My MS 150

I need to thank everyone who supported me in this ride. Together, we went above and beyond the required donation ($400) and even beat the fundraising goal that I had set for myself ($750)! THANK YOU!

In the end, we raised $900 for the National MS Society! Pretty amazing, I think.

Several of you shared with me that a friend or family member suffers from this disease. Thank you for sharing their names and stories. In the moments when I wanted to stop (and there were many). I thought of them and continued on.

I had support far above the financial kind and I want to thank those people too...the ones who thought of me, who wished me luck, who cheered for me as I rode beside them, who met me at the finish line...THANK YOU!

It was an amazing experience.

Day One

Day one covered 100 miles between Houston and La Grange.
(Photos above catch the highlights.)

The day started overcast and rainy, but by lunch time had turned to sunshine. It was gorgeous! Scenery enveloped us as we rode through Saturday with green fields and wild flowers. It smelled like Spring.

After the first 40 miles or so, it got REALLY hard. This was kind of scary because I was not even half-way to the finish for the day. I stopped at every single break point and made it through.

Thanks to my friends from the David Weekly Team that caught me between the last two break points. I was about to give up when you rode up beside me and struck up a conversation. I wouldn't have made it without you.

I crossed the finish line 100 miles and 10 hours later, and I immediately started crying...then tried to hold back the tears to maintain my dignity (it didn't work). I had run a marathon the year before, and as far as I was concerned, what I had just accomplished on this Saturday was just as hard!

I only found enough time to shower and eat before my body needed to turn in for the night. Accommodations are shown in the photos: a sleeping bag...on the ground :-)


Day Two

The second day started at 5:00 AM. That's how early I needed to wake up to make it through the pancake line! It was worth it...yummy pancakes (but not as good as Gareth's)! We started for Austin a few hours later, about 7:30 AM.

It was a much easier day. We rode 65 miles instead of 100. Not quite as scenic, but definitely not as hard. I made some new friends, tried to ride in a pace line or two (which I found out is much easier than riding alone), and made it to Austin by 2:30 PM!

I don't know what it is about me with finish lines, but I cried...again.

Gareth found me at the finish...


...and we drank a celebratory beer with a couple of his friends.



This may have been the most physically challenging weekend of my life.
Cheers! To meeting challenges! To good causes! To good friends!