This June I had the opportunity to participate in the MS Bike Ride.
I began training In April, with intention of finishing 40 miles. The ride gives the option of riding 40, 75 or 100 miles.
In order to even participate in the bike ride I had to raise $250 dollars for MS to ride. I raised it through the help of friends, neighbors and family through donations. My biggest profits came from a Beer and Nacho Party, that most likely will be an annual event. In the end, I raised $317 dollars for the cause.
I went on many rides, learning the basics of road biking and road biking safety. Most of our rides ranged from 20-30 miles. The more I rode the more I began to enjoy it. Biking is not at all like running, I always felt a sense of accomplishment after my rides and wanted to go further on the next ride. I began training with more advanced bikes, and clip petals. This is also where I learned that bikers love to use the term "relatively flat," which actually means up-hill both ways.
Our last training ride before the MS ride, we ended up going 50 miles. I knew at that point that 40 miles would no longer be a challenge for me and decided that I would accept the challenge of 75 miles.
The morning of the ride was perfect and so exciting! There were over 3000 riders! Our group ended up being in the first group of people to take off. In order to keep it safe they have to release a limited amount of riders at a time, or else the roads would be way to crowded.
Everything went great until about mile 18. Loretta, my friend and trainer that had taught me everything I knew about road biking, ended up getting cut off and took a rough tumble. She was unable to walk, and would no longer be able to finish the ride. It was hard to watch someone that wanted to finish so badly, and was always our group leader, keeping a positive attitude and cheering us on, get taken out of the ride completely.
I continued on with the group after we helped her into the support vehicles. As we began to come close to the 75 mile turnoff I began thinking about how I knew if Loretta were there she would be cheering me on and telling me she knew I could do 100. Everyone else in my group was dedicating to make it 100 miles, and I was the only one that was going to do 75. As we reached the turnoff I was feeling great, others in the group were starting to wear, and I wondered if they would go for the 100 without Loretta. We reached the turn and I didn't give them the choice, I told them I was going the full 100 and they were too, and so we did it.
As we passed the turn off we approached the biggest hill I had ever climbed on a bike, it felt like it would not stop. We finally made it up, had a quick break, and then continued on. As we approached mile 60 the wind began. It was the worst wind I had ever ridden in, about 10 miles an hour, and of course as every biker knows, it was always coming straight at you-head on. 6 miles later, my legs started to give, I was tired.
It was amazing to me how fast my legs started to give out, one moment I felt fine, the next my legs felt like lead. But I continued on, even though I was falling behind. The group waited for me, but I felt like I was dragging on them. I stopped more frequently, but continued to ride.
As we reached mile 78 my tire blew out. At this point I was tired, It was hot, I had been on a bike for hours, and I just wanted to be done. On top of that, my tire had blown all the way through, not just the tube, but the actual tire. Luckily we were able to patch it, with a dollar bill, and I rode on, for about 5 miles until it blew again. At this point the group agreed, if it blew again I would "sag" back to the end-that's biker lingo for throwing in the towel and riding back in an emergency vehicle. So i did the most logical thing, I started looking for rocks that would pop my tire. It was the only thing that kept me going, I would see a pebble, ride towards it, run over it, wait for the pop, realize it didn't pop and repeat. This got me all the way to the next rest stop, where they had a bike tent that was able to replace my tire.
From there we only had 8 more miles, and it would have been ridiculous to give up. I pushed on. I could pedal about eight strokes at this point. I would pedal 8 strokes, then coast for 8 more, or until my bike was about to fall over and I would pedal again. I had the opportunity to have some good chats with fellow riders during these times. Each one would take some time with me, cheering me on, telling me how great I was doing, and filling me with motivation to move on.
As I rolled to the last 2 miles I was left behind, I could no longer keep up. I just kept my own pace and kept moving. I ended up between 2 girls. One had a sign on her back that said "Riding with MS." It really made me think about what I take for granted every day. I was tired, my legs could barely move, but what would it be like if that was my everyday? What if you really had little to no control of your own muscles. I knew right then that that medal wasn't for me. The century would mark a big life achievement for me, but it made me much happier knowing that I was doing it for a group of people that couldn't always do it for themselves, so that one day hopefully they could always do it for themselves.
At the last mile I was just ready to be done, I was a little disappointed that my group left me behind, but I understood, they wanted to be done probably more than me especially since I had been a steel anchor to them the last 30 miles. It was just about then that I saw my boss show up, he had turned around and come back for me. He told me that I wouldn't be crossing the finish line alone. He rode right by my side through that finish line, to a crowd of cheering people waiting just for us.
I can honestly say this was one of the best feelings I had ever experienced. I had never physically pushed my body that far. I went 100 miles, it took almost 11 hours. We stopped at every rest stop, mostly for my benefit. I had great people pushing me, that saw the will in me to finish, something I couldn't even see myself.
I drove home that night, and I was so tired I couldn't stand it. Of course as soon as I got home I fell asleep. And lucky me, Alex was there the next day to listen to me complain all day, and nurse me back to strength. He was so great throughout the whole process, and so supportive and I can honestly say I never would have made it without him.
And so begins the first check off my list of 30 before 30... Oh and I will continue biking, I just purchased my first road bike!
