With the MS-150 just a week away, I headed for the hills today with a couple of teammates from my gym’s cycling team, the Houstonian Hammerheads. Although I’m still in great shape post-Everest, owing to frequent spin classes and generally being a gym rat, this was my first and last chance to do a serious road ride before the 2-day, 188-mile Houston-to-Austin bike ride. Today’s was a 52-mile loop from New Ulm through the rolling hills of Colorado and Austin counties.

My compadres and guides, Mark and Mike, are long-time cyclists and multi-MS-150 riders. Mark told me they only dropped whiners, so I made a mental note to either: A) not whine, or B) only whine if riding behind them. Pulling into the parking lot just after 0700, with a cold drizzle underway beneath dark skies, I was seriously considering Option B before even getting out of Mark’s truck. 

Leaving the start just before 0730 in a driving rain, chilled to the bone within a quarter mile, I was convinced that my stoic teammates were completely nuts! Upon further thought, though, I reflected on the fact that I’d once forged upwards towards Denali’s summit in whiteout conditions and 100 mph winds. And then there were those 4 months I’d spent in the high Himalayas. Turns out these were my kind of people! Almost as if a reward, the intensity of the rain abated within 15 or 20 minutes, and I began to notice Bluebonnets and other wildflowers as far as the eye could see. Blue was peaking out between cloud layers, birds were singing, flags were waving and bunnies were hopping (or whatever it is that bunnies do…). As the miles and rolling hills clicked by, I realized that I was going to manage the ride unscathed. The closer I got to the finish, the quicker my pace… and this evening I feel just great (and expect to hit a double-header spin class in the morning). Hopefully this means that I’ll manage 4x the distance over two days without permanent injury or disfigurement.

Please consider making a donation to this effort: no donation is too small! I set a goal of raising $5000 for MS research, but am about $1500 short. For information about the charity and the ride, please visit my personal MS-150 site:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=7282717&pg=personal&fr_id=12962

Two people in my life suffer from this debilitating disease, and I’d imagine you probably know someone with MS as well. I appreciate you reading this post, and thank you for your support.

Scott