BikeMS 2019: The adventure continues

First of all, THANK YOU to everybody who supported us this year and every year. 

YOU ARE WONDERFUL! 

You are making a difference in many people's lives. 

THANK YOU!

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!?!

This is the whole team this year.  Ten team members. Five teens. Five non-teens. Of the ten team members two were rookies.

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.

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.

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 :-) 

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. 

Rest stop number two. Newton. Matthew is doing his "serious joker" face :-) 

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.

Annalisa, showing us what real riders eat for energy. 

Kathryn showing off her cool curls. Kathryn has true BikeMS spirit! Go Kathryn! :-)

For Bethany!

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.

Annalisa helping Matthew to the finish line.

Matthew walking in to cheers from the crowd. 

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 :-)

We missed Uncle Dr. Reid. These paramedics were very helpful though. 

It was cold and rainy but we could not pass up the free snow cone! :-)

Can you pick out the Rookie in this picture?

Carbo-loading at Olive Garden.

Father and son. 

Jonny before the ride.

Extended family :-)

The rookies.

Captain America and his faithful sidekick

BikeMS 2018

I 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.

Miracle number one -- we actually made it to Logan.

Every year is a little bit different.  This year felt really different.  Half our team couldn't make it and the other half almost didn't make it. Reid and Isaac were on Trek. Emily was busy getting ready to be married.  Jacob was on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Taiwan.  Lisa had a choir concert and Jenni, well, I'm not sure why Jenni didn't ride.  The rest of us were ready to ride when we got the call that dad was in the ER once again. That was the day before we were planning to go to Logan to ride in the MS150.  Should we go or should we stay? Dad had been in the hospital on and off for almost a month. June was a crazy month.  Our sister Betsy flew out from Tennessee the week before to help with dad. It was decided she would stay and help and we would go ride.

Marianne and her car were running late on their way to Logan so we went to pick up their stuff at registration. I was super tired and apparently didn't look like I was handling the heat really well. When I inquired about picking up an "I Ride with MS" jersey I think the lady assumed that I had MS. She was so nice and treated me like a rock star. At first I thought, "This is really cool. So this is what it's like to ride with MS. VIP treatment." I quickly came back to reality though.  I don't want to ride with MS. It's great to be pampered but it's even better to be able to feel my hands and feet and to not have to deal with everything that is MS.

Here's a picture of the kids at the MS Awareness station. You put on goggles smeared with vaseline to approximate what it is like to have vision problems.  Try buttoning up a shirt with gloves on! It's hard. Each of the experiences was meant to give people a small idea of what it's like to live with MS. It was a bit of an eye opener.

Friday night. Carbo loading happened at Olive Garden as usual. It was a little strange without Reid. He is the Olive Garden guy. I always associate that part of the ride with Reid :-)

Olive Garden leftovers in Lisa's fridge = lunch for non-riders the next day. Another favorite tradition :-)

Miracle number two -- we made it to the starting line fairly early. 

In the morning a very odd thing happened. On the way to the Fairgrounds, between the car and the Fairgrounds I fell. True story. I was trying to get my foot out of the pedal clip so I could get off my bike to cross the road and I fell. All 220 pounds of me. I fell directly on the asphalt. The odd thing, the miracle, is that I didn't get hurt. At all. Seriously. I just got up and I was fine. How does that happen? I thought for sure that I would have some kind of injury that would keep me from riding comfortably very far.  Nope.  Nada.  No bruises. Nothing uncomfortable. At all!  We have a saying in our family that if we fall when we are skiing then we've had a good ski day.  Looks like I was going to have a great day on the bike! And we did :-) On to the starting line!

We got to the starting line earlier than we had for years -- about 7:15am (start was at 7am) and yet there was hardly anybody there. Where was everybody?  Had we missed the big rush or did everybody's team get cut in half this year? It was so odd.  We are very slow riders so it was pretty much like a ghost town the whole way.

Miracle number three -- rest stop one and beyond!

None of us had trained.  We were all out of shape and wondering how far we could ride. I figured we would lose at least two riders at the first rest stop.  We were pleasantly surprised when at the first rest stop everyone declared that they were feeling great. We would all keep going to rest stop two.

Miracle number four -- growing up girls.

The girls were doing so much better than last year.  I was really impressed with them. In years past we had a really hard time keeping our bikes upright because the girls were going soooooo slow. We would have to constantly remind them to keep pedaling and to stay in a straight line, especially on the busy scary roads.  This year they set the pace (in a good way :-).  Good job girls!

On to rest stop two! Newton and pickle shots. We fell in love with the pickle juice shots at Newton this year (see videos).  Apparently pickle juice has a lot of wonderful qualities. It helps with muscle cramps, it sweetens the breath, it even helps with weight loss! My new best friend :-)

On the way from rest stop one to rest stop two I got a brilliant idea. We already had a personal SAG vehicle (our sister Lisa) who had agreed to come pick people up at rest stop one if needed.  Why not just ride to lunch and have Lisa pick us up from lunch?  According to the map if we took the 75 mile route lunch was 46 miles from the start.  That's only three miles more then we had originally planned.  The original plan was to do the 43 mile loop and end up back at the Fairgrounds for lunch. What is the big deal about lunch on the route you say? Is it the fact that everyone there is a rider or volunteer? Does the food taste better on route? Is it the big shade trees? Or simply just the memories? I don't know. I just know that we were a little bummed years ago when the route was changed so that the 40 milers would have to eat lunch back at the Fairgrounds. So I proposed this marvelous "lunch on the route" plan at rest stop two.  We were all excited. Not only would we get to eat lunch on the route we would also avoid all those hot busy roads at the end. I hate the big busy roads on this ride!

Off to rest stop three!

Miracle number five -- 75 mile route.

It was quickly evident that a) we were very slow and b) we were out of shape. At the speed we were going we would completely miss lunch. We got to the cut off where we had to choose -- 43 mile route and lunch at the Fairgrounds or 75 mile route and lunch on the route. Which way? The girls didn't understand the glories of lunch on the route.  They were tired and only saw that if we went the 43 mile route we were heading back closer to home and the end.  The miracle I think is that we convinced them to take the 75 mile route.

Miracle number six -- lunch.

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.

Lunch on the route brought back memories.  Sandwiches.  Yoga.  Resting under big shade trees. Ahhhhh.  Good times.

Miracle number seven -- Killer/Disney Hill.

Lisa came to SAG but brought the wrong car.  Only 3 people could go with her.  The question was should the others wait for Lisa to come back to get us at lunch or should we soldier on back to Newton and the pickle shots. One factor to consider was Killer Hill.  Yep. The famed Killer Hill but this time the route took us on the other side of the hill.  It would be long and slow.  As I watched Lisa drive off I couldn't help but feel like someone stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean watching the rescue boat sail away. Yes, we could wait at the lunch stop for Lisa to come back and get us, but what would be the fun in that? :-) We decided to call Killer Hill Disney Hill.  That sounded much more fun. And off we went.

Riding up Disney Hill I couldn't help picture riding a roller coaster. We were forever on the part of the roller coaster where you slowly go uphill.  Click. Click. Click. Never ending. Ok.  That's not true. It actually did end. That was miracle seven. We survived Disney Hill and made it back to Newton. Ready to be done.

Ahhhhhhh. We love the spray stations in Newton!

We did a few more pickle shots and without a trace of guilt allowed our support vehicle to whisk us back to the Fairgrounds.  Well, to about a block before the Fairgrounds that is.  We had to have our triumphal entry :-) That's one of the best parts of the ride. We ride into the Fairgrounds. People cheer. We get a medal. We feel like superstars. It's pretty cool.

Future riders :-)

Getting a ride from Newton meant we didn't ride past Gossner Ice Cream and get our ice cream treat. We did end up at Aggie Ice Cream though later on that day.  They have some pretty good ice cream there too ;-)

Miracle number eight -- survival.

We hadn't trained. We rode about 50 miles. And the day after I was actual able to walk. It was super painful. This was the worst I've had it after a ride. I could still technically walk though. And after a few days I was perfectly fine. That is definitely a miracle! I know I say this every year but this time I really mean it .... I'm going to get in shape for next year!  Next year..... come join us!

MS150 2017

BikeMS 2017

First of all THANK YOU to everyone who supported us both with donations and with love.

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!

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.

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.

Our super cool numbers :-)



Photo bomb!



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.

The Route

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!

Do we look tired? :-) Early morning riding.  Woohoo!



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.  Join us next year!

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.



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.

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.




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! :-)




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 before 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.

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.....

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?

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.

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.

Bill and Isaac on the 100 mile route.




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!

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.

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.

More pictures

Gossner Ice Cream with the young riders.  Doesn't that look yummy?!  Gossner's is just a few miles from the finish line.  Join us next year!  It's a tradition.  Join the tradition.  Yummy yummy tradition :-) And if you have sworn off sugar you can join Emily Lara and eat some potato chips :-)




Veteran rider, Sarah (before the medics :-).



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 :-)



Four out of the five of us.  Matthew will join us in 2019! Do you love how tall Sarah is?  On her tippy toes ;-)



Sarah's memories of the ride: early morning, racing cousins, sickness.
Annalisa's memories: early morning, racing cousins, aching legs, healing ice cream :-)
Bill's memories: perseverance.  that's all.  One word :-)
Annalisa's one word is "Pain."
Sarah's one word is "Adventure."
Michelle's one word is "Happy."
Matthew's one word is "Boring."  Just wait Matthew.  Your time will come :-)

MS150 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?

Each year has been just a little bit different.  Let me tell you about this year.

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!

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.

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.

Love,
Michelle

And now for the best part of the article -- the pictures! :-)

The 2016 riders!



The siblings that rode this year.  Michelle, Reid and Marianne.



Photo bomb!



Our rookie.  12-year-old Kathryn.



Throwback 30!  Has it really been 30 years since Star Wars first came out?



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!



Sexy ladies :-) Making that extra 50 look good!



Made it to Idaho!  Yahoo!



And back to Utah :-)



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 :-)



Need to work on my selfie skills with this one.



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.



The riders and the support crew.



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!