqZZNh40unyg5u8ssnxgBYQKy6D0uCHBxFqjUhVZDlX_u_nHgMh2VB24M1XNDztraPXRkfbJ30VJYX1u7raFPfOYCyG0j7pFaT5rAshCyzZNgdg_xly6Udm6f3Fx2VeZ-vF7PnnKu2BF9a/s4032/FA41FDD7-0FE2-47C5-B67A-8C1CE206B20C.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="607" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3wscfUi5DhV2LQfNIZTP9Y0JBcA15JVDUXl72l_gWSGjqZZNh40unyg5u8ssnxgBYQKy6D0uCHBxFqjUhVZDlX_u_nHgMh2VB24M1XNDztraPXRkfbJ30VJYX1u7raFPfOYCyG0j7pFaT5rAshCyzZNgdg_xly6Udm6f3Fx2VeZ-vF7PnnKu2BF9a/w455-h607/FA41FDD7-0FE2-47C5-B67A-8C1CE206B20C.heic" width="455" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they are off!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE0_6t_cHJcA3lny52l8ISM9HMMs3_JSOZKsfljwkb7cPpobBJTMFURgdrUyV8nEnSzm8XPPfH5ztIhAryI9OmfHR4FCTiC0omdwm4i4UdKsIjDrmJYQAkK9nE46d1g2v4sLAsdavta7NOI01vi_70D7WV8My5CnSqxID9ppTJHZftLHyoRC6JdrV/s402/E0F3DB0C-3F02-4539-8876-090A6371AF15.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="402" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE0_6t_cHJcA3lny52l8ISM9HMMs3_JSOZKsfljwkb7cPpobBJTMFURgdrUyV8nEnSzm8XPPfH5ztIhAryI9OmfHR4FCTiC0omdwm4i4UdKsIjDrmJYQAkK9nE46d1g2v4sLAsdavta7NOI01vi_70D7WV8My5CnSqxID9ppTJHZftLHyoRC6JdrV/w554-h416/E0F3DB0C-3F02-4539-8876-090A6371AF15.jpeg" width="554" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our three young adults. First to finish.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMjT2xRsVk9sdKdUL_TJcpeVWMuIrm8-tFmf2Cy4_CznKorwjL3Q8jOj94aQeVvqETbnMu9y40dUPUWfxreDjL9W8EZgXN7YPTaEv2HS48lwhQ6sUegR7qH1BgPAvpja-ZZjn-wOV8LhubrXdivE6dxZ97GjCqLGTftUiK_-REpijVDlDGSBX0R7E/s2048/F63787A2-7AF2-4DE9-B09C-47AD95E13CEC.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1315" data-original-width="2048" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMjT2xRsVk9sdKdUL_TJcpeVWMuIrm8-tFmf2Cy4_CznKorwjL3Q8jOj94aQeVvqETbnMu9y40dUPUWfxreDjL9W8EZgXN7YPTaEv2HS48lwhQ6sUegR7qH1BgPAvpja-ZZjn-wOV8LhubrXdivE6dxZ97GjCqLGTftUiK_-REpijVDlDGSBX0R7E/w653-h417/F63787A2-7AF2-4DE9-B09C-47AD95E13CEC.jpeg" width="653" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hyabusa! :-)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Looking at the time I knew we had to fly. We had to make it to a certain part in the route by a certain time in order to be able to even ride on the 100 mile route. I felt really really good. I had a fast, light bike and I just felt good. Marianne was riding dad's electric bike so I knew she could keep up so I just took off running. It felt sooooo good to go so fast. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's something that I noticed this year. It just felt good to be alive. Even climbing the hills felt good. There was pain but it reminded me that I was alive and that felt so good. I can't really explain it. I was just more grateful this year for health and strength and the ability to keep riding. I didn't realize how afraid I've been of slowing down. Age, etc. has really hit me hard this past year and, well, it's good to be alive :-)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought I would be super jealous of Marianne riding dad's electric recumbent bike. It was a bit annoying to ride flat out only to turn around and there she was, not even winded :-) I thought though about how many years we had done this and how hard it must have been for her. She says that I would ride circles around her because she went so slow. I hadn't realized it then but that was probably super annoying for her. I was glad that she was able to actually enjoy the ride. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoEu3RD2eyqXmfxJzNAqSoS4hg4TZyoVpJUvm54tMWfEysZ4EY7FP-tj3VV1CmmzxxLUqR9REC-HR6-kKL-UUeOg5yG0ZWER0eqhNXVN1du6CdVrZP0lfboYOmU8bwcKaprcPztPd3BRHOOiSiMFu_AuMoDIa21bome_whvi18N_EsJjI1Uikr5NJ/s4032/ABE71693-4347-4A16-80ED-291F7154A9DA.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="637" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoEu3RD2eyqXmfxJzNAqSoS4hg4TZyoVpJUvm54tMWfEysZ4EY7FP-tj3VV1CmmzxxLUqR9REC-HR6-kKL-UUeOg5yG0ZWER0eqhNXVN1du6CdVrZP0lfboYOmU8bwcKaprcPztPd3BRHOOiSiMFu_AuMoDIa21bome_whvi18N_EsJjI1Uikr5NJ/w478-h637/ABE71693-4347-4A16-80ED-291F7154A9DA.heic" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marianne riding the beast</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even though I was feeling good and enjoying going so fast, before we reached Newton I knew I couldn't keep that pace up. Matthew had decided that he didn't want to do the 100 mile route too so we partnered up and decided to do the 43 mile route. Bill, Annalisa and Marianne kept moving forward to try and do the 100. Marianne's bike started to slow down a bit. Foreshadowing. She really wanted to do 100 miles though so they kept on trucking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDbpXuVk3Mohm39Pm8441543z8npKTXb2ey84tOIetSo62WngGUs90lhSpLDwowOafidfvX5kNo031KJ67N88FnDj4dm-tVoq4D6PK0g1TygXAVuHTd-9-SLbhfN35B73S-U3paO-zSDbqNv7IMbyV5eMvUdZYFsKLjqs5nqSukNGgSEQaprubVPY/s1600/3CFCDD89-E5E8-4358-90FE-DEB790DB8897.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDbpXuVk3Mohm39Pm8441543z8npKTXb2ey84tOIetSo62WngGUs90lhSpLDwowOafidfvX5kNo031KJ67N88FnDj4dm-tVoq4D6PK0g1TygXAVuHTd-9-SLbhfN35B73S-U3paO-zSDbqNv7IMbyV5eMvUdZYFsKLjqs5nqSukNGgSEQaprubVPY/w534-h400/3CFCDD89-E5E8-4358-90FE-DEB790DB8897.jpeg" width="534" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the lunch rest stop (mile 56)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jacob left us early on at the start line. So I was really surprised to see him shortly after we split from the 100 milers. He had decided to cut his ride short because he needed to pick up his roommate at the airport. Matthew was glad to see him. I had slowed down considerably and Matthew was glad to have Jacob to ride with. Shortly after that Bill came biking by us. He had decided to leave Annalisa and Marianne. So Jacob and Matthew paired up and Bill biked with me. It was kind of the way life has been going these past few years. Our kids go off in different directions and it's just me and Bill. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLE_5nqiNploOY-U5akLhaC5n8v9OXDzpLecB5qbNKDgoipBzc27XxVv2ofJb28Scca16ovfuna-jhjK44X5Oc-fDe1N6QU6QIvdQoL_6E5x42Ma6lQxmHI813VenIU6B8zfxHw8a8i31w0HR2xbxA6PLZEKqWgJi9Jl1Weai6_zmp07UskMismY6x/s4032/B0B8C595-15B1-49C5-BC02-9DA4D7A68809.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLE_5nqiNploOY-U5akLhaC5n8v9OXDzpLecB5qbNKDgoipBzc27XxVv2ofJb28Scca16ovfuna-jhjK44X5Oc-fDe1N6QU6QIvdQoL_6E5x42Ma6lQxmHI813VenIU6B8zfxHw8a8i31w0HR2xbxA6PLZEKqWgJi9Jl1Weai6_zmp07UskMismY6x/w595-h446/B0B8C595-15B1-49C5-BC02-9DA4D7A68809.heic" width="595" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying Newton the second time around<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRggZfJRr-S_6jbZZgZXbhFuhNUAS77MfcsFiydF_GS0KrJaMGUcY4MiDXCdmC5atpwonVp4YY0chuxGEZTimR8pPd-jDsc2P6lkIyuXUQ0f9vXfCAR5iyvG89fZBLf7hd7sVaGA0YZM9wyQ3Bmy83Hafjncoxj603pd8CmpMZvAfIre8JjlG5QBQ/s4032/1C834820-8D9B-40A0-A8D9-B47BFF78C7BE.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRggZfJRr-S_6jbZZgZXbhFuhNUAS77MfcsFiydF_GS0KrJaMGUcY4MiDXCdmC5atpwonVp4YY0chuxGEZTimR8pPd-jDsc2P6lkIyuXUQ0f9vXfCAR5iyvG89fZBLf7hd7sVaGA0YZM9wyQ3Bmy83Hafjncoxj603pd8CmpMZvAfIre8JjlG5QBQ/w459-h612/1C834820-8D9B-40A0-A8D9-B47BFF78C7BE.heic" width="459" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jacob was team mechanic this year :-) Very helpful.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyhow. It was really hot and just kept getting hotter. I kept getting slower and slower. It got to the point that I had decided to call Lisa at the last rest stop and have her come get me. I was done. Then something crazy happened. They closed the last rest stop. Seriously. It was all closed down. I could have called Lisa and waited in some shade. Not sure why I didn't. What made the difference? Could it have been that stupid quote about persistence on this year's jersey? Who knows but I decided to just keep biking (ignoring the obvious wisdom of stopping :-). We were less than 10 miles to the finish. I could do this. I had to make a lot of stops though. We stopped wherever we could find shade. Eventually (after stopping at a yard sale -- that's another story :-) we made it to the finish line. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvcKSzEwf4W3yIqSYGy3w6s46NGvD9UIuXZlb8jKq0zN5DbBKnbF8JwNHl8ZClPQ7W-rt6zzw8_3wPF5Y9QrNcbQIC-W98NaRNoidSBkliyVkd8Em8UqBMHwdRX9NgcpJFlcQZ4is9XQe_gxZjKgFgo0kcZqsRflecFykcuj22-xJX1o2nJfzeTKu/s4032/A94205EF-5347-449E-9D38-1815A6B49304.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvcKSzEwf4W3yIqSYGy3w6s46NGvD9UIuXZlb8jKq0zN5DbBKnbF8JwNHl8ZClPQ7W-rt6zzw8_3wPF5Y9QrNcbQIC-W98NaRNoidSBkliyVkd8Em8UqBMHwdRX9NgcpJFlcQZ4is9XQe_gxZjKgFgo0kcZqsRflecFykcuj22-xJX1o2nJfzeTKu/w459-h612/A94205EF-5347-449E-9D38-1815A6B49304.heic" width="459" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This year's jersey. Persistence is highly overrated btw.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was really worried about Marianne and Annalisa. It was so hot. And then it happened. Marianne's bike lost power. Luckily she found a really nice lady who let her charge her bike. The lady even gave them a couple little pine trees :-) I'm sure Marianne will tell you more in her blog post. Thank heaven for good samaritans. Even though they were able to charge the bike a bit they decided not to continue riding. Definitely a good decision. Nobody wanted to be stranded in that heat! They ended up getting a ride with a SAG vehicle. They didn't make 100 miles but they did go farther than any other Iron Eagle team member. Way to go guys!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEham4vnK0-ojoDltXJ__Iqm_X0eYPOFyREKypTWOvz2hFuRVlsl2ksDvMOnxI_IklNo1MVpFLV-9G4sf2qLVb5vo4WlU6T1Iodc-yUCzSdWk8kAzvT7zlNIFiHd9qAsjrMKemDnaPYhiXafB8_aAx4KQ-LCaAWCkQ4NOaSBIGO3tMC3tcVDXx4MEP-T/s1600/FCB84ADC-650F-4656-86E2-6E5AD37F0BA4.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEham4vnK0-ojoDltXJ__Iqm_X0eYPOFyREKypTWOvz2hFuRVlsl2ksDvMOnxI_IklNo1MVpFLV-9G4sf2qLVb5vo4WlU6T1Iodc-yUCzSdWk8kAzvT7zlNIFiHd9qAsjrMKemDnaPYhiXafB8_aAx4KQ-LCaAWCkQ4NOaSBIGO3tMC3tcVDXx4MEP-T/w662-h497/FCB84ADC-650F-4656-86E2-6E5AD37F0BA4.jpeg" width="662" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lady who rescued M and AL<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGurCUiDaSnhjSrWIDtA9bh1Y3Qy2zNwtJ46qaDpEbJzyJlNIICqkLEhksp38Sasp5hJYAWeZ0wCxyisqsSo5wPC3uwhMm-fGdvVRIqMnGoeK8o_Dx9X1UuVEE9vkXTaeavy-8C7qzrplmU39jqy9KPgYDgApJp_07rKOKvCm1ZIvzRpyWM5TAl6uh/s4032/94C32274-C105-4B28-82EE-F9874345BB39.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGurCUiDaSnhjSrWIDtA9bh1Y3Qy2zNwtJ46qaDpEbJzyJlNIICqkLEhksp38Sasp5hJYAWeZ0wCxyisqsSo5wPC3uwhMm-fGdvVRIqMnGoeK8o_Dx9X1UuVEE9vkXTaeavy-8C7qzrplmU39jqy9KPgYDgApJp_07rKOKvCm1ZIvzRpyWM5TAl6uh/w469-h625/94C32274-C105-4B28-82EE-F9874345BB39.heic" width="469" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our dynamic duo<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that's it. One more year has come and gone. I hope you enjoy the pictures. THANK YOU so much for your support this year and every year. </h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOdSSbUSZ-hKFuc6U8yxV6mrxNcUN5vn82wqSgWuCaqXIi0En_tzJ1RybPTZfiCMsX7N2yHce-kxeJ-elm8YP0ezwQtRW8gf9EsFU7kEhHxDdhZs8acvZxwMcaqiZNEEVJc61p6KyXPB3YokIHw2JQA6h99Fbr5KTkGq86Uq1JCNFEVRGqizIwGhU/s2048/55BCCAEE-8B32-4244-9FC4-1A235DA6E9C7.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOdSSbUSZ-hKFuc6U8yxV6mrxNcUN5vn82wqSgWuCaqXIi0En_tzJ1RybPTZfiCMsX7N2yHce-kxeJ-elm8YP0ezwQtRW8gf9EsFU7kEhHxDdhZs8acvZxwMcaqiZNEEVJc61p6KyXPB3YokIHw2JQA6h99Fbr5KTkGq86Uq1JCNFEVRGqizIwGhU/w680-h453/55BCCAEE-8B32-4244-9FC4-1A235DA6E9C7.jpeg" width="680" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made it!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VklsWBLZ40DKKz2jjgScSkqJkCrDTc2BKjzW_IuV-x4pW_H9wjLWO1lC4XelvgnBO89rW3gEj2d8zvm6UAR84gUJ8y2wTYeCLz9aOqZY1FBmtxU0Nd2pKbfa7TPup0ZrY_hKCWMFjfeIWzXtL_hbSKbi4KxHAFyHZW7gFb_7C18gSu3ykk7K-TNq/s2048/1C6141BC-398B-4061-87C7-598DB9A98CAE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VklsWBLZ40DKKz2jjgScSkqJkCrDTc2BKjzW_IuV-x4pW_H9wjLWO1lC4XelvgnBO89rW3gEj2d8zvm6UAR84gUJ8y2wTYeCLz9aOqZY1FBmtxU0Nd2pKbfa7TPup0ZrY_hKCWMFjfeIWzXtL_hbSKbi4KxHAFyHZW7gFb_7C18gSu3ykk7K-TNq/w634-h422/1C6141BC-398B-4061-87C7-598DB9A98CAE.jpeg" width="634" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdzZVyyN21jK01PhRN7-G4HiKHaAlmMGpNgsDVXLvNA8aunXVwfZgS8Oa9Wd5pPCEue1BINN3HvTDd-3v1OC4AxpCR5h4z6jrPhPKEQ0zhxsHe-QZNQcatzLZodi9XgvLjEfcx5Oj_teAjjU4TeztfCyvXQNwTtuP1rKrwCU3BdXygNe_5GJRwQ9Z/s2048/4B4E74D3-81F7-4E27-8859-807C1F8FBB50.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdzZVyyN21jK01PhRN7-G4HiKHaAlmMGpNgsDVXLvNA8aunXVwfZgS8Oa9Wd5pPCEue1BINN3HvTDd-3v1OC4AxpCR5h4z6jrPhPKEQ0zhxsHe-QZNQcatzLZodi9XgvLjEfcx5Oj_teAjjU4TeztfCyvXQNwTtuP1rKrwCU3BdXygNe_5GJRwQ9Z/w617-h411/4B4E74D3-81F7-4E27-8859-807C1F8FBB50.jpeg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwPIhRPOzOv3uOHu9g8ZhXztVco3msLP_6xoh7AbLQT9HK5FUlE2asAXU2GcxnlAqKaXAxx3YCoDZcUQCl0qr6ZVQKwTq7CZjAI9RSfxng6MySy-SwrBjON8zxjv5IEpqVUpZDYY9LiLwoClZi8wbcXHyW9CyFsGlCp4eo1rjjexF9uQNa7U2kGFJK/s2048/4B0542DF-0646-4687-8A61-82206152C3AB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwPIhRPOzOv3uOHu9g8ZhXztVco3msLP_6xoh7AbLQT9HK5FUlE2asAXU2GcxnlAqKaXAxx3YCoDZcUQCl0qr6ZVQKwTq7CZjAI9RSfxng6MySy-SwrBjON8zxjv5IEpqVUpZDYY9LiLwoClZi8wbcXHyW9CyFsGlCp4eo1rjjexF9uQNa7U2kGFJK/w550-h366/4B0542DF-0646-4687-8A61-82206152C3AB.jpeg" width="550" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhXkDQO4R1MJ7bL4KG6YoCDcuyqDkmKPA4DJXuPrYnQSPc5XrRJMiwyGYayNGxEZzxidzibFCu9SXSyt2ZsldrzM9ZXzjGRyGVC8IOEq4A0BLRvxmoPtwfAIay3KBYMrMf3sYEtuVnkug-tDQJ0OsbhjMHlJsFKtZR8s9iUzTk-D9wBr7E0i9tKfB/s4032/06028416-D0F7-491A-BF14-DB326E943420.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhXkDQO4R1MJ7bL4KG6YoCDcuyqDkmKPA4DJXuPrYnQSPc5XrRJMiwyGYayNGxEZzxidzibFCu9SXSyt2ZsldrzM9ZXzjGRyGVC8IOEq4A0BLRvxmoPtwfAIay3KBYMrMf3sYEtuVnkug-tDQJ0OsbhjMHlJsFKtZR8s9iUzTk-D9wBr7E0i9tKfB/w456-h608/06028416-D0F7-491A-BF14-DB326E943420.heic" width="456" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our celebrity :-)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTefkRObOROSRFf8N_kcsokZ5IOFswz4SFZpkcgji2tfiGEv3gAZnC1H9XsfvTIZn8X_0AluwhcERMKjk1jZWu5REDBuLkZ7iFJSqIMNdVC9GyaLUeaMJalZ--eTHae2oBzbLvRd3954uwVXycot4rBff-Bv3CpWhB-0pEbfhAHWRLjRuaztHxF8tE/s2048/6E7ACC58-4D28-4322-BC29-9BD5B5F65984.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTefkRObOROSRFf8N_kcsokZ5IOFswz4SFZpkcgji2tfiGEv3gAZnC1H9XsfvTIZn8X_0AluwhcERMKjk1jZWu5REDBuLkZ7iFJSqIMNdVC9GyaLUeaMJalZ--eTHae2oBzbLvRd3954uwVXycot4rBff-Bv3CpWhB-0pEbfhAHWRLjRuaztHxF8tE/w617-h411/6E7ACC58-4D28-4322-BC29-9BD5B5F65984.jpeg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3odogSMjDc9jf5QUTPLGpGvLQrOwE2T8CQg9xhtNFN3pO8clrliRQn1y3NXwQ_izeb2uYPxp0DAhdDVze1f0M_X7eZ5bzecbEB6nrT33XkO9vquRI095-R2r4gSlR7y7BfwsOp6hygN0A4OKtVqVVE-M5vDwt2JRHWMV607ojZNQR-ETGNCzZfgk/s2048/7A576130-3543-447B-A215-FCD56A743AC3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3odogSMjDc9jf5QUTPLGpGvLQrOwE2T8CQg9xhtNFN3pO8clrliRQn1y3NXwQ_izeb2uYPxp0DAhdDVze1f0M_X7eZ5bzecbEB6nrT33XkO9vquRI095-R2r4gSlR7y7BfwsOp6hygN0A4OKtVqVVE-M5vDwt2JRHWMV607ojZNQR-ETGNCzZfgk/w514-h342/7A576130-3543-447B-A215-FCD56A743AC3.jpeg" width="514" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This lady biked her dog the whole way. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKr_wxwjsJiNR9WfsDQOEAEEqYcSVinpYqlqeq4b-ORgBXPE2xaD0ApJ-Hzkiph4FcxC7SHIWhSUyyRv9dE23BuBqlDCgzL2Z7l3Fhl3Aked8L36XoieF6yMFF6Az4vi6aurG79bwmuzJHuwSHSQmd7a3jH4o8e_kkKtJ3Lm_7qfMTc4gsfbyxCoyA/s2048/25D92E9E-DBAF-4119-894D-E7D472498C94.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="2048" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKr_wxwjsJiNR9WfsDQOEAEEqYcSVinpYqlqeq4b-ORgBXPE2xaD0ApJ-Hzkiph4FcxC7SHIWhSUyyRv9dE23BuBqlDCgzL2Z7l3Fhl3Aked8L36XoieF6yMFF6Az4vi6aurG79bwmuzJHuwSHSQmd7a3jH4o8e_kkKtJ3Lm_7qfMTc4gsfbyxCoyA/w616-h362/25D92E9E-DBAF-4119-894D-E7D472498C94.jpeg" width="616" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our youngest adult riders :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_4WPH318Yr8CJem2xQqqSwDX_P53QLa0uENq1XmJ0Ar_WJcjj6qSA7Kc65l_zDXyhiiO1clx-qbnUX28PHiVoODprxMU49u9DsvyebXAg0IX_XFWhVNhGrwcHa5YZYK0C0cN4ZlIiSuIFI65membFye9IhRMVzpEO-ulv1IE1x0irpaPUSAjuL3X/s2048/35D6128E-86F7-4211-A61C-9C2D6B8D95E6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_4WPH318Yr8CJem2xQqqSwDX_P53QLa0uENq1XmJ0Ar_WJcjj6qSA7Kc65l_zDXyhiiO1clx-qbnUX28PHiVoODprxMU49u9DsvyebXAg0IX_XFWhVNhGrwcHa5YZYK0C0cN4ZlIiSuIFI65membFye9IhRMVzpEO-ulv1IE1x0irpaPUSAjuL3X/w634-h422/35D6128E-86F7-4211-A61C-9C2D6B8D95E6.jpeg" width="634" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaxPhCkzUekC9g1_l_yEtTZXiLPCqaFXD5o3J_tDX2lkndu0wRHZ5mawXKQGTzpMDKT946vi25BF5zQ30mAO2PH5Lb1StFqzOZmeca0lNFb6zoc3-Q0UQ-k6LzOITvJReFJsA8O7pwL-F4B4DEVRdy8i9jPuBgpWYeqqPeZuzqTqed_0odW1-JQBd/s2048/65CFA5C3-4C55-4048-B90F-D452EFD0DCC0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaxPhCkzUekC9g1_l_yEtTZXiLPCqaFXD5o3J_tDX2lkndu0wRHZ5mawXKQGTzpMDKT946vi25BF5zQ30mAO2PH5Lb1StFqzOZmeca0lNFb6zoc3-Q0UQ-k6LzOITvJReFJsA8O7pwL-F4B4DEVRdy8i9jPuBgpWYeqqPeZuzqTqed_0odW1-JQBd/w551-h367/65CFA5C3-4C55-4048-B90F-D452EFD0DCC0.jpeg" width="551" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTRhnnO_ykSwXLodZiLFcbMpRN1BrYcj6es-KnV9KF1k_RsKHSzEHJ1PVVsxVRNFF84hFe49u0UonUzKJE4t0xwhHb-4wWNr8O-w7ubHCrt9gv42gBqFkH0hWSHsN-TCAa2mpVj8l6PCWPI4IM2NKyaTSY-FfxsBIFcLz5JCoYt2ZYQtNX-8Ehvoj/s2048/9108E9D6-6162-4985-87AF-AB43882ADA12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTRhnnO_ykSwXLodZiLFcbMpRN1BrYcj6es-KnV9KF1k_RsKHSzEHJ1PVVsxVRNFF84hFe49u0UonUzKJE4t0xwhHb-4wWNr8O-w7ubHCrt9gv42gBqFkH0hWSHsN-TCAa2mpVj8l6PCWPI4IM2NKyaTSY-FfxsBIFcLz5JCoYt2ZYQtNX-8Ehvoj/w607-h404/9108E9D6-6162-4985-87AF-AB43882ADA12.jpeg" width="607" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0H6sXvF5Z_B0F4LZruSCIe1YeajXISYN9YBkyvROy_S_MP6VWnrXm6RQgF9bTw0UoO4Ju1tYEaKGiMyCZ8YUITHHWcXxF2e146AsSgzX41ioThPAvxCVlt6lxEjPEcbUaZAKNYofXhkzMYMWhOWslS3urMt5fuDltA4idt0wCGqNyggj5Rwv61Js/s2048/465245EE-5AD5-4246-B9EF-FED7D60F3D74.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0H6sXvF5Z_B0F4LZruSCIe1YeajXISYN9YBkyvROy_S_MP6VWnrXm6RQgF9bTw0UoO4Ju1tYEaKGiMyCZ8YUITHHWcXxF2e146AsSgzX41ioThPAvxCVlt6lxEjPEcbUaZAKNYofXhkzMYMWhOWslS3urMt5fuDltA4idt0wCGqNyggj5Rwv61Js/w617-h411/465245EE-5AD5-4246-B9EF-FED7D60F3D74.jpeg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_oN4poa7U_kJlEj0e6Aoce0Pxg-fyxO-fZCovIhUs57ffLDY5wIFJXqKz4IgxVZpGdqcY916kpWT3ZMx78xo_AWZXo0IMCnKMSXSsvuQUlkYZ5KzdqHVbokYIQsmmQ580MCqu_lu1kmn1dPqcRTGKDXzlOj5edpGTfTYXatx32rN1L9Dj-zI04mQ/s2048/D8524A5A-D91A-404E-9CB1-8A6B526E6D89.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_oN4poa7U_kJlEj0e6Aoce0Pxg-fyxO-fZCovIhUs57ffLDY5wIFJXqKz4IgxVZpGdqcY916kpWT3ZMx78xo_AWZXo0IMCnKMSXSsvuQUlkYZ5KzdqHVbokYIQsmmQ580MCqu_lu1kmn1dPqcRTGKDXzlOj5edpGTfTYXatx32rN1L9Dj-zI04mQ/w601-h400/D8524A5A-D91A-404E-9CB1-8A6B526E6D89.jpeg" width="601" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZltkDq91aBfxYk0T1kV1IKkN9fuzIPeM_5AJycwH2RyxlJGwoAHBQM62aQSkD0YiOjPQD7Mww3o11zwdAuuYFmUkjrwcehB5toiobg4yJrBOccyNFr_AeXuiP-QxurG2SCYUPJeelrysoW6LRivRA7kYaaW1cqoqaOtuJ_EgMq01QZtXZ78WYoPl5/s2048/E9D2B788-29EA-435A-8DB7-2458CFA9A79A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZltkDq91aBfxYk0T1kV1IKkN9fuzIPeM_5AJycwH2RyxlJGwoAHBQM62aQSkD0YiOjPQD7Mww3o11zwdAuuYFmUkjrwcehB5toiobg4yJrBOccyNFr_AeXuiP-QxurG2SCYUPJeelrysoW6LRivRA7kYaaW1cqoqaOtuJ_EgMq01QZtXZ78WYoPl5/w604-h402/E9D2B788-29EA-435A-8DB7-2458CFA9A79A.jpeg" width="604" /></a></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL4nSD9nVmi9pR-QZN1Cymz9PAkdTMiNDsqjbpICvIYFl6PUDfqV4Pqr_9XZmt0rY7da9yaowk7Fyr76-v3esFAZH99W_T0dD3xpETf74tlUNF02hMpCxgyUYKENoiDrLGQRlh0s-lR9oBz1j2MqHxwHR5rde8xVLr5tRYkq9R1sALx9X3KXz1Jma/s4032/41C537FA-2FBA-47EC-B9C8-9C61703E7797.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="679" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL4nSD9nVmi9pR-QZN1Cymz9PAkdTMiNDsqjbpICvIYFl6PUDfqV4Pqr_9XZmt0rY7da9yaowk7Fyr76-v3esFAZH99W_T0dD3xpETf74tlUNF02hMpCxgyUYKENoiDrLGQRlh0s-lR9oBz1j2MqHxwHR5rde8xVLr5tRYkq9R1sALx9X3KXz1Jma/w509-h679/41C537FA-2FBA-47EC-B9C8-9C61703E7797.heic" width="509" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The massage gun was painful but I think it was helpful<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-25553823979647176392021-06-29T10:43:00.004-07:002022-01-29T17:23:14.245-08:00BikeMS 2021 Crushing MS one donation at a time<h1 style="text-align: center;">Crushing MS</h1><p>I wish I had asked his name or gotten a picture. He said he was in his 60's. He has MS. His legs were strapped onto his recumbent bike so he wouldn't fall out when he got tired. His hands did the pedaling. I first noticed this rider because he was going very slowly. </p><p>I slowed down to bike beside him and after chatting for a while I asked him what his fundraising secret was because he had a yellow bib. The coveted yellow bib. Yellow bibs are given only to the top 100 fundraisers. He was number 39. He told me he just simply reached out to family and friends and asked for their support. No corporate sponsors. Wow. I thought about the power of a simple donation. Crushing MS one donation at a time. It really adds up. </p><p>I realized the importance of each donation again this year because I too got a coveted yellow bib. Yep :-) Did you realize that your donations (just to me) added up to over $1600? </p><p>Vote for a color to dye my hair. $25/vote. And you voted. Incredible, eh? Crushing MS one donation at a time! YOU ROCK!! Team Iron Eagles raised over $5000! And only a couple thousand of that was matching funds from Harmons. Not bad. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ffa400;">You guys are amazing!</span> </p><p style="text-align: center;">Slow and steady wins the race and adds up to so much money to help people with MS! Every donation counts!</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UFoJxx7-Dqrvi15kcNY0lVO1VwM3bEe1Fh8A8G0K30xiKo57zdGhDIm3kMWgIkPl6f3op_RQp75YHGh8lE1NdXkL5wnYIUH9_7UahNaoJcFqPFtu_NWeD7czLscK_lIJ9d9-tL1ADsA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UFoJxx7-Dqrvi15kcNY0lVO1VwM3bEe1Fh8A8G0K30xiKo57zdGhDIm3kMWgIkPl6f3op_RQp75YHGh8lE1NdXkL5wnYIUH9_7UahNaoJcFqPFtu_NWeD7czLscK_lIJ9d9-tL1ADsA/w240-h320/B1493A13-177F-462C-B341-4BD991C40623_1_105_c.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><h1 style="text-align: center;">The ride</h1><p></p><p>OK. Enough about donations. Let's talk ride. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWA9gaR3uM3nD0BJ6wso1svDZHyEme-_xhBOM94BRfO7sU-PBEQGvuVtYMoyAMm3orEY-BtZa42zidJ9mTwYKi6oaKZMQ8WrehTE9DQ6nZ6lH1_n5PJN6lBtQpJmVVY7u2CUcaH2w1HHQ/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWA9gaR3uM3nD0BJ6wso1svDZHyEme-_xhBOM94BRfO7sU-PBEQGvuVtYMoyAMm3orEY-BtZa42zidJ9mTwYKi6oaKZMQ8WrehTE9DQ6nZ6lH1_n5PJN6lBtQpJmVVY7u2CUcaH2w1HHQ/w400-h300/FDBBD37B-A889-4D6C-97D3-C365FDDDA753_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Normal picture</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMdGT3NkwI47SvavXW0InOpk8wgQXGxno2L9JOkhxdWGh5zgo8qUkdjNzxdDlwWo5h3KzEmRR-dOHTlQPqW8RNFdMvhWb1cmxc6GxoY9MD0KIEawk3KSUZI3jdm75JjgW23kOpvDHYPU/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMdGT3NkwI47SvavXW0InOpk8wgQXGxno2L9JOkhxdWGh5zgo8qUkdjNzxdDlwWo5h3KzEmRR-dOHTlQPqW8RNFdMvhWb1cmxc6GxoY9MD0KIEawk3KSUZI3jdm75JjgW23kOpvDHYPU/w400-h300/C889647F-D9DF-4949-9C47-7239962A28E7_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sexy hair swoosh! Lisa felt I needed to show more hair :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This year we were all really worried about the heat. About a week and a half before the ride I walked out onto our deck. It felt like I was walking into an oven. Seriously. And that was in the shade! We were all super grateful to see the rain come a couple days before BikeMS. It poured rain as we drove up to Logan cooling things down a bit. Thank heaven! Saturday was a beautiful day. <p></p><p>It also helped that we got an early start. Our original plan was to do team pictures at 6:30am, eat breakfast at the fairgrounds and be on the road by 7am. We were close. We started at 7:30am. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. It was great. We easily made it to the first rest stop. Earlier starts are definitely going to become a tradition! The whole day went so much better with the earlier start. That was the first good decision of the day.</p><p>The second good decision happened in Newton. -- random side story. A good friend of mine told me she was from Newton. I didn't connect that with BikeMS until this ride. It turns out her childhood home is about a block from the Newton rest stop. How random is that?</p><p>Anyhow. Remember that guy I saw on the first leg of the ride? Number 39? I asked him how far he was riding. 14 miles. He was going to go to the first rest stop and back. How cool is that? He inspired us to make our next best decision.</p><p>When we got to Newton, the second rest stop, we had gone about 15 miles. I could see that some on our team were showing signs of fatigue. We had a choice, we could keeping going forward and do the 43 mile loop, go forward and do the 73 mile loop (and have lunch on the ride) or just turn around and head back making 30 miles total. Usually we would choose to push on. "We have to make it to the lunch stop," we'd say. Or "We have to do the full route," we'd say. Then I remembered number 39 (really wish I had asked his name!). Watching him slowly but surely make his way on the ride I remembered that it's super important to know our limits and enjoy the ride.</p><p>In the end, three members of the team pushed forward to do the 43. Four of us decided we should head back and just do 30. <u>Best decision ever!</u> The miles flew by. We made it back to the fairgrounds around noon. Those of you that follow this blog know that we usually start late, go slow, bite off more than we can chew as we push to ride more miles than we should. By the time we are on the last stretch we are dead! It's hot and we are tired and feeling miserable. (see my essay on <a href="https://teamironeagles.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-people-ride-cadillacs.html">why I ride</a>) </p><p>This year the last stretch was a breeze! We were passed by a fellow rider who called out "Good morning!" and I realized that it was still in fact morning! We are usually doing the last stretch around 3 or 4 or sometimes 5pm. We rolled passed the finish line and were able to cheer riders coming in for at least an hour or more. It was great! So this is what it feels like to not be last.... I like it! It was a short ride but I guess that's the point. And eating lunch at the fair grounds was not so bad. Harmons provided some really yummy lunches! We were even able to save part for dinner. Win Win. Woohoo! And we were also able to get in some lunch-time yoga stretches :-) It was a good day.</p><h1 style="text-align: center;">The Finish Line</h1><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzeEEI7R0z0WvwcOs06lQyJmdpJwq47wx-36L1_kZBH2vD2cxfCoDKuB_Uf87Xw7Ng0UjM1anoH5DPvb3RS3JczXFQv3FX3u8Ln1c_SCFdFhMKLX2AhCBxMixNMvNo4EmH9rLAKzxVnY/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzeEEI7R0z0WvwcOs06lQyJmdpJwq47wx-36L1_kZBH2vD2cxfCoDKuB_Uf87Xw7Ng0UjM1anoH5DPvb3RS3JczXFQv3FX3u8Ln1c_SCFdFhMKLX2AhCBxMixNMvNo4EmH9rLAKzxVnY/w400-h300/A235B4C9-6497-4A8B-A6D7-C150FF1C9ECB_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The well-rested 30 milers (Reid did 43) and the support crew photobombing in the back :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0x0Lw12j874PZmKAP1he1atW1ChppiVaDIQdny8rKtTF15zex99EdULeDTzxMjT5M-sxg4pipPLXTT5tRMfG-O6WxI9jPAtGsrmaC5oRsCvo4XPGExYY9-TX50KHBeJzu9_quhbykun0/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0x0Lw12j874PZmKAP1he1atW1ChppiVaDIQdny8rKtTF15zex99EdULeDTzxMjT5M-sxg4pipPLXTT5tRMfG-O6WxI9jPAtGsrmaC5oRsCvo4XPGExYY9-TX50KHBeJzu9_quhbykun0/w400-h300/F90D2985-F963-463A-BF6B-0D99E956A35D_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The speedy Gonzales crew in Newton. They opted for 43 miles</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7sMCzeuCzTIqY1acxHd3jzWcSspBQKndf1G9clrVYviXl7y04Ba7kVPddZE7HvQYRaFpOLM_-L0JKSh3D6XsGqYpN8MyGgzcveNMSxu3LcdphKYQmZ0jvF7bw7O6suz-juRp0yK2YjE/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7sMCzeuCzTIqY1acxHd3jzWcSspBQKndf1G9clrVYviXl7y04Ba7kVPddZE7HvQYRaFpOLM_-L0JKSh3D6XsGqYpN8MyGgzcveNMSxu3LcdphKYQmZ0jvF7bw7O6suz-juRp0yK2YjE/w400-h300/21D01914-20A5-4694-8CD2-1DBF734A153C_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of the riders at the finish. This is our attempt at a cool hold-the-bike-triumphantly-overhead shot. I think we need to practice a bit more for next year :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMUvc6trCK3Jlx6EzW6zKcHyGUdPhNPogMyabVlBv6gGCWrGjjzH8PN9EMvxmHmujzhSFxefl8GT1fYHk8I-oPCoehNHe4N_F0GvoxYweestsOnfZIn6VHxo7NJRTDFmRm1mhZnjYqks/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMUvc6trCK3Jlx6EzW6zKcHyGUdPhNPogMyabVlBv6gGCWrGjjzH8PN9EMvxmHmujzhSFxefl8GT1fYHk8I-oPCoehNHe4N_F0GvoxYweestsOnfZIn6VHxo7NJRTDFmRm1mhZnjYqks/w400-h300/8EE341ED-E2B4-409C-820B-29834204A52F_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giving up and just doing a normal photo :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">Orange Hair</h1><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAqqWemudDh0lKZtCkPsd4FeS-08KZiAPWQXMPn2yj34HF46HQhYfLuzG1xgq9nD_Pf8QKPTiejPlJF_Q7O8lnF4UuqkPN-naI6CEB5sVnf5G-UsosTPYZ4mlrj-WzgQWsQGWh1rqMXA/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAqqWemudDh0lKZtCkPsd4FeS-08KZiAPWQXMPn2yj34HF46HQhYfLuzG1xgq9nD_Pf8QKPTiejPlJF_Q7O8lnF4UuqkPN-naI6CEB5sVnf5G-UsosTPYZ4mlrj-WzgQWsQGWh1rqMXA/" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BRIGHT orange!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I have to say that last year I was a little disappointed that orange didn't win in the hair dyeing contest. And then when I dyed my hair purple it wasn't very bright. It was a gorgeous shade of purple that I didn't really hate at all. I was actually totally fine that it took a few weeks to wash out. This year however I wanted to go bright neon orange. Go big or go home, eh? So I set the fundraising bar low and didn't give anybody else a vote :-) I loved the reactions of the family as we sprayed my hair orange. So much shock! It wasn't until later when I saw pictures that I understood. That was some bright hair! I don't know how people could stand to look at me without sunglasses :-) Wow. Originally I was looking forward to going to church the next day with orange hair. So glad that it washed out in one wash! :-) I probably should have went with Staci's suggestion of copper! Maybe next year......</p><h1 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Photos</h1><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJq16hyphenhyphenhry9gcqNKP4CqoHqKUHztXtF85SHXqc29D-Mtx1IIZ_kjQZRZGsxGGv21nZkz_t8CwaZMv9DY2cL2J5mjHLC7BQx4pNoa9xdflUFhuovUgQEEYxdYdBs9hrd69P-illmU9gso/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJq16hyphenhyphenhry9gcqNKP4CqoHqKUHztXtF85SHXqc29D-Mtx1IIZ_kjQZRZGsxGGv21nZkz_t8CwaZMv9DY2cL2J5mjHLC7BQx4pNoa9xdflUFhuovUgQEEYxdYdBs9hrd69P-illmU9gso/w300-h400/4C8D50A9-0303-498E-9D98-537F5444D960_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our rolling rest stop. We love Sarah's basket!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxpTeeW85roU-0V9Uvx8JaTx9CRg3v2STk3d_UF2q18HD6iXcpy-Iu3V1CXIF2Wn22uJ4a3iyXIN4zCPeIlIDzMwLuNHbTkIj_AVBu41YC6t9Ypyh8Uk_4ni2XossSOPZcZxxdyfrqRk/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxpTeeW85roU-0V9Uvx8JaTx9CRg3v2STk3d_UF2q18HD6iXcpy-Iu3V1CXIF2Wn22uJ4a3iyXIN4zCPeIlIDzMwLuNHbTkIj_AVBu41YC6t9Ypyh8Uk_4ni2XossSOPZcZxxdyfrqRk/w300-h400/1C3DA6C5-8321-4424-9C50-407D6D7596CB_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Support crew cheering on the riders</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJT9NZSHySp1ZreX_OFjfGpG9dimxWLpxeHz_O_aYEzJzoTYtlJQ_N5EF-XiLxsZCqQ2NGRGN6Ng3-ohiAh4DW1FGdbRSA8E18BolsEFLzYhjoz1dROUzsA7osCzlVMVquvTJsi7XtKM/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJT9NZSHySp1ZreX_OFjfGpG9dimxWLpxeHz_O_aYEzJzoTYtlJQ_N5EF-XiLxsZCqQ2NGRGN6Ng3-ohiAh4DW1FGdbRSA8E18BolsEFLzYhjoz1dROUzsA7osCzlVMVquvTJsi7XtKM/w400-h300/2AF9B7F7-C0DA-4D0D-A522-D101583917C6_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Support crew and riders</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJblVkjhqR3VAh19mlwLS49BnXfHh6gDYD-zDy7Ga6wHTMI2u4wZUxFq_ERrQdZWqVKOm7hncw_s088-YJP0Crx6Llgjvn-tFoXL-K1AyfoTzql-3ipgDnQYYFjFWPwT0dJ9VUfHwfKG4/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJblVkjhqR3VAh19mlwLS49BnXfHh6gDYD-zDy7Ga6wHTMI2u4wZUxFq_ERrQdZWqVKOm7hncw_s088-YJP0Crx6Llgjvn-tFoXL-K1AyfoTzql-3ipgDnQYYFjFWPwT0dJ9VUfHwfKG4/w300-h400/77BC15AE-E848-4059-8981-D858DF84F55A_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the finish line</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGS3MHlper78Pj5gCJ5xRDS5J17gMRJeo61RiZvIxq5hLA8ysu1llQGyPIOXbG40uxPX-TKkl3o3w6aRmlLWcjkYJyPCo34R57txngnMwBfZWASzY0u_5Gu0b84aITzP7nLf5i8Za_vc/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGS3MHlper78Pj5gCJ5xRDS5J17gMRJeo61RiZvIxq5hLA8ysu1llQGyPIOXbG40uxPX-TKkl3o3w6aRmlLWcjkYJyPCo34R57txngnMwBfZWASzY0u_5Gu0b84aITzP7nLf5i8Za_vc/w400-h300/44F3B2EA-483C-4C0F-9580-6107D57828AC_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well-rested at the finish line :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHED6EUNMv_E2d27GCx2ZOzB_SBrrGM8ON7fYYtQ3y-BqpX_av1xx4iCXgTtXYN-H2k3Tg3fco1eGOMtCL24kENvL91O9isZlzmwb6e_u3HSS-zSIUxHIky-JBh_gR4jPM-_Uwcjhe0A/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHED6EUNMv_E2d27GCx2ZOzB_SBrrGM8ON7fYYtQ3y-BqpX_av1xx4iCXgTtXYN-H2k3Tg3fco1eGOMtCL24kENvL91O9isZlzmwb6e_u3HSS-zSIUxHIky-JBh_gR4jPM-_Uwcjhe0A/w300-h400/C7C81744-989E-471A-8767-7DA44D45CF9F_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this sign so much!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BbzSoHp8HSUxBf92aZCn30IfwNU9xxo2gPffmdXs9DEY70Im5N_KRc7YGhuMWXgNc3oSWkMEuiJgTQXwUoUHEwAfASdffaBqmwpVIkb0_bpUu9g8x9e9KuZKwu68zRdgm9-bn5RDzPw/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BbzSoHp8HSUxBf92aZCn30IfwNU9xxo2gPffmdXs9DEY70Im5N_KRc7YGhuMWXgNc3oSWkMEuiJgTQXwUoUHEwAfASdffaBqmwpVIkb0_bpUu9g8x9e9KuZKwu68zRdgm9-bn5RDzPw/w300-h400/54821FF2-8777-4FC2-B520-390BDAE9101E_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two hot looking young ladies :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESMrUI9cq6UoO28aC8gFZijz_tGQ9tuPZZ28cVz8p-b3gS54K2Hp4Gq5mbSjoPiOopWq4EBM3DAUVmVg14ulERKoTS1yZBmkU1v2Z-R7qG6Txl5Kxd0_MNipnh7MramzOK4D83FeGG0M/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESMrUI9cq6UoO28aC8gFZijz_tGQ9tuPZZ28cVz8p-b3gS54K2Hp4Gq5mbSjoPiOopWq4EBM3DAUVmVg14ulERKoTS1yZBmkU1v2Z-R7qG6Txl5Kxd0_MNipnh7MramzOK4D83FeGG0M/w300-h400/B3808669-BD83-4A01-91B0-0888E9C0F2D5_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So glad that I was warned about this before I went in! PS it's rubber. A very realistic looking rubber snake!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihT-Sq_XdUn7uezKJb-G5_rb3bj9F17iEYM3Ah6mP1fq046Y3jZZNLMaWVFIL5hPmgQpFEoygF3YnG_bJlSPuTsS1QqnH3NfzOxTwlAB8BUFNBbsxfl5NEHGM7056hpuHHn3HuMpbcvzY/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihT-Sq_XdUn7uezKJb-G5_rb3bj9F17iEYM3Ah6mP1fq046Y3jZZNLMaWVFIL5hPmgQpFEoygF3YnG_bJlSPuTsS1QqnH3NfzOxTwlAB8BUFNBbsxfl5NEHGM7056hpuHHn3HuMpbcvzY/w300-h400/2A3FE188-DB45-4D5C-B00B-37159C5C77A9_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The helmet was originally black :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaEBvosZYHPq-PODqux0Yfa3sp74Aojl0m3kbRv8qy48vD43d47P9bW7sgNgrvwQuHnt3_qvDluRMMcg6PF5Md7CJuf8bE-TfQJ3dNOSmZluuplBfVGNVCIFtze1QpacpxL5DdO3nJC4/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaEBvosZYHPq-PODqux0Yfa3sp74Aojl0m3kbRv8qy48vD43d47P9bW7sgNgrvwQuHnt3_qvDluRMMcg6PF5Md7CJuf8bE-TfQJ3dNOSmZluuplBfVGNVCIFtze1QpacpxL5DdO3nJC4/w400-h300/5C4F998B-BC92-40C1-8679-39C66F5A1E49_1_105_c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orange tips blending in with the jerseys :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqRSxItBT9QnbIeR9NSlmLIYotC-iERCgT8qQNGEGIiK3Jva0LugRfKHnY8yg0rS27c-xTQrrinrO9hQKVmj96UxO7Wa6pSZ-ZhycL0yufxL5DABN0I6etswhT0znYF2Ysdv320Acg1g/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqRSxItBT9QnbIeR9NSlmLIYotC-iERCgT8qQNGEGIiK3Jva0LugRfKHnY8yg0rS27c-xTQrrinrO9hQKVmj96UxO7Wa6pSZ-ZhycL0yufxL5DABN0I6etswhT0znYF2Ysdv320Acg1g/w300-h400/C19C1CC9-6FAF-4363-B08A-C8A7471D1763_1_105_c.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">One Final Thought</h1><p>There are actually quite a few people who ride at BikeMS who have Multiple Sclerosis. Probably more than we realize. Some are easy to spot, like number 39. They ride recumbents with hand pedals and go very slowly. Some, like Marianne, ride a regular bike and you can't tell right away, if ever, that they have MS. Maybe they have numb hands or numb feet, not so good balance, not so good vision. MS is different for everyone. One thing that is common is that having MS adds a challenge however you ride, if you can. It's pretty amazing when you think about. People struggling with MS riding in BikeMS. But you don't have to have MS to support people who have MS. You each are great examples of that!</p><p>I just want to thank each of you again for supporting us each year -- whether by donating or reading this blog or sharing the donation link or simply cheering us on. It really means a lot to our family. </p><p>It really is true that each donation makes a difference. Your donations help to purchase things and services that help make life easier for those with MS as well as research to find a cure. And the research that is going on right now is phenomenal! We may not be research scientists but we can help bring hope to so many people struggling with auto-immune diseases like MS. </p><p>So..... THANK YOU!</p><h1 style="text-align: center;">One last shameless plug</h1><p>Speaking of donations, it's not too late to donate :-) For every $100 you donate by July 5 you get an entry to win a really cool electric bike. </p><p>I know what you are thinking. I've had the same thoughts. What is one entry in a sea of potentially millions of entries? It can happen though, right? Think Charlie and the Chocolate factory! It only takes <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">one golden ticket</span> (and a lot of desire .... and some singing and dancing....). </p><p>Not to dampen your hopes but I have a lot of desire for this cool bike too and we are donating a couple entries worth too so... May the best donor win! :-) And of course the best donor is YOU! :-)</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOY98cwhAhyB8O_bb4Ywajwj_DB61VwpdRifS1trisTdK-BebIqPYyy_i9xkByexOMn41nyhXqvMOS71X3fchlhvgCOPob66pnyi5xJHdaTJA8plXgGHMtV6Q5ZGKS2slTdQ1yRMi1fE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="2048" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOY98cwhAhyB8O_bb4Ywajwj_DB61VwpdRifS1trisTdK-BebIqPYyy_i9xkByexOMn41nyhXqvMOS71X3fchlhvgCOPob66pnyi5xJHdaTJA8plXgGHMtV6Q5ZGKS2slTdQ1yRMi1fE/w400-h211/Bike+MS+E-Bike+Photo+Salt+Flats+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-75661305206392229022020-07-28T00:52:00.002-07:002020-07-28T00:59:12.376-07:00Pandemic BikeMSI'm not going to sugar coat it: it was a disappointing year. Our BikeMS ride was just under 7 miles and the last miles were kind of hard because we got a late start and the heat did not mix well with my MS. We didn't gather to ride with our team (part of our team even did their ride earlier in the week and didn't ride that morning). We didn't have the high energy crowd at the fairgrounds. I raised only a fraction of the money that I usually do. <div><br /></div><div>But we showed up on our favorite trail in full BikeMS gear and had a good morning. We met a woman walking on the trail whose husband had just been diagnosed with MS so we directed her to the resources of the National MS Society and offered emotional support. We flew down the path and jostled to see who would be the first rider in our two person pack. And we finished to the cheers of my niece and her family.</div><div><br /></div><div>My great-nephew, 16 months old, crossed the imaginary finish line with his balance bike dwarfed by our road bikes and a sufficiently awe-filled "Wow!" We were met by my youngest daughter and my dad with a cooler full of popsicles that we ate in the shade of a small tree. So I guess we did sugar coat it after all!</div><div><br /></div><div>As far as 2020 disappointments go, this was more bright spot than sadness, but I do hope to ride into Idaho next summer. If we don't, though, I think I'll follow my sister's example and ride all week long! I love her great attitude and am very inspired by her post (see below)!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjmxSSUq6XQzo5rkVuCvCSsXTWHe0-SqBKe3psOn28Q0Cx6cdg-a_EhDY1ErDfT7TY-9Frr48GoPvfGoKAX7VaNMOGi-BMFOsTZ2al-GURqH_k_xmtBV_N9xBO0NvUDHSloOZg_vxqA/s2048/2020+Bike+MS+.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjmxSSUq6XQzo5rkVuCvCSsXTWHe0-SqBKe3psOn28Q0Cx6cdg-a_EhDY1ErDfT7TY-9Frr48GoPvfGoKAX7VaNMOGi-BMFOsTZ2al-GURqH_k_xmtBV_N9xBO0NvUDHSloOZg_vxqA/s320/2020+Bike+MS+.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Littlest Rider joins the road bikes.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejVlAPM977ND1ecczZbt_BQdQ8-p2vshnUYMqr32BZFJltWpdG-HEDtLourdIzZrihGHCL-56cG6VCweLP9a3JCWIQ3CN5GOjSFuQSD-ypOXaJkKj4AdMWiFoT4WFQ6I0cqKrLGAVWA/s2048/2020+Bike+MS+bibs.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejVlAPM977ND1ecczZbt_BQdQ8-p2vshnUYMqr32BZFJltWpdG-HEDtLourdIzZrihGHCL-56cG6VCweLP9a3JCWIQ3CN5GOjSFuQSD-ypOXaJkKj4AdMWiFoT4WFQ6I0cqKrLGAVWA/s320/2020+Bike+MS+bibs.HEIC" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">COVID hair and virtual bibs</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2f7lmxDdjPKAPZTQePmXacLQSxuJI8NU9JR4aQBW2hppa-V17KxFIlo6QIuPuKC71TrprwJLTPX8ZvU9Wc4j5AWR8xGqK4tTYuoC9-x-uJdFvE0b9ckBwow1t6as9tMUDhw7dHsEzGA/s2048/2020+Bike+MS+trail.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2f7lmxDdjPKAPZTQePmXacLQSxuJI8NU9JR4aQBW2hppa-V17KxFIlo6QIuPuKC71TrprwJLTPX8ZvU9Wc4j5AWR8xGqK4tTYuoC9-x-uJdFvE0b9ckBwow1t6as9tMUDhw7dHsEzGA/s320/2020+Bike+MS+trail.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On the trail: Spanish Fork River Trail</div><div><br /></div></div>Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-64498821427263498182020-07-07T10:33:00.002-07:002020-08-23T15:34:02.004-07:00Virtual BikeMS 2020<div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">THANK YOU!!</span></div>
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First of all, THANK YOU!! Again, we would like to thank all of you who support us either with donations, or love, or by reading this blog -- anything. THANK YOU! We love you!</div>
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Ok. It's been a week since BikeMS 2020. I think we've finally recovered! So this year the ride in Logan was cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic. BikeMS turned into <span style="color: #d52c1f;"><b>Virtual BikeMS</b></span>. Our first one ever. Probably the first one ever for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) too. The NMSS estimates that they will lose about 60 million dollars in revenue because so many BikeMS rides across the country have had to go virtual. That's super sad because that means less money for research and less money for the programs they support for people who have MS. Ironically this was our best fundraising year yet -- and our best recruiting year yet too.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's our Virtual BikeMS story....</span><br />
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At the beginning of June the NMSS held a Zoom meeting for all the BikeMS team captains. One of the take aways for me from that meeting was that it's ok to still ask for donations even with the pandemic and the economic uncertainty. Everyone is affected by the pandemic in different ways. One person on that call mentioned getting a donation from one of his regular donors that was larger than normal and it was an odd amount of money. When he asked his donor about it the donor told him that he normally goes to a conference this time of year but that was cancelled due to Covid so he instead took the money he would have used to go to the conference and donated it to this guy's BikeMS ride. Pretty cool, eh? I thought about it and realized that since Bill has been working from home our gas bill has gone down dramatically. We drive a lot less. Also, we don't eat out or at least we hadn't for a few months. Because of that we've saved money that we could use to donate as well. I posted an opportunity to donate on Facebook asking people to donate if they had the same experience as us and maybe had a few extra dollars they could donate. A couple past donors didn't donate but the ones that did actually increased their donations from past years. In some cases by a lot.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Hair</span></div>
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Then it got really interesting :-) We went on a bike ride with Marianne and her girls up Provo Canyon. Bike rides are great, especially with Marianne and especially when we are brainstorming. Seems like each year in Logan when we ride BikeMS we are always brainstorming new fundraising ideas :-) This ride was no different. We came up with this crazy idea to have me dye my hair if we reached a certain amount of donations. I set my sights on Club K. </div>
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To get into Club K you have to raise $1000. Club K is awesome because you get all the VIP benefits at BikeMS (I will get them next year. Yahoo! :-). And you get the jersey and a hat. $1000 is a lot of money to raise even in a year with a super healthy economy. We decided to give it a try though.<br />
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The initial thought was to play on the BYU/UofU rivalry and see which school was the most charitable. If BYU, I would dye my hair blue. If UofU, I would be a redhead :-) When I told this to Aunt Charlotte she said she wanted to see me dye my hair purple so we opened things up. We ended up with 5 colors -- BYU/USU blue, UofU/SUU red, Weber purple, UVU green and of course we had to have BikeMS/UofTenn orange.<br />
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When Reid heard about my quest for Club K he actually donated $250! Yep. His color of choice was blue. Even with that big vote Blue didn't end up winning. A lot of people wanted to see purple. My kids were influenced by Aunt Charlotte. If she wanted purple, their vote was purple. And they had quite a voting block with our jawbreaker money. In the end purple won out. That actually was fortuitous because Marianne's daughter Maran had recently attempted to dye her hair purple so we already had purple hair dye! It was destiny :-)</div>
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Dyeing the hair was quite the experience. I've never dyed my hair before. We donned our paint clothes and went out to the front yard. Pictures are worth a thousand words so I will let the pictures do the talking. I will say this though -- water from the garden hose is super cold! Just saying. We left it on for the recommended 10 minutes. It wasn't purple enough for some but I think it was enough. It was definitely purple when you looked at certain angles :-) Super fun fundraiser! We will have to do that one again.</div>
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COLD COLD water!!!</div>
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The day after I dyed my hair I woke up and turned to Bill to say good morning. He took one look at me and simply said, "It's still purple." LOL Yep. And it stayed purple for most of the week. It's mostly gone now. Very sad. It was quite fun having purple hair. I don't think I could do that long term though. Maybe next year we'll do Orange! :-)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">BikeMS week</span></div>
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One of the perks of Virtual BikeMS is that we had an entire week to ride 100 miles to get our century patch. Normally we would have to ride 100 miles in a day to get the patch. Seriously. People actually do that. They get up early and put on their little spandex shorts and jerseys and they are finished by early afternoon. No joke. We are not that fit. We are usually the last ones to start and the last ones to finish and we usually go the least amount of miles. Yahoo! Way to go us! My first year I rode 40 miles. The second year Bill and I rode 75 miles and since then it's been less and less and less. Anyhow. We were motivated by the century patch this year. Bill had already gotten the century patch (more than once) but he went for it again with us this time. It was a lot of fun and a lot of riding! I thought it wouldn't be so bad doing 100 miles spread out over a week. Nope. It was just as bad :-) We got slower and sorer as the week went on. At least I did. We did it though! It took several rides but we did it. By the end I didn't want to see a bike (or the Murdock Canal trail!) for a very very long time.<br />
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Here is the break down of our ride. Hopefully other team members will post their experiences as well.</div>
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<b>Ride Number 1: Saturday June 20; 19.24 miles; 361 ft. elevation; 2h12m.</b></div>
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I did this ride on Saturday June 20. Reid and his family biked down to Mapleton on Friday the 19th. They got half of their miles for the century in just one ride. That prompted me to get some miles in on Saturday. I knew I would need to do lots of little rides so I had to start right away. I didn't realize at the time though that my kids would want to get the century patch with me and therefore I would be doing these 20 miles all over again the following week. So in reality I did 120 miles during BikeMS week! No wonder I was utterly exhausted by the end of it!</div>
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<b>Ride Number 2: Tuesday June 23; 20.69 miles; 355 ft elevation; 2h28m.</b></div>
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This was the first ride with the kids. It was a learning experience. Learning how to ride together and not kill your siblings. I was a little worried about what the rest of the week would bring but the rest of the week was much better! In fact in the end this turned into a very good family bonding experience :-) Go family togetherness! :-)</div>
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<b>Ride Number 3: Wednesday June 24; 15.14 miles; 547 ft elevation; 1h36m.</b></div>
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This was supposed to be our rest day. The plan was to do 10 miles. The kids did 10 miles. I went to the cemetery at the end of our ride and did 5 miles of laps around the cemetery. This was before I knew they wanted to do the whole 100 with me. I just knew I needed to get in as many miles each day as my body would allow in order to make 100 by the end of the week. </div>
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On this ride we went up 100 West and went west on the Murdock Canal. When we got to the big dip I was going to stop but the kids wanted to keep going so we ventured down the hill. I'm glad we did. We found a treasure trove of mountain biking trails. We will have to go back with sturdier bikes and check out these trails!</div>
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<b>Ride Number 4: Thursday June 25; 6.15 miles; 190 ft. elevation; 43m.</b></div>
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Thursday Sarah wasn't feeling well. She still wanted to ride but didn't know how far she could make it. So we went to the cemetery. We figured we could ride the loop at the top of the cemetery and if she still felt sick we would be super close to home and she could go home and rest. In the end, after 6 miles, she decided to go home. I love the loop at the cemetery. It's relatively flat and one loop is about 1/3 of a mile. Of course after a while it gets old but it's a pretty good workout when you don't want to go too far from home. </div>
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<b>Ride Number 5: Thursday June 25; 23.93 miles; 363 ft. elevation; 2h38m.</b></div>
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After Sarah went home we headed to the Murdock. We went east this time looking for miles and we found them! Almost 24 miles. Our longest ride yet. We discovered not only Pleasant Grove but Lindon on this ride. We almost headed into Provo but I didn't want to push it! Notice the happy siblings below. The family that bikes together doesn't end up killing each other (we sincerely hope :-).</div>
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Happy Siblings :-)</div>
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<b>Ride Number 6: Friday morning June 26; 9.39 miles; 298 ft. elevation; 59m.</b></div>
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All week long Bill worked during the day as we biked. He biked at night while we fulfilled other obligations. We did 10 miles Friday morning to be at the same mileage as Bill so we could all finish our century together. This morning we went back to the cemetery. Sarah and Chewy came to cheer us on :-)</div>
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<b>Ride number 7: Friday night June 26; 14.44 miles; 113 ft. elevation; 1h24m.</b></div>
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Our first ride all together as a family. We rode right after dinner. Not sure that was the best idea for me. I had a cramp for most of the ride. By this time in the week I was super tired. I didn't not want to face the big hill at Art Dye one more time so I insisted we pack up the bikes on the car and drive to the Murdock Canal trail :-) I have a very patient family. They indulged me. It was still a long and painful ride. By this time we had gone over 70 miles during the week (if I count Saturday the 20th I had gone over 90 miles) and my body was not happy with me. I had not biked since the quarantine lock down in March and my body was feeling it. I got in almost 15 miles though. Bill and Matthew and Annalisa biked all the way home and got in some extra miles. It was fun to see the kids riding together, singing happily and enjoying each other. So different from the first ride at the beginning of the week! :-) Notice the long shadow in this picture. We got to see the Murdock at dusk. Complete with the sun in our eyes on the way home! :-)</div>
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<b>Ride Number 8: Saturday June 27 BikeMS Day!; 10.02 miles; 264 ft. elevation; 1h8m</b></div>
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Saturday morning Matthew's scoutmaster scheduled some work for Matthew's eagle project. Matthew is one of three Life Scouts working on eagle projects that involve clearing this particular trail so we couldn't exactly reschedule. Early in the morning we headed to Grove Creek trail to prepare the trail for a 5k race to be run 2 weeks later. Matthew is helping with the Follow The Flag 5k on July 11th as his Eagle Project for the Boy Scouts of America. It's a very fun project. Just very bad timing for us :-) We came home from a couple hours of heavy physical labor and just crashed. </div>
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About 2 or 3pm we decided we needed to head out to finish our last 10 miles. So close and yet so far!! I suggested we go to the cemetery :-) It's close and flat. Bill couldn't imagine riding 10 miles in 1/3 mile loops for an hour. I don't blame him. He's used to more serious cycling. He's one of those cyclists I mentioned earlier who get up early, put on spandex and bike 100 miles in a day. Yep. Anyhow. He convinced us to brave one last hill and ride around the west side of the Murdock. We went through Nob Hill and meandered our way to the Murdock. We had fun riding through the tunnels yelling Hyabusa! And generally just enjoyed riding bikes together as a family. We actually ran into another group who was riding for BikeMS. They saw our jerseys and yelled out Yay BikeMS! That was really fun to have that connection even if it was just for a moment.</div>
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Before we went on our ride I took the hose and got myself wet on the back and head. Sarah put her water in a most unfortunate spot :-) She has the confidence to pull it off though, eh?</div>
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One of our "rest stops"</div>
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Marianne and her girls came to cheer us in at the finish. I didn't realize how much I love that part of the ride until I rounded the corner and heard the cow bell and the cheers of our adoring fans :-)</div>
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<b>Ride Number 8: Saturday June 27; 0.6 miles; 9ft elevation; 4 minutes.</b></div>
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I thought we had got our 100 miles in for the week but Strava said we were a bit short so after Marianne and the girls went home I got back on the bike and rode this ride. All downhill! I let the kids ride my bike back home. They had the energy and they still need a couple more miles :-)</div>
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Done and done. After that, as I mentioned before, I didn't want to see my bike or the Murdock Canal again for a very very long time :-)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">More Pictures.</span></div>
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This was our main haunt. The Murdock Canal. We would take Center to 300 North and then catch the trail to Art Dye. From there we would head up the big hill and catch the Murdock Canal Trail. I loved the Murdock Canal trail (at the beginning of the week :-) because there were lots of people. Not so many that it felt crowded. Just enough to feel like you weren't ever alone. So many friendly faces. People of all ages on all sorts of bikes and scooters, roller blades etc. Walking or riding. Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face and a friendly wave. It was awesome! Some people even wrote encouraging quotes either on the trail or on the side of their house by the trail. The best part about the trail is that it seemed like you were always going downhill, gently. It is really well engineered that way. Now we just need to get more shade! :-)</div>
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Where the Art Dye trail meets the Murdock there is construction. I thought that was very fitting. This whole year has been one detour after another, or so it seems. So I thought it was appropriate to get this picture. It's hard to see in the picture but the detour sign is pointing to the Mt. Timpanogos LDS temple :-) </div>
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Chain trouble. Annalisa had a lot of chain trouble all week. Every time she got on her bike she had to put the chain back on. Here she is getting back on the bike and her shoelace got caught in the chain! Craziness! Time to get the bike tuned up :-)</div>
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Again the chain slipped off! </div>
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The youngest biker on our team. Henry is 1 year old and absolutely adorable. My dad also expressed interest in riding with us this year but we didn't get him a bike soon enough. He is 82. We will get his bike this month and take a picture. I am not sure but I think we may have the team with both the oldest and the youngest riders :-)</div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-47586292254161917542019-06-24T15:37:00.001-07:002019-10-08T12:16:58.199-07:00BikeMS 2019: The adventure continues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
First of all, THANK YOU to everybody who supported us this year and every year. </div>
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YOU ARE WONDERFUL! </div>
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You are making a difference in many people's lives. </div>
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THANK YOU!</div>
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This is my favorite picture this year. Matthew turned 12 and so the whole family was able to ride. What surprises me most about this picture is how short I look! When did the kids get so tall!?!</div>
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This is the whole team this year. Ten team members. Five teens. Five non-teens. Of the ten team members two were rookies.</div>
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Rookie number one is Jonathon Hales. He is a math genius. The number on his helmet, 541, is apparently the 100th prime. Only Jonny would recognize that, at least he is the only one on our team that would recognize that. What a cool number! Also, notice the orange finger nail polish. Jon was a really good sport. He wore the nail polish like a true Iron Eagle. He was the first one at the finish line. He took off in true Rookie fashion with lots of energy, way out in front of all of us and made a wrong turn. Or maybe it was a right turn. Because he took that turn he made it to the finish line in time to get his van and come rescue us at lunch.</div>
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Jonny to the rescue! Jon drove up to the lunch stop and was able to fit an amazing amount of bikes in his van. Five bikes! Half the team! Go Jon! And a big thanks to Lisa's husband Scott who also came with a car to cart people back to the fairgrounds.</div>
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Rookie number two, Matthew. He would not be caught dead eating oatmeal any other day. On race day though he ate it with a smile :-) </div>
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Rest stop number one. It was sooooo cold this year! Some team members decided to do jumping jacks to keep warm. I wish I had gone with my first instinct and worn my long sleeves. We thought it would warm up. It did but not until we were basically done. </div>
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Rest stop number two. Newton. Matthew is doing his "serious joker" face :-) </div>
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Aunt Lisa and Aunt Marianne. Always on the look out for a contest. Apparently the Honey Bucket company was doing a contest. Take a selfie with a Honey Bucket and you might win something! Woohoo! Crossing our fingers.</div>
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Annalisa, showing us what real riders eat for energy. </div>
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Kathryn showing off her cool curls. Kathryn has true BikeMS spirit! Go Kathryn! :-)</div>
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For Bethany!</div>
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Matthew met a patch of gravel that didn't agree with him. I am actually very relieved that this is all that happened. No stitches needed. He'll just have a nasty scar. I won't post the actual wound (you're welcome :-) I was so worried that he would end up in an accident. The BikeMS route has really changed since I first rode in 2005. A large majority of the route is on very busy roads and there are less volunteers helping out at intersections. We spent a lot of time before BikeMS riding as a family, practicing riding in a line, using hand signals etc. Not very fun for the kids. They did really great though on the ride so I guess it paid off :-) Next year I need to get a GoPro video camera. I missed so many pictures on the bike. The team did so well with staying in a straight line. We even got complimented by one of the ride marshals :-) Yay us! And the kids actually had a good time. It was fun to watch them call out "Hyabusa!" (our team cheer) and play games like I Spy.<br />
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Annalisa helping Matthew to the finish line.</div>
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Matthew walking in to cheers from the crowd. </div>
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The girls showing off their scars (not from this ride). I personally could not see the scars. Apparently they are there though. Now everyone in the family will have a scar :-)</div>
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We missed Uncle Dr. Reid. These paramedics were very helpful though. </div>
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It was cold and rainy but we could not pass up the free snow cone! :-)</div>
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Can you pick out the Rookie in this picture?</div>
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Carbo-loading at Olive Garden.</div>
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Father and son. </div>
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Jonny before the ride.</div>
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Extended family :-)</div>
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The rookies.</div>
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Captain America and his faithful sidekick</div>
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-85412197764841174522018-07-09T00:09:00.000-07:002018-07-23T08:35:18.138-07:00BikeMS 2018I have a niece on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is a volunteer in Russia. Every week she sends a letter and outlines the miracles she sees each week. We saw a few miracles this year at BikeMS.<br />
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<i>Miracle number one -- we actually made it to Logan.</i><br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 :-)<br />
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Olive Garden leftovers in Lisa's fridge = lunch for non-riders the next day. Another favorite tradition :-)</div>
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<i>Miracle number two -- we made it to the starting line fairly early. </i><br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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<i>Miracle number three -- rest stop one and beyond!</i><br />
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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.<br />
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<i>Miracle number four -- growing up girls.</i><br />
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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!<br />
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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 :-)<br />
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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!<br />
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Off to rest stop three!<br />
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<i>Miracle number five -- 75 mile route.</i><br />
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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.<br />
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<i>Miracle number six -- lunch.</i><br />
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We made it to rest stop three. They were closing down. Lunch was being delivered to them. Technically from rest stop three to lunch is 18 miles. We were ready for lunch now! How could we make it to lunch? So close and yet so far. The miracle is that we found a shortcut. Instead of 18 miles we got to lunch in two miles! Yahoo for shortcuts! We not only made it to lunch we also made it in time. There was still food! It was a good day.<br />
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Lunch on the route brought back memories. Sandwiches. Yoga. Resting under big shade trees. Ahhhhh. Good times.<br />
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<i>Miracle number seven -- Killer/Disney Hill.</i><br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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Ahhhhhhh. We love the spray stations in Newton!</div>
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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.<br />
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Future riders :-)</div>
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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 ;-)<br />
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<i>Miracle number eight -- survival.</i><br />
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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!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-47028740612140253872017-07-10T21:26:00.001-07:002017-07-15T21:28:18.495-07:00MS150 2017BikeMS 2017<br />
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First of all THANK YOU to everyone who supported us both with donations and with love. <br />
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This year can be summed up by young riders stepping up, near death experiences, medics, SAG vehicles and the chance to win the bike again! Woohoo!<br />
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The Sunday after BikeMS Annalisa was telling one of her Young Women's leaders that she almost died the day before. It was a long ride. Then I told everyone my story and it was agreed that the person who almost died the day before was me! And I didn't even realize it until the day after.<br />
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This year was a little like a ghost town. Friday night we got to the Logan Fairgrounds about the same time we do every year. Every year we leave about 3pm, get caught in SLC rush hour traffic, vow we will leave earlier next year, and get to the fairgrounds between 5 and 6pm. Usually there is a bit of a line to get registered. This year there was no line. In fact there wasn't even anyone waiting to get registered. Very odd. When we asked about it we were told that registration numbers have been going down a lot in the past few years. When I started riding in BikeMS 13 years ago there were about 3300 riders. This year there was around 1000 riders. So odd.<br />
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Our super cool numbers :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXG9pMywalPexsf_2OoKDqZf1DhM1E4F-qxUYliudUpIINmTBIWVI3X1DMwV5DThPiv_sAGmKt4JSRKWMv7phyphenhyphenMxcYeaM4EBxWTzag6dVXFtefe7QzYWKZ60vdqnZpVvjJkblp1k37ARg/s1600/IMG_1042.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXG9pMywalPexsf_2OoKDqZf1DhM1E4F-qxUYliudUpIINmTBIWVI3X1DMwV5DThPiv_sAGmKt4JSRKWMv7phyphenhyphenMxcYeaM4EBxWTzag6dVXFtefe7QzYWKZ60vdqnZpVvjJkblp1k37ARg/s640/IMG_1042.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Photo bomb!<br />
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The other thing we noticed is that the route for the ride was different this year. I have to admit when they changed the route a few years back we were not terribly happy. It wasn't a very youth-friendly ride and half our team is under 18. The 40 mile route was mainly on hot busy roads. Not very fun. In fact our family one year actually decided to start at rest stop two so that we could avoid the hot busy roads. It wasn't the best solution so I'm glad they changed the route this year. There was still a patch of hot busy road but it was only for a couple of miles. So that was happy.<br />
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The Route<br />
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In the morning we got to the starting line about 15 minutes after the official start. That's the earliest we've been in years! Thanks mainly to cousin Emily who insisted we try and leave by 6:15. We didn't make the 6:15 mark but we were still pretty early. That was nice because it gets hot in the afternoon. We need the early start!<br />
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Do we look tired? :-) Early morning riding. Woohoo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jaqUencyotQ0jb6F97xIW43UiOBdqQxh5jeyWBv6MZpobXhzsMIYRqvxbZ7EZszpdG7Ddv6RkIP3E39dva7auSDsltiIgCcplquSxjy6BNBPK2E5T879OOTMeeZQEU0qdrA2Jif10F4/s1600/IMG_0633.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jaqUencyotQ0jb6F97xIW43UiOBdqQxh5jeyWBv6MZpobXhzsMIYRqvxbZ7EZszpdG7Ddv6RkIP3E39dva7auSDsltiIgCcplquSxjy6BNBPK2E5T879OOTMeeZQEU0qdrA2Jif10F4/s640/IMG_0633.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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When we got to the starting line we were in wave 4. There was hardly anybody waiting to start. Less than 50 riders, maybe a few more. So strange. One of my favorite memories of BikeMS is being in a crowd of thousands of riders ready to start riding and knowing that each rider had raised at least $250 for a cause that was so dear to my heart. So much love. So much support. I wanted my girls to experience that. Maybe next year. <span style="color: red;"><i>Join us next year!</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">The cousins. 12, 13, 14 and 15 years old. Almost half of our team. The almost 16 year old did the 100 mile route with Uncle Bill.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmKVrERc-x3PCaT0MF61xE6t_M8NSFpgNauvyYv5cXi_UQoz3AtlH8yMlrq-CxEtIM2gEUFSW8Qbqpn9bFLlpEuTE0zbBSkeOPYC4a4tWOSysURRpAbM8oFR2MLHjFZT410vhc5D1Zx8/s1600/IMG_1048.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmKVrERc-x3PCaT0MF61xE6t_M8NSFpgNauvyYv5cXi_UQoz3AtlH8yMlrq-CxEtIM2gEUFSW8Qbqpn9bFLlpEuTE0zbBSkeOPYC4a4tWOSysURRpAbM8oFR2MLHjFZT410vhc5D1Zx8/s640/IMG_1048.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></span>
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This was Annalisa's first year. She rode my yellow bike (now her yellow bike). Last year we had a hard time keeping our bikes upright as we trailed behind very very slow young riders. This year we had a hard time keeping up with them! I gave Annalisa the nickname Mountain Goat because she just glided past us up the hills. That is until about halfway through :-) Then mama "slow and steady" was able to pass the winded young goat girl. There are some advantages to age and wisdom. Or at least that's what I like to tell myself. Slow and steady :-) That was the end of my glory days however. Near death experiences were not far ahead.<br />
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Rest stop number one. Do you like the western theme, partner? You've got to love the cowboy stress cows :-) Devon, do we need to get some of these for the YW? ;-) Reid or Marianne, if you have a picture of the team at this rest stop please post it. I can't find it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugYVt2HZryrnN1TKM60gYlJQSwFcrSZPfGvy8R9Mm6-594pxTwPHBoNgyU8T5UO2NxAe34eH0FcvQQ7Xs4J4RiwrNViOO3-bE4Qhf5kkpC2y9SLpylzfwcflzWCyU5vbedhRHabWE3YE/s1600/IMG_1053.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugYVt2HZryrnN1TKM60gYlJQSwFcrSZPfGvy8R9Mm6-594pxTwPHBoNgyU8T5UO2NxAe34eH0FcvQQ7Xs4J4RiwrNViOO3-bE4Qhf5kkpC2y9SLpylzfwcflzWCyU5vbedhRHabWE3YE/s640/IMG_1053.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Living the good life at Newton rest stop. I didn't get any pictures of the pickle shots. Maybe Marianne will post some of those. This was the best rest stop probably because we spent so much dang time here! :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPX_7BWw2iVQeqPImhuXPmdjy9jqSt-GT5-iAdku91wSN4oEeux3mFdOUZZ-4Xbqx_pfYFhdAmK7aYYcSX-Rlksdfcye-R78bCtB2yZoVOrNjn-sleHxnmupY0-BKElefLtCeyVS4C3c/s1600/IMG_1060.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPX_7BWw2iVQeqPImhuXPmdjy9jqSt-GT5-iAdku91wSN4oEeux3mFdOUZZ-4Xbqx_pfYFhdAmK7aYYcSX-Rlksdfcye-R78bCtB2yZoVOrNjn-sleHxnmupY0-BKElefLtCeyVS4C3c/s640/IMG_1060.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Ok. Back to the story. We made it 7 miles to rest stop one. And then another 7 to Newton, rest stop two. So far so good. Kind of. From the start of the ride my bike wouldn't shift gears. That wasn't a problem. Although the kids were faster than last year I could still keep up in the low gears. At Newton there was a bike mechanic and I had him look at my bike. That took forever! Note to self: get bike tuned <i>before</i> the ride! Anyhow. The mechanic looked at the gears and got them working and then he noticed a big bulge in my back tire. I wish I had a picture! It was so strange. He asked me how many more miles I was planning on doing. He wasn't sure how many miles the tire had left but he sent me on my way. I was so clueless. <br />
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So after a long while at Newton we got on our bikes to continue the ride. Before we even got going though a guy noticed Sarah's bike. Apparently when we put the bike together 3 years ago we put it together wrong. No wonder it kept scraping my toes whenever I turned! Anyhow. He said it was a simple fix. So we went back to the mechanic. The rest of our group decided to go on (we love Newton but we had already spent way too much time there!). Sarah and I would catch up. Or so we thought.....<br />
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Remember how the route is a loop? Three different loops actually. 45 miles, 75 miles and 100 miles. Newton is kind of the gathering spot. You go to Newton before and after the loops. You would think there would be better signage. Alas, there was not. Sarah and I accidentally took the 100 mile route. And the rest of our young rider group accidentally took the road back to the start line. Fortunately we realized our mistakes fairly soon and were able to regroup back in Newton. What would we do without Newton?<br />
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My sisters, Lisa and Marianne, decided that going back to the fairgrounds sounded like a great idea. They were done. Sarah was not feeling well either and she wanted to head back too. About this time my brother Reid and his daughter Emily made it to Newton on their way back from the 45 mile loop. They were headed back to the start/finish and agreed to take Sarah with them. The other young riders wanted to continue and so Lisa, Marianne and I continued on with them. Soon Marianne decided she couldn't go on and went back to Newton. She ended up going back with Reid, Em and Sarah. Lisa and I continued on with three young riders, Annalisa, Kathryn and Emily Lara. The ride from Newton to the halfway point was great. Lots of fun hills. And as mentioned above, by the end of the hills I was actually able to pass Annalisa :-) Good times. Good times. And then ..... it happened.<br />
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Right at the top of the last big hill, right before we turned the corner to go down the big hill to the half-way point watering station .... POP! My tire popped. Not just the tube. The entire tire. The tender mercy is where and when it popped. Thirty seconds later I would have been on a fast moving highway riding down the steepest hill on the route. I don't want to think about what would have happened if the tire had popped on the highway as I was cruising down that steep steep hill.<br />
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Bill and Isaac on the 100 mile route. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyU0eZm1SFpMGScYeUHFwR4A5uPcQz_2fTLLpxAKbe6Kus4cWicVwWRvsdRfucV7QBsmFGM48O3VMJfO7-VsL5bprRDSCq6YTqzzzMrMZ_1B525NIXCi_Q14bAF8l5O5yzzsubTiq9768/s1600/IMG_0640.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyU0eZm1SFpMGScYeUHFwR4A5uPcQz_2fTLLpxAKbe6Kus4cWicVwWRvsdRfucV7QBsmFGM48O3VMJfO7-VsL5bprRDSCq6YTqzzzMrMZ_1B525NIXCi_Q14bAF8l5O5yzzsubTiq9768/s640/IMG_0640.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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I was so sad when my tire popped. I was at the back of the pack but I was able to yell to the rider ahead that my tire had popped so she could tell the others. Then I got off my bike and took off my helmet -- the universal sign for Help Me! :-) To make a long story short a SAG (support) vehicle picked me up and dropped me off at our favorite rest stop (Newton :-). There I met Lisa and the girls. Lisa saved my ride by letting me ride her bike the rest of the way. That was fun. The three young cousins had fun laughing and singing at the top of their lungs. They really did so well this year keeping a good pace and riding a straight line. Lisa took the SAG vehicle back with my bike and ended up getting it fixed. Bingham Cyclery actually put a new tube and tire on my bike free of charge! Thank you Bingham Cyclery and Thank you Lisa!<br />
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The other excitement of the ride was Sarah getting sick. She ended up taking a support vehicle back to the fairgrounds, getting a ride on a golf cart and being pampered by the local medical team. Reid, do you have pictures of that? She is fine now, btw.<br />
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All in all it was, as always, a unique and eventful time :-) Every year really is so very different. I wonder what next year will bring.<br />
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More pictures<br />
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Gossner Ice Cream with the young riders. Doesn't that look yummy?!<span style="color: red;"><i> </i></span> Gossner's is just a few miles from the finish line. <span style="color: red;"><i>Join us next year! </i></span>It's a tradition. <span style="color: red;"><i> Join the tradition.</i></span> Yummy yummy tradition :-) And if you have sworn off sugar you can join Emily Lara and eat some potato chips :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQmXVh2owrz9PjzvJTZb9-LXq32Oy1HEUdwUp2QqwbxZUKc-HEJWaCJH8XZZv-xHz3K5NzG3fCRT6ihBYklgB_fx35IzCC3VoKyB2PJTMIGssjtjLNXD2r-1J4AUynTnxHphdjejLBO4/s1600/IMG_1064.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQmXVh2owrz9PjzvJTZb9-LXq32Oy1HEUdwUp2QqwbxZUKc-HEJWaCJH8XZZv-xHz3K5NzG3fCRT6ihBYklgB_fx35IzCC3VoKyB2PJTMIGssjtjLNXD2r-1J4AUynTnxHphdjejLBO4/s640/IMG_1064.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Veteran rider, Sarah (before the medics :-).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_XPTVj3JYjUm4adQw_lCerduer6adJ9ad_BjVkmvFuJIaBPDsyEPyeCrVIWKLD9nlQYsm1ef3e_LlVYjj8n94rwYtpsIvamsVPVh_v-3N8kIPaYT7yT2yMdxxEMIUkMj7hWGtKTtC20/s1600/IMG_1069.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_XPTVj3JYjUm4adQw_lCerduer6adJ9ad_BjVkmvFuJIaBPDsyEPyeCrVIWKLD9nlQYsm1ef3e_LlVYjj8n94rwYtpsIvamsVPVh_v-3N8kIPaYT7yT2yMdxxEMIUkMj7hWGtKTtC20/s640/IMG_1069.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Our rookie, Annalisa, at the end of the ride. "Now I know why you guys are so tired after the MS150!" Yep. Slow and steady kiddo. Slow and steady :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglViipLGbPngIBaOa4QweyJ8J_i9SZQB8N6AfDfL9ySCG8YW1__xxDjcwLsa2xpwnWcBYaS-Z52GuPJ-5Sc90i-ZAbu-34FgXrGPHdOCwdR8QcJU5vT65riNye1Rb_NJvstZicTke5ebw/s1600/IMG_1071.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglViipLGbPngIBaOa4QweyJ8J_i9SZQB8N6AfDfL9ySCG8YW1__xxDjcwLsa2xpwnWcBYaS-Z52GuPJ-5Sc90i-ZAbu-34FgXrGPHdOCwdR8QcJU5vT65riNye1Rb_NJvstZicTke5ebw/s640/IMG_1071.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Four out of the five of us. Matthew will join us in 2019! Do you love how tall Sarah is? On her tippy toes ;-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjp5e38AHo9BbBtP5gV_4GVHgkQ5TdEHAbP71jzLRYBYedqTKe0PvM-SDokGuPUy_06XngRqEnPm3w0Ybo8xbs9iciua51gsG3iRdFb0u-f-oTfWVRstJioezKBzsT6pxt_IKPBsr61Y/s1600/IMG_0638.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjp5e38AHo9BbBtP5gV_4GVHgkQ5TdEHAbP71jzLRYBYedqTKe0PvM-SDokGuPUy_06XngRqEnPm3w0Ybo8xbs9iciua51gsG3iRdFb0u-f-oTfWVRstJioezKBzsT6pxt_IKPBsr61Y/s640/IMG_0638.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Sarah's memories of the ride: early morning, racing cousins, sickness.<br />
Annalisa's memories: early morning, racing cousins, aching legs, healing ice cream :-)<br />
Bill's memories: perseverance. that's all. One word :-)<br />
Annalisa's one word is "Pain."<br />
Sarah's one word is "Adventure."<br />
Michelle's one word is "Happy."<br />
Matthew's one word is "Boring." Just wait Matthew. Your time will come :-)<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-80643218113931542262016-07-06T20:16:00.002-07:002016-12-08T15:36:37.016-08:00MS150 2016 (Michelle's viewpoint)Another year has come and gone. This was my 12th MS150. Yep. The big 1-2. This year's theme was Throwback 30. Apparently this is the 30th anniversary of the ride. All those memories got me thinking about the first time I rode in the MS150. Back then we only had to raise $200. And they had a masseuse at lunch. Yep. Free. Wishing they still had that :-) They also had really awesome rest stops with valet parking for the bikes and spritzers to cool you off. We still have great rest stops. They are just different somehow. I only had my two girls back then. Annalisa was less than a year old. I didn't have a bike. I borrowed one from Mike's Bike Barn in Lehi. I didn't have a decent bike until my third year riding (see the Cadillac essay under Why We Ride). I still ride that bike. Although I think next year Annalisa is going to take that one from me. Yep. My little infant will be 12 next year and able to ride in the MS150! Crazy, eh? <br />
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Each year has been just a little bit different. Let me tell you about this year.<br />
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So we missed the send off at the Village in the morning. I love to be there at the beginning and see all the riders ready to ride. It just gets harder and harder to make it there on time each year. This year we had one rookie rider. Kathryn. We had a 12 year old, a 13 year old, a 14 year old, a 15 year old and a 17 year old. So half our team was 12 - 18 years old. Wow! <br />
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This year we discovered that we need to work on speed. We (the younger part of the team) are a fairly slow bunch. We decided that if we want to do 40+ miles we need to get started earlier and ride faster. As it was we went 31 miles (yahoo!). A big thank you to Uncle Reid and Cousin Em for picking us up at rest stop 3. So glad we got to bike the hills between rest stops 2 and 3. I honestly think that is the best stretch of the whole thing. Of course it has been several years since we have done much on the last half of the ride :-) That will change next year! Next year we will be early and we will be fast! God willing.<br />
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And, as always, once again a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported the team, either in cash or other ways. Thank you for your love and support.<br />
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Love,<br />
Michelle<br />
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And now for the best part of the article -- the pictures! :-)<br />
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The 2016 riders!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVmHp6k36BCeIAbzFuu4UGqtz7Uculx27xF3irRzFxWqwhLT8s4rZAE1S113n-cz32bJQYnRWeH31G2VxHrb8LQXJvyrsHEtEajR8yUnWdHYY_7ZojMQtS_WjjUGnmCtRFQf0KEe19A/s1600/IMG_8838.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVmHp6k36BCeIAbzFuu4UGqtz7Uculx27xF3irRzFxWqwhLT8s4rZAE1S113n-cz32bJQYnRWeH31G2VxHrb8LQXJvyrsHEtEajR8yUnWdHYY_7ZojMQtS_WjjUGnmCtRFQf0KEe19A/s320/IMG_8838.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The siblings that rode this year. Michelle, Reid and Marianne.<br />
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Photo bomb!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha061F_EbVmPXm7dgVPXbzbN8W2kZpD-MYSA69W48oqq_OP-I746lu0TJZuxtdNN0xBPtKQe0zkBooLlRGo9HdJ-7hslLZ-KqPeZe_V5E7h9QdzkcpRzlEF5FaVb3_r1mI3dW426eDr90/s1600/IMG_8845.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha061F_EbVmPXm7dgVPXbzbN8W2kZpD-MYSA69W48oqq_OP-I746lu0TJZuxtdNN0xBPtKQe0zkBooLlRGo9HdJ-7hslLZ-KqPeZe_V5E7h9QdzkcpRzlEF5FaVb3_r1mI3dW426eDr90/s320/IMG_8845.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Our rookie. 12-year-old Kathryn.<br />
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Throwback 30! Has it really been 30 years since Star Wars first came out?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrq3DyM0tf2bRJYbLBzWr5fsm6Nc2VQ3VXtj8uNJvjiR1fNE8_VD0SqMXk9UP6oUlQtB2Q8IhWf7PZePnGkW2q9XuI69Fc5-VbCmrxhbOT-_ETgLQgmd0IXHSM5julesSuoPeyDEpSq5c/s1600/IMG_8848.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrq3DyM0tf2bRJYbLBzWr5fsm6Nc2VQ3VXtj8uNJvjiR1fNE8_VD0SqMXk9UP6oUlQtB2Q8IhWf7PZePnGkW2q9XuI69Fc5-VbCmrxhbOT-_ETgLQgmd0IXHSM5julesSuoPeyDEpSq5c/s320/IMG_8848.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Sarah said she only recognized two of the cutouts -- Han Solo and JFK :-) So they took their picture by "JFK." Easy mistake. Two good-looking charismatic presidents who lived a long, long time ago!<br />
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Sexy ladies :-) Making that extra 50 look good!<br />
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Made it to Idaho! Yahoo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQKuQTbF-tEelK-zSKCfnOE2bTqZlMYPSh1NvMP87vUdJOCuMdpOk3o6Ae5kPwW_PLQWsHebKUKZfMSGjyO6-CHRFA2DP_Y5ORwixjiedj_0x37nKgDrQnRpuEeexpqLd2ukEtnWzwEg/s1600/IMG_8857.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQKuQTbF-tEelK-zSKCfnOE2bTqZlMYPSh1NvMP87vUdJOCuMdpOk3o6Ae5kPwW_PLQWsHebKUKZfMSGjyO6-CHRFA2DP_Y5ORwixjiedj_0x37nKgDrQnRpuEeexpqLd2ukEtnWzwEg/s320/IMG_8857.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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And back to Utah :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB1oTrKDuHkDAuHxJXdMl5ymietCTpFURUS4TruHn6ncKiyAmMPs77RLZ2gRyBpUYs-5tfq02tqBxmoFwHjN67ot3i3gM54VyrBEk3FKE_9Q_YXZoEjArEVe1-2PGiz20zLMcJ11eytY/s1600/IMG_8860.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB1oTrKDuHkDAuHxJXdMl5ymietCTpFURUS4TruHn6ncKiyAmMPs77RLZ2gRyBpUYs-5tfq02tqBxmoFwHjN67ot3i3gM54VyrBEk3FKE_9Q_YXZoEjArEVe1-2PGiz20zLMcJ11eytY/s320/IMG_8860.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Isaac letting me touch his lucky toe. He forgot his current shoes and had to wear an old pair, complete with holes with which to touch lucky toes :-) I love riding with this boy! He never fails to entertain :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMznTA_w7Z1R-MxckOOb2imXz3H_IH2wFlsgfJONhM0LFnpek_LjK-V5HATxSLVdz5QBzHwBV0SlG6LQSt8E8ElA-Zc1TGCYVnQEY-ejBsqX7ap70siVwhYDAg8rbsACnN0BceiiN1bc/s1600/IMG_8862.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMznTA_w7Z1R-MxckOOb2imXz3H_IH2wFlsgfJONhM0LFnpek_LjK-V5HATxSLVdz5QBzHwBV0SlG6LQSt8E8ElA-Zc1TGCYVnQEY-ejBsqX7ap70siVwhYDAg8rbsACnN0BceiiN1bc/s320/IMG_8862.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Need to work on my selfie skills with this one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfiRFQMLNprsMEi7V3VdEr8w6ZRypSVTzV7jrb8vSSCQIcVXFY7h5msLQe9wbN5v-2uz6wyALZ2JjDgrIvoFWdYgUlIu4fMvnOCzphmSjnPGNdLRVWAO7_rvTIRUS5riPx0ttBHFzOEA/s1600/IMG_8864.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfiRFQMLNprsMEi7V3VdEr8w6ZRypSVTzV7jrb8vSSCQIcVXFY7h5msLQe9wbN5v-2uz6wyALZ2JjDgrIvoFWdYgUlIu4fMvnOCzphmSjnPGNdLRVWAO7_rvTIRUS5riPx0ttBHFzOEA/s320/IMG_8864.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We actually had the whole team at the same time at Gossners this year. Woohoo! At least all of the riders. Next year we need to get the support crew there too. Kathryn's father is a professor at USU. When we told her we were getting ice cream at Gossner's she said, "Gossner's has ice cream?" Way to go Lisa and Scott! You are raising a true Aggie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDokH-2iPiATsQfyux2wDW0l-q930ZCPcVPiEIXSevG1O1Brn_Os4szAX-2oVlpzfQKg5jmxo8yRALsgSM_icnZNZ9TmtXIYOWXFpm-ISCoA-KnrVKwdmhgNyuBX8tK06EZ2GDGI3gao/s1600/IMG_8865.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDokH-2iPiATsQfyux2wDW0l-q930ZCPcVPiEIXSevG1O1Brn_Os4szAX-2oVlpzfQKg5jmxo8yRALsgSM_icnZNZ9TmtXIYOWXFpm-ISCoA-KnrVKwdmhgNyuBX8tK06EZ2GDGI3gao/s320/IMG_8865.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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The riders and the support crew.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-fjQ_Wv5m63i6u-VCixbLhSp4vH1DROi8MxP7BGHeKeQOQKikza2iEoJTqz08BFuc2iVGFiGg6cN7rVGyyTaZ7-bOoXLVHjxbLY1A9tTxipa4SpdLMnHjDXFVlrmFLSeta5dz0bekJk/s1600/IMG_8877.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-fjQ_Wv5m63i6u-VCixbLhSp4vH1DROi8MxP7BGHeKeQOQKikza2iEoJTqz08BFuc2iVGFiGg6cN7rVGyyTaZ7-bOoXLVHjxbLY1A9tTxipa4SpdLMnHjDXFVlrmFLSeta5dz0bekJk/s320/IMG_8877.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
Marianne wrote the names of all her sponsors on her leg. I just wrote them on my bib :-) THANK YOU again to all who supported us! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRf4thvEeLoTsxYL7_HmylDJf9H2WyW4o0urPOiCOtadgPpAGXnPAy53aDWPXwss_VqI2K64zeha7Uw_IBLI5BxLkRvs2SRvHEsOEMwXJANCCUGMECV-DTjdOGN5bwP9knb_bP6eqIU4/s1600/IMG_8884.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRf4thvEeLoTsxYL7_HmylDJf9H2WyW4o0urPOiCOtadgPpAGXnPAy53aDWPXwss_VqI2K64zeha7Uw_IBLI5BxLkRvs2SRvHEsOEMwXJANCCUGMECV-DTjdOGN5bwP9knb_bP6eqIU4/s320/IMG_8884.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-61163799288470899592016-07-06T20:16:00.000-07:002016-07-06T20:16:36.782-07:00MS150 2016 (Michelle's viewpoint)Another year has come and gone. This was my 12th MS150. Yep. The big 1-2. This year's theme was Throwback 30. Apparently this is the 30th anniversary of the ride. All those memories got me thinking about the first time I rode in the MS150. Back then we only had to raise $200. And they had a masseuse at lunch. Yep. Free. Wishing they still had that :-) They also had really awesome rest stops with valet parking for the bikes and spritzers to cool you off. We still have great rest stops. They are just different somehow. I only had my two girls back then. Annalisa was less than a year old. I didn't have a bike. I borrowed one from Mike's Bike Barn in Lehi. I didn't have a decent bike until my third year riding (see the Cadillac essay under Why We Ride). I still ride that bike. Although I think next year Annalisa is going to take that one from me. Yep. My little infant will be 12 next year and able to ride in the MS150! Crazy, eh? <br />
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Each year has been just a little bit different. Let me tell you about this year.<br />
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So we missed the send off at the Village in the morning. I love to be there at the beginning and see all the riders ready to ride. It just gets harder and harder to make it there on time each year. This year we had one rookie rider. Kathryn. We had a 12 year old, a 13 year old, a 14 year old, a 15 year old and a 17 year old. So half our team was 12 - 18 years old. Wow! <br />
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This year we discovered that we need to work on speed. We (the younger part of the team) are a fairly slow bunch. We decided that if we want to do 40+ miles we need to get started earlier and ride faster. As it was we went 31 miles (yahoo!). A big thank you to Uncle Reid and Cousin Em for picking us up at rest stop 3. So glad we got to bike the hills between rest stops 2 and 3. I honestly think that is the best stretch of the whole thing. Of course it has been several years since we have done much on the last half of the ride :-) That will change next year! Next year we will be early and we will be fast! God willing.<br />
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And, as always, once again a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported the team, either in cash or other ways. Thank you for your love and support.<br />
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Love,<br />
Michelle<br />
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And now for the best part of the article -- the pictures! :-)<br />
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The 2016 riders!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVmHp6k36BCeIAbzFuu4UGqtz7Uculx27xF3irRzFxWqwhLT8s4rZAE1S113n-cz32bJQYnRWeH31G2VxHrb8LQXJvyrsHEtEajR8yUnWdHYY_7ZojMQtS_WjjUGnmCtRFQf0KEe19A/s1600/IMG_8838.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVmHp6k36BCeIAbzFuu4UGqtz7Uculx27xF3irRzFxWqwhLT8s4rZAE1S113n-cz32bJQYnRWeH31G2VxHrb8LQXJvyrsHEtEajR8yUnWdHYY_7ZojMQtS_WjjUGnmCtRFQf0KEe19A/s320/IMG_8838.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The siblings that rode this year. Michelle, Reid and Marianne.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlHe-z325SrggE5MxMS7E2KLiswAcNNwpsGl4_k0B9w4UDdgjd4Q1z3FL4MOPXAPso_ef2Z7iKldYw-DUZKTXmOGlVoLiGKMQbJXgqxYlum_8Ose9HjsPEmW5tQT-qXGkE_wO0P8kDyQ/s1600/IMG_8844.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlHe-z325SrggE5MxMS7E2KLiswAcNNwpsGl4_k0B9w4UDdgjd4Q1z3FL4MOPXAPso_ef2Z7iKldYw-DUZKTXmOGlVoLiGKMQbJXgqxYlum_8Ose9HjsPEmW5tQT-qXGkE_wO0P8kDyQ/s320/IMG_8844.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Photo bomb!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha061F_EbVmPXm7dgVPXbzbN8W2kZpD-MYSA69W48oqq_OP-I746lu0TJZuxtdNN0xBPtKQe0zkBooLlRGo9HdJ-7hslLZ-KqPeZe_V5E7h9QdzkcpRzlEF5FaVb3_r1mI3dW426eDr90/s1600/IMG_8845.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha061F_EbVmPXm7dgVPXbzbN8W2kZpD-MYSA69W48oqq_OP-I746lu0TJZuxtdNN0xBPtKQe0zkBooLlRGo9HdJ-7hslLZ-KqPeZe_V5E7h9QdzkcpRzlEF5FaVb3_r1mI3dW426eDr90/s320/IMG_8845.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Our rookie. 12-year-old Kathryn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SgNMpd0ja7clrajIZ9X53-njuN2wm78joS0CpiBiv2NjOEsg2-XWQQMRTC3lPPNyOPRa24dUtpRH5im6HzFFIwwZ8XvWG2P7gBr4QOf2nalke7uvPetLGNVbL-hFTPe6hbsZ8PMDCgE/s1600/IMG_8847.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SgNMpd0ja7clrajIZ9X53-njuN2wm78joS0CpiBiv2NjOEsg2-XWQQMRTC3lPPNyOPRa24dUtpRH5im6HzFFIwwZ8XvWG2P7gBr4QOf2nalke7uvPetLGNVbL-hFTPe6hbsZ8PMDCgE/s320/IMG_8847.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Throwback 30! Has it really been 30 years since Star Wars first came out?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrq3DyM0tf2bRJYbLBzWr5fsm6Nc2VQ3VXtj8uNJvjiR1fNE8_VD0SqMXk9UP6oUlQtB2Q8IhWf7PZePnGkW2q9XuI69Fc5-VbCmrxhbOT-_ETgLQgmd0IXHSM5julesSuoPeyDEpSq5c/s1600/IMG_8848.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrq3DyM0tf2bRJYbLBzWr5fsm6Nc2VQ3VXtj8uNJvjiR1fNE8_VD0SqMXk9UP6oUlQtB2Q8IhWf7PZePnGkW2q9XuI69Fc5-VbCmrxhbOT-_ETgLQgmd0IXHSM5julesSuoPeyDEpSq5c/s320/IMG_8848.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Sarah said she only recognized two of the cutouts -- Han Solo and JFK :-) So they took their picture by "JFK." Easy mistake. Two good-looking charismatic presidents who lived a long, long time ago!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisL7Z_arA3xKBzUrQbGRlOKXGS1ef84Td4X-kzai_Y4QQF59Iktt2Ip4PpG8rXLPviFXy8_VVEvCZqEAcfoMHMMeHaYhk8Crl039LOC67_g12UBZBG7lzC8NaASYl10DExvm_dkmXt3jM/s1600/IMG_8854.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisL7Z_arA3xKBzUrQbGRlOKXGS1ef84Td4X-kzai_Y4QQF59Iktt2Ip4PpG8rXLPviFXy8_VVEvCZqEAcfoMHMMeHaYhk8Crl039LOC67_g12UBZBG7lzC8NaASYl10DExvm_dkmXt3jM/s320/IMG_8854.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Sexy ladies :-) Making that extra 50 look good!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVy7LEWWqBCFZ-K1qJVR_x0ypzuqO3RKVM3iF-eepUNxCz0IWuWr6fWm4fABRVo7m8PteQcpxq4nzawjUrEYreK9CnaiwYuYtILlLaP4YC1isghzEU7breEaEJI4th2P4B697mgf-_nU/s1600/IMG_8849.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVy7LEWWqBCFZ-K1qJVR_x0ypzuqO3RKVM3iF-eepUNxCz0IWuWr6fWm4fABRVo7m8PteQcpxq4nzawjUrEYreK9CnaiwYuYtILlLaP4YC1isghzEU7breEaEJI4th2P4B697mgf-_nU/s320/IMG_8849.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Made it to Idaho! Yahoo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQKuQTbF-tEelK-zSKCfnOE2bTqZlMYPSh1NvMP87vUdJOCuMdpOk3o6Ae5kPwW_PLQWsHebKUKZfMSGjyO6-CHRFA2DP_Y5ORwixjiedj_0x37nKgDrQnRpuEeexpqLd2ukEtnWzwEg/s1600/IMG_8857.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQKuQTbF-tEelK-zSKCfnOE2bTqZlMYPSh1NvMP87vUdJOCuMdpOk3o6Ae5kPwW_PLQWsHebKUKZfMSGjyO6-CHRFA2DP_Y5ORwixjiedj_0x37nKgDrQnRpuEeexpqLd2ukEtnWzwEg/s320/IMG_8857.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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And back to Utah :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB1oTrKDuHkDAuHxJXdMl5ymietCTpFURUS4TruHn6ncKiyAmMPs77RLZ2gRyBpUYs-5tfq02tqBxmoFwHjN67ot3i3gM54VyrBEk3FKE_9Q_YXZoEjArEVe1-2PGiz20zLMcJ11eytY/s1600/IMG_8860.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB1oTrKDuHkDAuHxJXdMl5ymietCTpFURUS4TruHn6ncKiyAmMPs77RLZ2gRyBpUYs-5tfq02tqBxmoFwHjN67ot3i3gM54VyrBEk3FKE_9Q_YXZoEjArEVe1-2PGiz20zLMcJ11eytY/s320/IMG_8860.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Isaac letting me touch his lucky toe. He forgot his current shoes and had to wear an old pair, complete with holes with which to touch lucky toes :-) I love riding with this boy! He never fails to entertain :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMznTA_w7Z1R-MxckOOb2imXz3H_IH2wFlsgfJONhM0LFnpek_LjK-V5HATxSLVdz5QBzHwBV0SlG6LQSt8E8ElA-Zc1TGCYVnQEY-ejBsqX7ap70siVwhYDAg8rbsACnN0BceiiN1bc/s1600/IMG_8862.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMznTA_w7Z1R-MxckOOb2imXz3H_IH2wFlsgfJONhM0LFnpek_LjK-V5HATxSLVdz5QBzHwBV0SlG6LQSt8E8ElA-Zc1TGCYVnQEY-ejBsqX7ap70siVwhYDAg8rbsACnN0BceiiN1bc/s320/IMG_8862.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Need to work on my selfie skills with this one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfiRFQMLNprsMEi7V3VdEr8w6ZRypSVTzV7jrb8vSSCQIcVXFY7h5msLQe9wbN5v-2uz6wyALZ2JjDgrIvoFWdYgUlIu4fMvnOCzphmSjnPGNdLRVWAO7_rvTIRUS5riPx0ttBHFzOEA/s1600/IMG_8864.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfiRFQMLNprsMEi7V3VdEr8w6ZRypSVTzV7jrb8vSSCQIcVXFY7h5msLQe9wbN5v-2uz6wyALZ2JjDgrIvoFWdYgUlIu4fMvnOCzphmSjnPGNdLRVWAO7_rvTIRUS5riPx0ttBHFzOEA/s320/IMG_8864.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We actually had the whole team at the same time at Gossners this year. Woohoo! At least all of the riders. Next year we need to get the support crew there too. Kathryn's father is a professor at USU. When we told her we were getting ice cream at Gossner's she said, "Gossner's has ice cream?" Way to go Lisa and Scott! You are raising a true Aggie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDokH-2iPiATsQfyux2wDW0l-q930ZCPcVPiEIXSevG1O1Brn_Os4szAX-2oVlpzfQKg5jmxo8yRALsgSM_icnZNZ9TmtXIYOWXFpm-ISCoA-KnrVKwdmhgNyuBX8tK06EZ2GDGI3gao/s1600/IMG_8865.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDokH-2iPiATsQfyux2wDW0l-q930ZCPcVPiEIXSevG1O1Brn_Os4szAX-2oVlpzfQKg5jmxo8yRALsgSM_icnZNZ9TmtXIYOWXFpm-ISCoA-KnrVKwdmhgNyuBX8tK06EZ2GDGI3gao/s320/IMG_8865.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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The riders and the support crew.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-fjQ_Wv5m63i6u-VCixbLhSp4vH1DROi8MxP7BGHeKeQOQKikza2iEoJTqz08BFuc2iVGFiGg6cN7rVGyyTaZ7-bOoXLVHjxbLY1A9tTxipa4SpdLMnHjDXFVlrmFLSeta5dz0bekJk/s1600/IMG_8877.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-fjQ_Wv5m63i6u-VCixbLhSp4vH1DROi8MxP7BGHeKeQOQKikza2iEoJTqz08BFuc2iVGFiGg6cN7rVGyyTaZ7-bOoXLVHjxbLY1A9tTxipa4SpdLMnHjDXFVlrmFLSeta5dz0bekJk/s320/IMG_8877.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Marianne wrote the names of all her sponsors on her leg. I just wrote them on my bib :-) THANK YOU again to all who supported us! <br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-11493391761623823952015-07-13T15:39:00.001-07:002015-07-13T16:48:22.075-07:00MS150 2015!Hello World! :-) I really should have written this post right after we got back from the MS150 -- while the memories were still fresh! I will do my best to recap. Pictures help :-)<br />
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So this year Bethany decided instead of riding she would decorate and man our team tent. She came up with the idea of decorating it with origami cranes. Apparently if you make 1000 origami cranes you can have a wish or you get good luck. 1000 cranes is A LOT of cranes! LOL We were camping the week before the MS150 so I missed the text about making cranes. I got the word the day before the ride. We purchased 1000 origami papers and some twine to hang the cranes and we learned how to make origami cranes! We spent hours making cranes. I was impressed that the kids really got into it. We even had friends and extended family make cranes and send them with us. It was a lot of fun. In the end I think we made around 100 or so cranes. Maybe 150. I calculated if it took five minutes to make a crane it would take a little over 83 hours for one person to make 1000 cranes! Yep. That's a lot of cranes.<br />
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Here we are making cranes at dinner the night before.
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Carbo-loading crane :-)</div>
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Getting ready for the ride the night before (so glad we did it the night before! that made the morning so much smoother) </div>
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Breakfast. </div>
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Rest Stop one. </div>
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The infamous playground. Remember last year when Marianne got hurt on this thing? The kids are still young enough to play :-) Notice the crane is playing too :-)</div>
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Second rest stop. </div>
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My favorite picture :-) </div>
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The crane taking a break at the rest stop. </div>
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The crane on the road. </div>
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Checking the map. Check out that nail polish! :-) </div>
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Ice cream at Gossners on the way back. This is Emily Lara and Sarah. This year our rookie was Emily Lara. She is Marianne's daughter. She did a great job! I think the kids had a good time. </div>
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And then Aggie Ice Cream after dinner :-) After all, we were celebrating two birthdays that day! </div>
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Bill and Jacob did the 100 mile route again and this year they were joined by our good friend Liz. She was worried that she wasn't ready. Turns out she was hard to keep up with! :-) Way to go Liz! </div>
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The tent. </div>
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We had a sign that said people could donate and write a wish on a crane. We had a couple people write wishes and one family donated $10. It wasn't the most successful fundraiser we've had :-) It was fun though. And the kids discovered a love for origami. Guess what we are going to decorate our Christmas tree with this year! Origami :-) We have origami stars, origami stockings, origami hats.... Maybe instead of a bake sale or lemonade stand for our next fundraiser we'll have an origami stand! :-)</div>
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All in all a very successful ride! THANK YOU to everyone who supported us on this ride. THANK YOU to those who donated money and those who donated cranes. THANK YOU to those who sent us well wishes and prayers in your heart. THANKS again to Lisa and family for putting us up and putting up with us :-) And THANK <i>YOU</i> for reading this :-)</div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02245473101311581899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-77498392831742311802014-08-11T11:22:00.001-07:002014-08-11T11:24:17.227-07:00Pepto and BismolWe have two new team members! Their names are Pepto and Bismol and they are bright pink gumball machines that live in the Springville Walmart entrances. The reason for their names is because "oh what a relief it is" to have a steady revenue stream for our team! (well, also, because they are Pepto Bismol pink) We already have two gumball machines placed in American Fork and Logan and we are finding that gumballs are a wonderful way to raise funds (so long as you can get them placed well!). Gumball machines are all about volume. If a certain percentage of the people who see a gumball machine want to buy one then the more people you have passing your machine, the more gumballs you will sell. A lot of people walk through the doors at Walmart so we are hoping this will translate to lots of $$. Fingers crossed!<br />
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<br />Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-58926061876866998802014-07-11T08:19:00.004-07:002014-07-11T08:19:37.919-07:00MS150 2014Hello! First of all we'd like to thank all of our wonderful sponsors who made the MS150 ride possible including everyone who donated and especially our jawbreaker machine hosts -- Center Street Grille in Logan and Water Gardens Cinema in Pleasant Grove. <br />
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Here are a few pictures from our ride this year. We had 9 riders on the team including 2 rookies.<br />
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Left to right: Bethany, Marianne, Me, Sarah (rookie #1), Bill, Reid, Isaac (rookie #2 in front of Reid), Jacob, Lisa.<br />
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Most of us did the 45 mile route. Reid and Isaac did 50 miles so Isaac could get a boy scout merit badge. Jacob and Bill did the century route. Can you believe how grown up Jacob is?! Look back a few years ago on this blog and you'll see a little boy in a t-shirt that says "I stink at fundraising." Same boy. Now he's in a professional jersey and looks like he could ride with Lance Armstrong!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Before pictures</span></u></b></div>
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Rookie #1. Excited and a bit nervous :-)</div>
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Rookie #2. Ready to rock and roll! </div>
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The Hales boys. Dr. Reid, Lance Jr. and Mr. Energy</div>
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Very important to put on sunscreen. If you don't you may end up with .......</div>
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a really cool looking sunburn mask! :-)</div>
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Tires pumped? Check! Sunscreen? Check! Water bottles? Check!</div>
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Ready to ride!</div>
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On the road. I was riding in the back and I looked up to see this. Our team sure has grown! Sarah says, "Where?" Ok. So the riders seem a bit small in this picture. It was a neat sight though. You just had to be there -- join us next year! :-)</div>
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Isaac and Sarah had a grand time riding together. Isaac kept Sarah entertained with World War I and II history lessons and funny jokes. Sarah said she was going steady -- meaning she felt steady on her bike. Isaac inquired who she was going steady with. Was it Thomas? Was the relationship steamy? (Thomas the train :-) or was it George? Did he go bananas for her? (Curious George :-). Love that 12 year old boy humor!</div>
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At this rest stop the rookies found this really fun merry-go-round. Aunt Marianne discovered that it is not wise to try and jump on a moving merry-go-round after riding 36 miles on a bike! Ouch!</div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Almost-Post Ride Pictures</span></u></b></div>
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Ok. So this isn't exactly post ride. Here we are three blocks from the finish. The route was changed this year so that we rode past Gossner Foods on the way back to the finish. That's how it was 10 years ago when I first rode. For my first few rides it was a tradition to stop at Gossners and get an ice cream cone on the way back. We did that this year too. When we were at Gossners we realized that we were about an hour ahead of the 100 milers. So we called the kids back at home and told them to wait and come in an hour to cheer on the 100 milers when they came through the finish. That would give us an hour of kid-free relaxation at the finish :-) About three blocks from the finish Sarah, who hadn't been in on the conversation about when the kids would come cheer at the finish, said to me that she was so excited to see everyone at the finish line! Oops. This was her first year riding. She had gone 46 miles. Here we were at the end and the moment she was most looking forward to almost didn't happen! We pulled over and called the kids. Change in plans. Come now. As we waited for them we did yoga and applied some of Aunt Marianne's miracle cream. She has this great cream that really helps sore muscles. I wish I remembered the name! "And we also swatted spiders," says Sarah. I have to admit I'm glad the kids were there to cheer us in at the finish. It was a really neat feeling to ride in to cheers from the family. It was also really neat to see Sarah finishing and being mobbed by her younger siblings and cousins. I am so proud of her!! :-)</div>
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Is this the same girl that started the bike ride 6 hours ago? Rookie #1 has found a little bit of confidence and a little bit of attitude LOL</div>
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Our cheerleaders making silly faces :-)</div>
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The 100 milers at the finish line</div>
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Post ride massages while waiting in line for dinner.</div>
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Bingo!! Aunt Lisa championed the Bingo cause again this year</div>
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$50 gift certificate to Harmon's :-)</div>
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The real reason for cold drinks at dinner :-)</div>
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On our way home!</div>
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Of course we had to stop by Center Street Grille!</div>
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And, of course, the real reason we ride! To help find a Cure for MS!</div>
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THANK YOU for your love and support!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-13877152863654379202013-08-20T10:36:00.004-07:002014-07-11T07:12:46.635-07:00BikeMS 2013It's already August and we haven't posted about this year's BikeMS! Two things that we are always trying to do: make it to lunch before they clean it up and avoid the SAG wagon. This year, we made our goals! It was incredibly hot so we decided to stick with the shorter route (45 miles). I have to admit to being a little disappointed. It's a point of pride to be able to say all year long that I did a 75 mile bike ride. But we decided that it might be nice to NOT close out every rest stop along the way. Unfortunately, we still closed out the rest stops. We're just slow. Well, I'm just slow. Michelle rides the route twice by doing circles around the rest of us, trying to stay with us even though we are considerably slower than she is. So, we still closed out the rest stops but....we had lunch! We had lunch when other people were having lunch! That was very exciting. It was also exciting to not have to wait around for a ride back to the fairgrounds. Hooray for accurately assessing how many miles we had in us! This year was also the first year they did the "I Ride with MS" program. Those of us riding with MS could wear special jerseys and there was a fun group picture at the start of the ride. One thing I did miss by going on the 45 mile route is the really fun hilly section just before the lunch stop. We all decided to do more training rides this year and to be sure to go to bed early the night before so we can make the first wave of riders (and ride in the cooler hours). We want to do 75 next year! 75 and lunch. That's all I ask for. :)Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-18040560188753316992012-10-23T12:02:00.000-07:002015-02-17T12:50:42.153-08:00What is MS?The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has a lot of great information about MS. <a href="http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS">Click Here</a> to view their What is MS page. I especially love the video towards the top of the page. It explains MS in a very simple easy to understand way.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-63043830953483561072012-10-14T21:14:00.002-07:002012-10-14T21:35:29.625-07:00The Tortoise and the Hare<br />
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The Tortoise and the Hare</div>
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A couple of months ago my son came home from kindergarten with a picture of a tortoise and a hare. They had obviously discussed the famous fable in school that day. He said he couldn't draw either a tortoise or a hare so he had some friends draw those for him. He draws owls :-) This is his picture. He drew the road.</div>
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Matthew has been obsessed with the story of the tortoise and the hare ever since. I thought a lot about the Tortoise and the Hare right after I ran my first marathon. Slow and steady. How appropriate. Of course in the case of the marathon slow and steady doesn't necessarily win the race (unless of course you are over 65 and you are running with me :) but -- wait a second! -- I'm getting ahead of the story. Slow and steady doesn't necessarily win the race but slow and steady can <i>finish</i> the race! And in the marathon of life, amidst chronic illness etc., that can be just as important as winning, eh? That's what I discovered once I started marathon running.</div>
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How does a person go from extremely loathing running to running a marathon? Pride. Inspiration and pride. My sister Marianne ran a marathon last year. Those of you who follow this blog have probably read her blog post about her training and the actual event. She ran the St. George marathon and she did it in just over 6 hours. I was so impressed. Here was my sister, my younger sister, my sister with multiple sclerosis, running in the heat of St. George. Running a marathon of all things. I remember the day of the marathon as we waited to cheer her on. I remember getting really worried around noon. It was a hot day. A really really hot day. People with MS don't do well with heat. I know it affects my sister. Where was she? The route is closed to spectators up until about mile 23. We all waited anxiously and then we saw her. She was running. Seriously. Now that I've run/walked a marathon I appreciate that so much more. She was running, in the heat of the day, in St. George, <i>after</i> having gone 23 miles. Wow. And she didn't stop! She kept going and ran every step of the last 3 miles. Amazing. I was inspired. Slowly and steadily she got the job done. And because she did it I had to try. And because I tried I came to meet some of the coolest and most inspirational tortoises I've ever known.</div>
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In September Marianne and I ran the Top of Utah marathon. My first marathon. I wasn't thinking about time. I was only thinking about finishing. I figured that I could run at least a 4mph average over the 26.2 miles. I was able to average a little over 4mph on my long training runs so I figured it wouldn't be a problem. I guessed I could be done no later than 6 hours 30 minutes. Marianne, the seasoned marathoner was aiming a little higher. She figured we could do it under 6 hours. An average of 4.4mph or better. It was downhill. It was marathon day. I decided maybe we could beat the 6 hour mark. When we got to the half-way point of the marathon though we had our first jolt of reality. 3 hrs. 5min. is what the clock read. Uh oh! Wait a minute! That clock must be wrong! Reminds me of the denial I had when I first saw pictures after the marathon (Those pictures can't be right! My hips aren't that wide! My form isn't that bad! LOL :-) Were we going to make it under six hours? </div>
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Now we needed to run a faster second half in order to make our 6 hour goal. The ominous negative split. Ugh! Just then a lady spoke up. Grandma. Sixty-nine year old woman in a bright pink running shirt. She told us not to worry. We would make the next half in 3 hours. Marianne felt confident that we would. Neither of us thought Grandma would. She was going awfully slow. Slower than even us and we are really really slow! LOL</div>
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Well, as you have probably already guessed, Grandma ran with us for about five miles and then we lost her. Gone. She left us in her dust at mile 18! We didn't see her again until the finish line. I can still see her bright pink running shirt way off in the distance <i>ahead</i> of us. I wanted to catch her but I couldn't. It just wasn't happening. Of course it's not about the time, right? It's <i>not</i> about beating elderly ladies in pink running shirts. It's about running your own race and finishing strong. Still it would have been nice to have finished around the time that grandma did :-)</div>
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We finally did finish. One foot in front of the other. Slowly and steadily. 6 hours 55 minutes give or take a minute. </div>
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What was grandma's time you ask?</div>
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Afterwards I became obsessed. I wished I had asked grandma what her time was. Why didn't I take note of her bib number or ask her name? Then I realized that we did know a couple of key facts. She was 69 and she probably finished between 6 hours and 7 hours. With those few facts I was able to find someone I believed to be her in the results. Zazoosh photography confirmed it. I found grandma! 6 hours 33 minutes. Almost a perfect average of 4mph. Slow and steady. </div>
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I've run a couple of long races and in both of them I've been passed up by elderly runners who slowly and steadily run their race. One foot in front of the other. And they win. They finish. They get the job done. I'm grateful for their examples. </div>
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I love the story of the Tortoise and the Hare -- not only for marathons but also for life. Now when things start to get hard I will think of grandma in her bright pink running shirt. And I'll think of the Tortoise and the Hare. Slow and Steady. Winning the race one step at a time! Go Grandma!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-43737271344833262642012-07-14T21:27:00.001-07:002012-10-03T12:58:37.022-07:00False Flats<br />
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A few days ago I went for a bike ride. I've only been on a few, literally maybe three, bike rides this year (one being the MS150 :-). I've been concentrating on the marathon coming up in September. I need to get out and bike more. I miss biking. Especially the downhills :-)</div>
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As I was biking I was thinking and thought I'd put my thoughts on "paper" for all the world to read because of course you all love to hear the ramblings (or is that rattlings? :-) that come out of my head when I ride :-)</div>
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As I mentioned above, I haven't done a lot biking this year. As I was riding I felt like I was a little bit out of shape. That didn't surprise me :-) At one point I was riding on a nice flat road (or what I thought was a nice flat road!) and on the other side a group of three older gentlemen going the opposite direction whizzed past me. At that point I was feeling <i>really</i> out of shape! Were they on the same road I was struggling with? Soon the road I was on got close to a fairly busy road so I turned around and went back the way I came (the same direction I saw the older guys whiz by) I was amazed! The road I had been on was actually a false flat! Now that I was going a different direction I hardly had to pedal! No wonder those guys were going so fast! Of course, I don't doubt they were actually in really good shape too but that's beside the point :-)</div>
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<b>False Flats/Invisible Struggles</b></h3>
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I thought about false flats in life. We think we are on a nice flat road and we wonder why we are struggling. Why do the guys on the other side seem to being going so fast, so effortlessly, on apparently the same road? Or maybe I see someone struggling with something that seems like it's not that difficult. Why are they struggling? Doesn't always make sense.</div>
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Recently a friend of mine told me about her daughter who is dyslexic. I had no idea. She struggles every day and you would never know it. I called another friend. As we talked she broke down in tears and told me that her husband had just moved out. I had no idea. False Flats. Invisible struggles. At the finish line in Logan we met a guy and asked him his connection to MS, why he was riding. After telling us he asked us the same question and we told him we ride for Marianne. She was sitting there in her biking gear and he asked her about her MS. What were her symptoms? How did she handle it? As she was explaining her symptoms to him she said something interesting. She said that if someone didn't know she had MS they would probably just think she was lazy because she has to rest a lot to deal with her MS symptoms.</div>
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All of this thinking was a good reminder to me. First of all, I need to be easier on myself. No comparisons. Even if two roads look very similar chances are they aren't. And second, I need to be easier on those around me (my kids, family etc.). I may never know what false flats someone is struggling with.<br />
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So there you have it. Some of the thoughts that rattle around in my head when I bike :-)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-62178932471210807872012-07-04T11:54:00.000-07:002012-07-05T07:53:57.240-07:00Gratitude 2012Just finished the 2012 Harmon's Best Dam bike ride MS150 in Logan. So much fun!! I love that ride. So many wonderful people gathered together in a common cause. <br />
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As I was sitting at the award presentation thingy the evening after the ride I had this overwhelming desire to get up and just say THANK YOU! to everybody there. So I thought I'd just "take the microphone" here on the blog and say some THANK YOUs :-)<br />
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These aren't in any particular order.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mother of boy with MS/Volunteers</span></b></div>
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THANK YOU volunteers! One of the people that spoke at the event Saturday night was a mother of a boy who was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) last year. The boy is 16 years old. His mom got up and told about how they had found the National MS Society and decided to become involved as volunteers at the MS150 event. Their whole family was there volunteering at the MS150 that day. How cool is that!? <br />
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I LOVE volunteers! I feel like a celebrity when I ride in the MS150. The rest stops are particularly fun. I've had my bike valet parked, been misted with cold water, served cold drinks, had my sunglasses cleaned, gotten tattooed and massaged. Volunteers are the best! <br />
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Thank you volunteers! Riding is fun. Volunteering seems like work LOL I'm so grateful for people who want to volunteer! You make the ride so much fun! THANK YOU!</div>
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UHP tattoos at Rest Stop #2</div>
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Speaking of volunteers...</div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Rest stop #3</span></b></div>
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We got off to a late start Saturday morning. And we were not the fastest bikers on the course. At rest stop one I found out that Bethany, my sister Lisa's daughter, wasn't feeling very well. As the morning progressed she felt worse and worse. By rest stop number three she was ready to call a Support vehicle (SAG). <br />
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I thought about how we had missed lunch last year. Our goal this year was to make it to lunch! We were a little over half-way to the lunch stop. At our pace we'd get there at 1pm and probably miss lunch. I have to admit, I was a little sad. It wasn't even noon yet and our ride was ending right before the ride starts to get really interesting! Rest Stop 3 was closed down. That's how late we were! The volunteers were all eating their box lunches. As we were waiting for the SAG vehicle a volunteer approached us. Dixie. She brought four extra lunches that they had. I thought it was making it to the lunch stop that I wanted. No. It was LUNCH! And here it was. THANK YOU Dixie. And THANK YOU <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Richards Brandt Miller Nelson, the sponsors of Rest Stop 3.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Mmmmmmm. Lunch!! :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">LtoR: Bethany, Lisa, Dixie, Marianne, Me</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mountain America Credit Union</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Mountain America Credit Union (MACU)! This year we got back to the Village earlier than we normally do. Lucky for us! We got back just in time for the MACU afternoon drawing. Bethany's name was drawn out as a participant in the money grab game. This is where you step into a thing.... what's the right word? .... a tent/tube thingy (it's like a plastic phone booth) and they turn on a fan which blows money all around you. Seriously. You grab what you can and you actually get to keep the money! Bethany was able to grab $32! Now she only needs to raise $218 for next year's ride :-) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">MACU also sponsors a <b>BINGO</b> game. You take a bingo card on the ride and get signatures for things like "person with yellow socks," "person in the top 75 of the 150 club," "someone from team Harmon's." Things like that. We've done the bingo in the past but we've never won. This year two of us on the team won! Yep. We stayed to the bitter end Saturday night and finally our name was called :-) Lisa won $50 and I won $100. With that $100 we can purchase 1700 jawbreakers for our jawbreaker machine at the Water Gardens theater in Pleasant Grove and raise $425! How cool is that!? THANK YOU Mountain America!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Bethany in the money booth grabbing money :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Bethany</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Bethany! As I mentioned above, Bethany wasn't feeling too well. After lunch at Rest Stop 3 though and a little yoga with Aunt Marianne, she decided she would try and go one more rest stop. We told her about the really fun rolling hills between Rest Stop 3 and Rest Stop 4. One of the funnest parts of the route in my opinion. We are so proud of Bethany! She made it to Rest Stop 4 and can now officially say she has biked from Logan to Idaho! Thank You Bethany for riding to Franklin with us! Bethany is also one of our top fundraisers. She raised the money for her mom, Lisa, to ride with us this year! Thank you Bethany! :-)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b>The Rookies</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Lisa! THANK YOU Craig! As we were riding, both Marianne and I discussed how this year seemed different. We just didn't seem as pumped and excited to be there. Something was missing. Luckily we had Lisa with us! This was Lisa's first year. She was one of two Rookies on our team. As we plodded along, Lisa sailed on ahead of us. I can still see her smiling face. She was loving it! She didn't complain at the hills. In fact she tackled each one deftly without even getting off her bike once! Quite often we'd look around -- Where's Lisa? we'd ask. Inevitably she was way ahead of us, oblivious to the fact that we were trailing behind. Thank you Lisa for bringing some energy to a group of not so energetic riders! </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">And Thank you Craig! He pulled the 100 mile team along. We met Craig the day before the MS150. Apparently Craig bikes A LOT! He was in really good shape and was able to help the 100 milers tackle the windy conditions.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Hills? Ha! I eat hills for breakfast! Bring it on!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Bill</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Bill! Bill is my husband. He's our bike mechanic and team support. He was also team captain this year. Thank you Bill for remembering that Marianne's bike last year had lots of problems and that she ended up finishing the ride last year on my bike! Because Bill remembered this we were able to fix up my bike for Marianne to ride and get another bike ready for me. This made for a much more pleasant ride! So nice to have a decent bike to ride on, eh? Bill switched bike seats and adjusted bikes the morning before the ride so that we could each have a good bike to ride.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Superman!! Cyclist, Team Captain, Master Mechanic and so much more!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jacob and Reid</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Jacob and Reid. Jacob was a good sport. We all painted our fingernails orange for the ride. Jacob was the only manly man among the men :-) He painted one hand's nails :-) Thanks for playing with us Jacob and Thanks for riding even after having two flat tires! Thanks to Reid for helping with the flat tires! Reid and Jacob rode 75 miles!! Way to go!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Friends and Family</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Friends and Family! For the past couple of years Bill and I have relied on money from the gum ball machine and CureMS, the iPhone/iPad app, to have enough to ride. This year I was hoping to get into the 150 club (top 150 fundraisers). I was quite a bit short though but thought I still might be able to pull off $600 to get a jersey. As the race approached I was still about $70 short of my goal. I </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">decided to call Bill's mom. Bill's mom always donates $50 to the ride each year. This year however she was on her honeymoon. It was Friday. I was desperate. I called. I know. I got a lot of flack from the family for that one. But it was Grandma! She loves to donate, right? Anyhow. I got the answering machine. Dang. The first year I rode I sent out an email and raised money that way. In recent years however email pleas had gone unanswered. So I decided to try a less-than-subtle Facebook status. "Yahoo! On my way to the MS150! So excited and only $50 short of my goal!" I added a link to our fundraising website :-) THANK YOU to my cousin Staci for seeing that status update and donating the much needed/wanted $50 :-) And THANK YOU to Aunt Charlotte for donating the other $20! And THANK YOU to all the friends and family that support us in so many different ways (including reading this blog :-)! It means a lot to us. We love you!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Marianne</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU Marianne! Thank you for suggesting years ago that we fundraise as a family. Thank you for having such fun ideas and making everything so fun! Marianne suggested we paint our fingernails orange this year. Great idea! That was a ton of fun. She also encouraged us and led us onto BINGO victory! :-) Also it was with Marianne that we brainstormed the "Crush MS" campaign on one of our runs. Being with Marianne turns on the creative juices! THANK YOU!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Crush MS!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Yoga at Rest Stop 3</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">THANK YOU to Water Gardens theater in PG for hosting our jawbreaker machine and to Apple for creating the App Store and the iPhone/iPad so we could make CureMS (and to Bill for the idea :-). THANK YOU to Scott, Jenni and Jeff for watching the kids while we rode. THANK YOU to you for reading this :-) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>THANK YOU!</b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-20725666146776935142012-06-24T09:54:00.000-07:002012-07-04T11:56:21.328-07:00Bike MS 2012The weekend we all look forward to all year is here! We arrived on Friday afternoon and had our traditional carboload dinner at Olive Garden. This year we had two rookie riders (our sister Lisa and our dad's friend Craig). We gave the rookies a little green cactus with a bright orange (MS Orange!) flower to signify that even though they are "green" they are hearty and will grow a beautiful orange flower if they nourish their fundraising efforts! We gave the entire team a can of orange Crush soda because we are attempting to "crush" MS. The next morning after our team picture we took our now empty cans of Crush and yelled "CRUSH MS!" as we crushed our cans and stomped them. Go team!<br />
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After our Go Team! moment we broke off into three groups--the 100 milers, the 75 milers, and the rest of us. This year it was incredibly hot (much hotter than in years past) and we had one of our rookies and a young rider so we rode until we made it to lunch and then sagged back to the fairgrounds. We wanted to make sure we hit the fun part, which is on the 75 mile route. Our young rider (Bethany) confirms that the fun part was worth it! I was really impressed with our rookie (Lisa) because this was the longest bike ride she's ever been on but she rode up EVERY hill and looked like she could have kept going for another 25 miles at least. Due to the thoughtfulness of my brother-in-law, Bill, I was able to ride a superlite bike this year rather than Senor Hyabusa (who is fairly heavy and whose gears are less than optimal). He took the bike they had turned into a stationary bike (Big Red Hyabusa) and made it into a regular bike for my sister to ride so I could ride hers (Mt Fuji Hyabusa). I had ridden this bike for a few miles last year but riding it from the beginning showed me how much I was missing by riding an older bike with bad gears! Watching a recumbant bike ride by, though, made me want to get a cool, non-traditional bike so that along with the good gears I could also avoid the shoulder soreness, tush soreness, and numb hands that are par for the course on a long bike ride. Anyone want to be my bike sponsor??? The only problem with the recumbant is that I couldn't ride it in triathlons. We aren't sure, though, if the prohibition means that I couldn't ride in the race or that I would be ineligible for the top prizes. Since I'm never in the running for the top prizes that wouldn't be a problem! :-)<br />
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Back to this year's ride, though. We were at a fairly slow pace due to the heat and the overall experience level of our little group and so, yet again, it was looking like we were going to miss lunch. We made it to Rest Stop 3 as they were closing up and eating lunch themselves. The folks at Richards Brandt Miller Nelson were so lovely that they told us they had 4 extra lunches that we could have! So this year we finally got lunch!!!! And we ate it at lunch time!!! This has been our goal for many years. It was good to finally achieve it :-) This year we made it back to the fairgrounds at about 2:30 or 3 and came in to a big crowd (usually the only people still hanging at the finish line when we come in are in our family). We also had more time to hang out the fairgrounds and enjoy all of the events there (I think our kids spent at least 3 hours in the bounce house and bouncey slide). This year Bethany got to go into the flying money booth and snatched $32 and both Lisa and Michelle won the bingo prize ($50 and $100 respectively). Unfortunately we did not win a cool new bike this year. Usually this is due to our general bad luck in raffles but this year it was due to the fact that they made the bikes a silent auction item instead of a raffle item. That was a little disappointing but I had to remind myself that the outcome was the same--we were filled with desire but ultimately left the fairgrounds without a cool new bike! Again, does anyone want to be my bike sponsor? <br />
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Well, we also left the fairgrounds with lots of great ideas for next year's ride and fundraising. I'm excited to start on that and to have just as much fun next year! Come ride with us!Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-54393037320043232322012-03-20T20:25:00.003-07:002023-06-21T08:28:47.146-07:00Gumball/Jawbreaker Machine Earnings<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Our best fundraiser to date is our gumball/jawbreaker machine, Old Yeller. Currently it resides at Water Gardens Theater in Pleasant Grove, Utah (across from Macey's). Here is a picture of it in it's current home and a list of it's earnings. This list will be updated at the beginning of each month when we collect the jawbreaker money. Big THANKS again to WATER GARDENS THEATER in PG!! A great place to watch movies! $3 movie ticket and concessions for $1, $2 and $3. Seriously. Order tickets online without an online service fee. Reserve seating. LOVE IT! And, as an added bonus, you can buy a yummy jawbreaker for a mere 25 cents and help people afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis :-) Yahoo!</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Money Earned</span></b></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Placed at the Pleasant Grove Water Gardens Theater just before Thanksgiving 2008</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dec. 3, 2008<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$65.31</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jan. 6, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$80.28</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Feb. 3, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$43.50</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mar. 6, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$10.25</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">April 3, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$22.00</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">May 19, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$29.50</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sep. 4, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$90.00 </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dec. 10, 2009<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$27.27</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jan. 9, 2010<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$22.56</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mar. 16, 2010<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$32.00</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Placed at Monkey Island in Lehi second week in Dec. 2010</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dec. 30, 2010 $54.80</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mar. 15, 2011<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$84.11</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">June 2011<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$91.76</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">July 16, 2011 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$24.30</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sept. 15, 2011<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$58.77</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Placed at Water Gardens theater Nov. 23, 2011</i><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">November 2011: (-$46.98)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jan. 12, 2012 $135.21</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;">Jan. 2012: (-$93.96)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Feb. 2012: $69.03</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">March 2012: $58.97</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">April 2012: $86.25</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">June 21, 2012: $161.07</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">July 20, 2012: $64.55</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">August 10, 2012: $100.78</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sept. 21, 2012: $93.50</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nov. 20, 2012: $143.87</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;">Nov. 20, 2012: (-$93.96)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Jan. 20, 2013: $171.52</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">March 2013: $151.33</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">May 2013: $101.08</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">July 2013: $126.43</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">July 2013: (-$176.85)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sept. 2013: $35.45</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Nov. 2013: $90.11</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dec. 2013: $40.81</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">March 2014: $111.71</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">July 2014: $121.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">August 2014: $67.59 and $91.76</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">December 2014: $91</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">January 2015: $50.69</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">November 2015: $190</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">December 2015: $34</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">January 2016: $46.69</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">March 2016: $50.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">June 2016: $55.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">October 2016: $151.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">May 2017: $35.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">July 2017: $36.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">June 2018: $65.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">September 2018: $52.41</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">January 2019: $50</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">June 2019: $60</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">January 2020: $80</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">March 2020: $25</span></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">June 2021: $90</span></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">June 2023: $306 (it's been a while :-)<br /></span>
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<b>Note:</b> In November 2011 Old Yeller became a jawbreaker machine. When it was a gumball machine the gumballs were donated. Now we buy our own jawbreakers. It costs us $93.96 for 1700 jawbreakers. At 25 cents per jawbreaker we will still be able to raise $331.04 for every 1700 jawbreakers sold. To keep things completely transparent we will mark, on the list above, the money spent on jawbreakers <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">in red.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-1599013762873322692012-02-02T20:56:00.000-08:002012-02-02T21:13:09.008-08:00Free training plan for the MS150A friend recently asked me about training for the MS150. I'm not one to follow a training schedule very strictly. I didn't know what to tell her. I decided to google "training for the MS150" and see if anything came up. Google did not let me down :-) It never does! What did we do without Google (and YouTube how-to-videos)? :-) I found this site about a free training plan for people registered for the MS150. Here's the link. Check it out!<br />
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http://home.trainingpeaks.com/events/cycling/ms-society-public.aspx<br />
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You can also find other training plans that people have posted. Most of them seem a lot more intense than anything I've ever done! The people who follow those plans probably finish faster and are less sore than me too LOL Either way, it's a lot of fun! Remember, there are rest stops about every 10 miles and there are support vehicles and cell phones everywhere! It's all good. Oh yeah, and did I mention the massage at the end? Yep. I love this event :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-65984377173843568612012-01-21T11:38:00.000-08:002012-02-27T21:08:39.347-08:00Sold!Yahoo! Our latest eBay fundraising auction was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who spread the word or bid on the ornament. And a <b>big thanks</b> to Uncle Blaine for donating the ornament!!<br />
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When all was said and done we had six bidders and twelve bids. The winning bid was $45. After shipping, eBay fees and PayPal fees we have $40.30 left to donate to the National MS Society! Yahoo!! <br />
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Selling on eBay is a bit addictive. It's very fun to see the clock tick down and the final bids come in. If anyone has anything they want to donate I'd love to do another eBay fundraiser :-)<br />
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Here is a picture of the eBay ornament Uncle Blaine donated. It's a spinning top. Below the picture is a video of Blaine in his garage making a similar ornament. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HC0sqKQn74Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-20552059090722107712011-12-06T14:02:00.000-08:002012-01-21T11:57:01.014-08:00Marathon Experience (Article for Rocky Mountain Running Magazine)Choosing to Fly<br />
By Marianne Hales Harding<br />
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I’m used to runners passing me like I’m standing still—it happens on every training run—but it’s an entirely different feeling to have thousands of runners pass you like you’re standing still.<br />
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Aerial footage of the start line of the St George Marathon must have looked like salmon swimming upstream around a large rock. A slow runner at my first marathon, all I wanted to do was swim upstream with the rest of the salmon but I knew I could never keep up. Not for 26.2 miles. So I plodded along until the 5 hour pacer approached from behind. I waited for the group to pass, but they kept plodding alongside me. For a few minutes I thought I would actually run a 5 hour marathon, but then they started inching ahead of me. Instinctively I pushed forward to keep up but, again, I knew I couldn’t maintain that. I went back to my pace and watched them creep slowly into the horizon. Farewell, chatty pacer. Farewell, 79 year old woman who ran Boston twice. Farewell, lady wearing a stuffed fox on her head. It was nice knowing you. <br />
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I have learned what my body can and can’t do, though, and a 5 hour marathon is the latter. I started learning my limits 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In those days my marathon was getting from the couch to the bathroom. It took all of my energy and determination to cross those few feet of carpet. Inevitably I would pace myself too fast and run out of energy halfway. I was overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of symptoms. The entire left side of my body was numb. I could hardly walk. The stairs were as unconquerable as Mt. Everest. Not understanding the disease, I mistakenly thought I’d never walk normally again. But MS is an unpredictable disease. Crippling symptoms can stay or go, seemingly on a whim. Eventually I learned to take a slower pace but at the time I was always running at full capacity and burning out quickly. <br />
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On marathon day my pace was even slower than usual because I decided, at the base of Veyo Hill, to walk all of the inclines. This became less and less indulgent as the temperature in the desert climbed. The heat intensified all of my complaints. I started feeling it in my feet at mile 8. I felt my hips at mile 10, my knees at mile 13 and my Ibuprofen at mile 15. I acknowledged each like children on a long trip. “Are we there yet?” Not yet. Eventually they stopped clamoring for my attention—evidence of the large percentage of a marathon that is purely mental.<br />
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When I was diagnosed with MS I had a horrible fear of needles, which was a problem because all of the treatments involve needles. I decided I needed to overcome this fear. For a month, I practiced. I forced myself to look when given shots and I gave practice shots to random inanimate objects. Finally I decided to just do it. I sat down on the bathroom floor and prepared a spot on my thigh. I took a deep breath and slowly lowered the needle, but as soon as it pierced my skin I pulled it back, leaving a little prick of blood as evidence. I tried again with the same results. For 45 minutes I did this, leaving a quarter-sized spot entirely covered with tiny prick marks. When I finally kept the needle in long enough to push the plunger down I wept from sheer emotional exhaustion. Over 3000 shots later, it is no longer a big deal but that isn’t because I have overcome my fear of needles. I simply stopped indulging the fear. I couldn’t spend 45 minutes of every day in terror so I skipped straight to shooting up and going on with my day. <br />
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It was that mental fortitude that kept me going mile after mile and I decided the secret to endurance must be simply not indulging in the desire to stop. The reward was the most amazing vistas. At one point a runner said to me, “The best part of a marathon is the finish line!” I said, “Are you kidding? This is the best part of the marathon!” The St George Marathon runs through a breathtaking section of southern Utah’s desert. About halfway through I looked at the red rock towering in the distance, felt the soul-feeding solitude, and considered myself incredibly lucky to be able to be in this moment, to have run the last three hours and to be able to run three hours more. <br />
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I am not an athlete. Even before the MS diagnosis I wasn’t one to push myself physically. When I lift heavy objects it is to bring them from the trunk to the pantry. When I swim it is to rescue the beach ball. When I run it is to capture the escaping dog. Serious athleticism was never something that seemed within my realm of possibilities. But I found that you don’t have to be the winner of the race to get something out of it. Emotionally, it felt so good to pound the problems of the day into the pavement. And, physically, I have never felt better. I have fewer MS episodes and recover quicker from the ones I do have. This realization got me excited about athletics. I completed several short triathlons, a half marathon and two 75 mile bike rides.<br />
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From those experiences I thought I knew what race day would be like, but I was entirely unprepared for the power of that midpoint in the marathon--for how amazing it would be to feel so in control of my own destiny. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “Why Walk When You Can Fly?” played on my iPod and I wept. “In this world there’s a whole lot of trouble; In this world there’s a whole lot of pain; In this world there’s a whole lot of trouble but a whole lot of ground to gain. Why take when you could be giving, why watch as the world goes by?; It’s a hard enough life to be living, why walk when you can fly?”<br />
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The finish line was nowhere near as emotional as that moment. Later my nephew asked facetiously if crossing the finish line made me feel empowered. It didn’t. When you a run a 6 hour marathon, the party at the finish line is over. 96% of the runners have already crossed and gone home. Crossing the finish line seemed anticlimactic, perhaps because I was too tired to think about what it meant. Back in the red rock at the midpoint, though, I remembered every step of the journey from the unconquerable stairs to the conquered desert landscape. I remembered feeling beaten down by life and then feeling powerful. I remembered choosing to fly.Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-37906652137563227442011-11-27T20:33:00.000-08:002011-11-27T20:34:46.313-08:00Jawbreakers!Old Yeller, our gum ball machine, is now officially a Jawbreaker machine! And it has found a home for the holidays at the <b>Water Gardens theater in Pleasant Grove</b>. Yahoo! Thank you Water Gardens!! So go watch a movie and look for Old Yeller near the front door. The Jawbreakers are really yummy and I love that they are long-lasting.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4208913102650615648.post-74672983492776794172011-11-12T14:23:00.000-08:002012-02-27T21:10:35.458-08:00A new challenge!It's official! Michelle, Bill & I are going to Adventure Race for Africa! We have formed a team for this unique race which is a triathlon but instead of swim/bike/run it is.....CANOE/bike/run. Along the way we get to complete challenges that help us learn more about the charity we are supporting. Look for us on July 14th out at Utah Lake! Better yet, form a team and race with us!!!<br />
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<a href="http://adventureraceforafrica.com/">http://adventureraceforafrica.com/</a>Marianne Hales Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01788827860479516816noreply@blogger.com2