I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm sweaty, my legs are sore, my tailbone is a tad sore and my neck hurts......BUT I would do the MS150 again in a heartbeat starting right now if you asked me to!!
Two days, 150 miles and a ride to raise money and awareness for a fantastic cause.
Saturday started at 4:00amin the morning with quick showers, grabbing breakfast and making sure our bikes had enough air in the tires, seats were high enough, water bottles filled, helmets in cheque, etc. We loaded the bikes in the truck and headed to Front Range Community College in Westminster for the start of the race. By 6:30am we had unloaded the bikes, gone to the bathroom, readied ourselves and left at the start of the general shoot (Highrollers....those who raised tons of money....were first out of the chutes in a series of two different times depending upon time raised). The most touching part of the whole race was the start. As we left, a woman whose MS has left her wheelchair-bound without the use of her limbs was there saying thank you to every single one of us. Being a woman I choked up and got teary-eyed but how could you not?!?! We are riding for THAT reason; so one day no one will ever have MS and have to sit in a chair thanking people who are riding a bike for two days for them.
The first day was pretty good. It was hard, it was crazy. I fell behind my team really quickly as I'm not used to biking, I'm not a guy and I don't hardly ever work out. My endurance, stamina, and leg strength are not up to far. Not to mention my knowledge of the technique of riding (yes there is technique) wasn't quite there yet. I rode for 34 before my dad called saying they were already at the lunch stop (there were rest stops about every 10-15 miles) and my legs were shaking so I caught a SAG wagon to take me 9 miles to the lunch stop. The SAG wagons are vans that take riders who are injured, tired or just don't want to do that part of the ride onto the next stop side or wherever they would like to be let out.
That took forever so my team was actually leavning just as I got there. I took the time to talk to God, savor my lunch, and try to rid my bladder of the already more than a liter of water I had been gulping on. After lunch it started off tough. Gravely road, hot sun and up-hill. I was almost ready to give up before God just put the image of that woman in my head. By garn if I had to walk the rest of the way I was doing it! People with MS are affected in a variety of ways but it's progressive and eventually the nerve funtioning of their muscles almost stops leaving them with so many problems and disabilities. So I pushed through the pain and oddly enough after I got over the couple of rough hills (walking up and riding down them of course) it was an amazing 13 miles. I put on my tunes, rocked out, prayed to God, and enjoyed the Colorado scenery. We were being led through a series of county roads that are less traveled and the view was incredibly.
The last rest stop came and I grabbed a sno cone and chatted with some friends I had made along the way and was determined to keep up with "Little Old Guy". By that time I was one of the stragglers and this guy was old and going strong and kept getting ahead of me! So I made it my goal to keep up with him. I grabbed some organic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, checked my water (thank the Lord for Scott's Camelbak!!) and set out. For those that don't know Fort Collins that well, Horsetooth Reservoir was the last leg and it's steep!! We even went up/down the more mild side. I, of course, was last on our team to finish and as I was pushing my bike up to the last part of the hill, Dad and Kevan called to inform me the rest of the team was done and waiting for me. At the top I got on my bike and literally cruised the last eight miles into town. I've never been so happy in my life to hear "5 miles left." We finished the day at CSU with a grand total of 73 miles. Because I SAGed 9 miles, I finished 64 personally. Not bad for a first time rider!! It was a GREAT feeling though :)
Once we hit CSU, it felt good to go through the day's finish line. I met up with my team, we changed and then went to my house so they could store up bike's and get the camping gear. They went and set up their tents and I napped and kept emptying my bladder of the now over 2 liters of water I had drinken in the last ten hours and then we got some dinner at D.P. Dough sharing stories of the day. Kevan had tried to see if it was possible to be done before noon so he had finished first for the day. Dad, Marsh, Tan and Mark were exclaiming stories about things that had gone on and I learned of all the cool things at rest stops that they had obviously taken down before I got there (being a straggler and all...). We got some dessert, called it an early night and crashed.
This morning started out at 5:30 with getting bikes ready and out the chute by 6:30 again. This morning was a little bit more frustrating starting out. Everyone was sore and tired but my legs felt worse than they had at even the worst point yesterday. Everyone's goal was to finish the whole race without getting off the bike. Mine simply was to make it to 100 miles total. I rode to the start of the bottom of Horsetooth and then decided to SAG my way up as I had the whole day to go; I wasn't going to exhaust myself from the get-go, I wanted to finish the finish line feeling halfway decent. The point is to ride, not to kill oneself. So I SAGed and was unable to be let out at the top so I had to go onto the next rest stop which put me at the front of the team (highly unusual) but made me unable to do 10 miles of the route that would have been easy, fun and fast and one step further to my goal. I rode 22 miles straight into lunch and waited for my team to catch up so we could eat together as we hadn't been able to yesterday. My dad rode in and informed me Marshall, Tan and Mark were a ways behind him.....and then informed me Kevan had been hit by a car. Hit by a car!!!
Apparently some a-hole had been literally antagonizing bikers for a-ways by honking and swerving and not getting over like he is supposed to. We ride on the shoulders of real roads, two at the most side-by-side, always staying on the shoulder. Marshall was on the outside of the right shoulder on the right side of the solid white line. Kevan was just on the inside, about where the groove is for where the right tire of a car goes. Any car passing by should slow down and either get over or if there is a car coming wait until that car has passed to get over to pass us. Well this a-hole clipped Kevan and Kevan went flying into the middle of the street. Thankfully there were no cars behind as Kevan would have been run over. God blessed us in that. But his shoulder and knee and hip got pretty bruised up and rashed, about 1/2" gash is in his right elbow and the foam on the inside of his helmet cracked. Thankfully he is ok, but the damage could have been a lot worse. Other bikers reported the a-hole, a report was made and they are looking for the guy. However, Kevan couldn't finished the race. We SAGed from lunch to two more reststops. The second one after lunch is also the last and marks the beginning of the last leg of the ride. As much as we didn't want to do it without Kevan, we really wanted to finish.
And I was eight miles under my goal.
Kev told us to go ahead so we hopped on our bikes and cruised to the end. Ok cruised is the wrong term as the last little jaunt was ALL uphill. We finished though and we finished together as a team with me leading the way. All of us, including Kev got finisher's medals.
I finished personally clocking 106.5 miles, my Dad, Mark and Marshall clocking 129.5 miles and Kevo clocking ~110 miles. Not bad if you ask me. Not bad especially for not training.
The ride is absolutely spectacular and I would recommend it to anyone. It doesn't matter how old you are, how fit you are or how good of a bike you have. We had people ranging from ten years to I'm sure 80 years old on the course. Like I said, the first day all I wanted to do was keep up with "Little Old Guy"! Anyone can do this race, if there is a part you can't do or can't go on, you simply SAG. One team even had jerseys saying "Aint2Prd 2 SAG". It's ok if you can't do all 150 miles. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to do it or how well you do it. Many of us were pushing our bikes up hills, I personally was one of the last people in for the day yesterday finishing at 3:45 (to put it in perspective they "sweep" the course at 5pm). Most of the 3500+ riders were done by then! It doesn't matter what you look like in bike shorts, what kind of gear you have, nothing. It only matters that you ride. That's all. You ride for MS.
The Staff is also completely amazing. At every turn it seems there are people clapping and saying "Thank You" and "Keep Going" and "Great Job". At every rest stop is cow bells and clapping and streamers and food and water and everything to take care of you. State patrol is constantly parked everywhere guiding traffic, cruising to make sure everyone is doing ok and helping the Support Groups. Support rides back and forth ALL the time making sure every one is ok. Mechanical support drives back and forth. SAG vans. There are bicycle medics and Marshalls, tons of them. Their goal is to keep YOU the biker safe and doing well and that's exactly what they do. Everyone is encouraging and non-judgmental. Most the time when bikers were passing me, which is basically everyone, they say "Good Morning" and "Way to Go". Those of us that seemed to go the same speed encouraged each other up hills and down hills and across flats, exchanging conversation, water and food. It's just ABSOLUTELY amazing!!
This is definitely going to be one of my traditions. The course always changes and even if it's harder next year my goal is 115 miles :) Or more. We'll see though.
It was rewarding, God pulled us through and blessed us, He blessed all the riders and the staff and brought it out to be a great ride and a wonderful weekend.
Alright this dirty sweaty girl needs to go get a hot bath in the worst possible way. More about the MS ride and pictures coming later :)
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