MS Bike Ride

Last month I did the Cycle to the Shore bike ride to help raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. If you are unfamiliar with these rides, they are typically 2-day events and involve cycling around 150 miles. They are often referred to as the MS 150 rides. Usually the participants cycle from point to point with an overnight somewhere in between. The particular ride I did was from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach and back again. It was 84 miles one way so 168 miles round trip. I decided to do the ride as part of my Ironman training - I love riding alone, but doing 6 hour bike rides by myself was getting a little tiresome so the opportunity to ride with a group was appealing. Since the ride was on the coast, it's perfect for IM training - flat and windy. Aside from the obvious training advantages, doing a ride like this is a good way to give something back. Training for an Ironman is a fairly selfish endeavor. The time commitment is big and it is inevitable that other things in your life are going to be neglected - you should see my post-IM to do list. Taking all that hard training effort and using it to raise money for charity just seems like a good thing to do.

It was a somewhat tough ride. Saturday started off with a coastal wind advisory. This was the same kind of weather that caused the swim at the St. Augustine Tri in 2007 to be canceled. The first half of the ride was inland so I wasn't concerned that the wind would be too bad. The 16 miles heading east to get to the coastal highway were into a brutal headwind and then a crosswind as we headed south. It was a bit rough, but not hideous. The real fun started around mile 50 when it started to rain, and rain, and rain. Don't forget the wind. The next 11 miles or so were in conditions that would make me nervous to drive a car in - torrential rain, flooding roads, wind gusting over 30 mph - but we put down our heads and kept pedaling. The ride course turned away from the coast again as we approached Daytona and I knew that at least the wind would diminish and there was a rest stop after the turn. The last few miles before the turn were in Flagler Beach. The highway was right on the beach - no dunes, no buildings, no buffer. The waves were coming up over the wall and onto the road. I could taste salt mixed in with the rain. I have never witnessed in person an ocean looking that scary, and hope I never do again. Once we got away from the coast, the conditions weren't as bad - some wind, some heavy rain, lots of flooded roads, but nothing as bad as that stretch along the beach.

The conditions the next day were much better - sunny with some wind - and the ride was pretty nice. At mile 56, I caught a ride to the finish. They weren't feeding us lunch on the ride since there was a big cookout at the finish. Dinner and breakfast had been marginal and I needed a little more than clif bars and bananas. Really, a PB&J sandwich or three would have made me happy. There was a rumor that the next rest stop had some, but I decided that I had accomplished what I set out to do, and that it was time to stop. I had an 1.5 hour drive home and I didn't want to be too tired. Weather aside, it was a good ride. I had a lot of fun and it is a definite possibility for next year.

I got a letter a few days ago letting me know that the fundraising deadline is October 31. For some reason, I thought it was September 30. So if you haven't made a donation yet, click on the link below to do so. If you already made a donation, thank you so much for your support!

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