- With your help we can do it again, but this time with a goal to raise $1000 to a cure for the MS Bike Ride 2010. Click to Donate:
- Take the Virtual Tour to Key Largo and Back
MANY GAVE to the GIFT of a CURE
This year the total raised for the South Florida Chapter: $1,500,000+ REACHED for MS!
Thanks to everyone who supported my efforts towards finding a cure. Out of the total 150 miles roundtrip, I biked 135 miles total on the 2-day ride to Key Largo this weekend, May 2 & 3rd. Woohoo!
We've started to raise funds for my MS Bike Tour 2010 for the annual ride to Key Largo. Please click above to donate.
How was the tour for MS?
The weekend was phenomenal. Over 3400 people biked for a cure leaving from the beautiful University of Miami. I had to wake up at 4am to get there and left my pobrecito little deaf/blind doggie Princess Sophia with tons of food and supplies for the night.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society raised over $1.5 million. My team, zMotion raised $431,000 of that. My favourite Tour Stop of the 10 was the Zimmerman Stop and American Express stop (they played Calypso and Reggae mostly). The parties at the end were amazing.... lots of food, awards, drinks, certificates, etc.
I camped at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park overnight and happily rode back the next day in 6 hrs. Going there...not so fast (9 hours).
Oh and I got a $6700 Trek bike to borrow to make both "treks"...which was an unbelievable experience and helped make the entire thing even more AMAZING!!!!Why did I ride?
I've registered for the MS Bike Ride because my bicycle touring company, Hollywood Trails (HT4), wants to do something for the people who have been diagnosed with MS. Although I don't personally know anyone with MS, I ask alot of questions and it is still so unclear why and how people get the disease that it is obvious more R&D is needed to find a cure.
Today, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, and with diagnosis occurring most frequently between the ages of 20 and 50, many individuals face a lifetime filled with unpredictability. When Richard Prior was diagnosed that was the first time I became aware of the illness and the horrible effects it can have on the mind and body.
How did I train?
I would say I didn't train. Most people trained with their individual camps of over 10 riders and ride up to 60 or more miles a trip.
Because I own HT4 and run tours 6 days a week, meaning I ride up to 15-25 miles a day, I thought that my daily bike rides were enough. I was wrong. I never rode over 2 miles without stopping and over 25-miles total. So I was alot slower because of my lack of training. Each stop is 5-10 miles apart and my stamina, despite my supped up bicycles, wasn't that fast. But I wasn't sore the next day. Ah, but the sit bones, those you must train to stay in the bike seat for extended periods. That, for me and most people I talked to, was the hardest part. I was just slow... vede slow... and though I tried to keep up with different teams whizzing by me on Day2 I could last for 1-2 miles with them then back off. I couldn't maintain their speed.
Would I ride 150 miles again next year?
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society really takes care of you. With the funds collected from their various fundraisers, it supports MS research for a cure tomorrow, but also to provide programs which address the needs of people living with MS today.
Because we can fight this disease by simply donating through our efforts of riding-a-bike, walking, etc... and because we have chosen to help thousands of people through a contribution to the MS Bike Ride, we are now getting closer to the hour when no one will have to hear the words, "You have MS."
I would DEFINITELY ride again next year (2010), it was such an amazing, life changing experience...I recommend it to everyone.
