patting myself on the back
As most of the throngs that read this blog know, last year was my first foray into the world of bicycling for distance and the MS 150, which is now supposedly known as Bike MS.
Here in the Lumberyard, we try hard not to do things half-assed. If you're going to dive in, do it head first. I'm not going to re-chronicle the whole journey from last year, but I will hit the highlights. First I started exercising. Then I got asked if I'd consider doing the MS 150, and said yes, and started training, knowing I'd have to ride back to back 75 mile days. Little by little I increased the distance I'd go on training rides, until I'd sometimes go over 60 miles on a ride last September in the weeks before the ride. Somewhere in there I heard the distance was really a bit over 80 miles each way...OK. Once you're committed to do 75 miles, another 5 isn't that big a deal. Later I heard there was an option to ride 100 miles the first day. As soon as I heard that, I wanted to try. I figured at the very least, I'd get to a fork in the road and if I felt good, I'd go for it.
Then there was fund raising. I tried to do the best I could. I asked, cajoled, begged, pleaded, reminded, reminded again. If I was going to do this thing, I wanted to do the best I could.
Well, long story shorter, I did end up riding as far as you possibly could for the organized ride, which was a hundred miles the first day and a little over eighty the second.
Yesterday I got a note from the MS Society, informing me that I was one of the top 50 fund raisers on last year's ride. I knew they had a top 50 (they call it the 50 Phenoms), and I wanted to get there, but really didn't know if I did...until I opened that envelope. That and $5 might get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but it was something I really wanted to accomplish, and it's cool that it happened. It just put the right cap on the whole experience.
Won't happen this year, because all my friends and family are now supporting the youngster, as well as me, so I'm diluting my financial base. I figure, if we combine to match or beat my total from last year ($3,350), that'll be good enough for me. As for the riding part, I'm tempted to push the youngster to do the first day 100 mile ride, but we'll see how it goes.
If anyone wants to be part of that diluted financial base, just e-mail me (there's a link on my profile) and I'll see what I can do to stop you from being...well...baseless.
Here in the Lumberyard, we try hard not to do things half-assed. If you're going to dive in, do it head first. I'm not going to re-chronicle the whole journey from last year, but I will hit the highlights. First I started exercising. Then I got asked if I'd consider doing the MS 150, and said yes, and started training, knowing I'd have to ride back to back 75 mile days. Little by little I increased the distance I'd go on training rides, until I'd sometimes go over 60 miles on a ride last September in the weeks before the ride. Somewhere in there I heard the distance was really a bit over 80 miles each way...OK. Once you're committed to do 75 miles, another 5 isn't that big a deal. Later I heard there was an option to ride 100 miles the first day. As soon as I heard that, I wanted to try. I figured at the very least, I'd get to a fork in the road and if I felt good, I'd go for it.
Then there was fund raising. I tried to do the best I could. I asked, cajoled, begged, pleaded, reminded, reminded again. If I was going to do this thing, I wanted to do the best I could.
Well, long story shorter, I did end up riding as far as you possibly could for the organized ride, which was a hundred miles the first day and a little over eighty the second.
Yesterday I got a note from the MS Society, informing me that I was one of the top 50 fund raisers on last year's ride. I knew they had a top 50 (they call it the 50 Phenoms), and I wanted to get there, but really didn't know if I did...until I opened that envelope. That and $5 might get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but it was something I really wanted to accomplish, and it's cool that it happened. It just put the right cap on the whole experience.
Won't happen this year, because all my friends and family are now supporting the youngster, as well as me, so I'm diluting my financial base. I figure, if we combine to match or beat my total from last year ($3,350), that'll be good enough for me. As for the riding part, I'm tempted to push the youngster to do the first day 100 mile ride, but we'll see how it goes.
If anyone wants to be part of that diluted financial base, just e-mail me (there's a link on my profile) and I'll see what I can do to stop you from being...well...baseless.
Labels: It's all about me
John put this out here at 9:58 AM
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