The Mid Michigan MS Ride

The Mid Michigan MS Ride was an opportunity that Emily and I just couldn't pass up.  At the time, we were just interested in the ability to have a couple of long training days like that back to back.  We had no idea we would be taken care of the way we were!  Those people at the MS Society know what they're doing.

The radar Saturday morning (4:30am!) was filled with lots of red and orange, but the wonderful volunteers were letting everybody know what to watch out for during their ride.  Emily and I were pretty happy though, riding in the rain is a bit more comfortable (a lot!) than racing in the rain.  In fact, with the warm weather and high humidity, the rain felt great. 

We talked and rode with many riders, a few stick out:

* The woman on the green Raleigh, what an awesome color.

* We worked with a rider on paceline skills.  Patrick, was doing his first bike tour, let alone his first MS bike tour.  He had just begun riding a couple months ago and was doing the ride on his brothers older steel bike (an awesome steel bike) in honor of his brother, who's been diagnosed with MS for 14 years.  If that's the way Patrick is riding after a  couple of months, we should watch out for him in a couple of years!

* The infamous Kevin Degan on his custon three wheeler who went down on the slippery roads during the rain.  Emily, myself and a few UBS riders stopped to give an assist, but it was really just a chance to meet the celebrity in person.

Sunday we were headed east and with an already strong southwesterly wind we found ourselves in the company of a few other riders who wanted to exploit that wind power as much as we could.  The return was fast!

This was an amazingly well organized event with every cyclist's needs anticipated and addressed before the cyclist him/herself even knew.  Thanks so much to Patti and Tammy and all the wonderful people at the National MS Society for allowing Emily and I to join you!

Peace,

Dawn