Saturday, May 02, 2009

2009 Sam's Club MS85

Day One of the 2009 Sam's Club is finally in the books.

Here I am at the Start Line with a college friend, Rob.


There were about 4,000 cyclists in this year's event - here are about half of them!


As I mentioned before, I rode this year in honor of my college roommate's wife, Amy, who was diagnosed with MS just last year.


As for the results - not too shabby!

85 miles in 4 hours, 24 minutes with an average speed of 19 mph! That blows away my previous times of only 16.5 mph - so I'm pretty stoked!

Here's the real reason I rode so well today. I pulled into the lunch parking lot and saw this truck handing out ice cream! It gave me the sustenance to carry on!


But more beating my previous time, I also blew away my previous fund raising record as well. During the two previous years, I was only able to raise around $500. But this year, thanks to some very generous friends and family of Amy's, I was able to raise over $2,100 to help fight MS!

And I have to admit that I feel that God blessed this whole endeavor because, for the first time, it wasn't about me and my own personal acheivement but all about Amy and those who suffer from this disease. And because of that, this year's ride really is special to me.

Unfortunately, Day Two is already in the books as canceled due to severe weather! . . . hence the title of this post!

I'm really disappointed! First, the City of Fort Worth made us re-route Day Two because they didn't want the Finish Line downtown because of fears that we'd all get Swine Flu. And now, the National MS Society cancels tomorrow because Pete stinkin' Delkus is predicting rain all morning! You better be right, Delkus!

(Update:  It didn't rain a drop!  Overcast skies.  Temperature in the mid-60's.  5-10 mph wind out of the north that would have made for a perfect tailwind for the last 30 miles.   Otherwise known as, A PERFECT DAY FOR CYCLING!!!!!  Umph - that's what you get for watching the News! I'm trying not to be bitter!)

Oh well, it was fun and I really enjoyed getting out and stretching my legs! Thank you all for your donations and encouragement! By the way, you can still donate you want - click here!

2 comments:

Jody said...

Congrats!! I admire what you are doing! We missed you yesterday but we are very proud of what you did.
Hugs,
J

Rob said...

hey man, just found your blog while looking for stories from the ride. had a blast riding with ya and can't wait to do it again. i have some pics from the ride that the team took which i'll send over soon. the pic above def reflects my half-asleep state i was in!