Sams Club MS 150 (Frisco to Fort Worth)

[crdean1]

I looked for a recent thread on this and couldn't find it. This event is coming up on May 3rd and 4th, 2008.

I just signed up today, and although I have been doing some spin classes and a couple of recent rides, I am largely unprepared. I'm hitting it hard this week, starting today. We'll see if I can get there in time.

Anyone else riding it??

Info: http://dallas.ms150.org/dallas/

[barlows]

I'd love to ride it man, but I've got my first Tri on the 4th. You might try to hit up Truman. He was talking to Nieves (one of the soldiers we got to ride with) and I think they were planning on doing the MS ride.

I'll bet you're more ready for the ride than you think. It's a lot about nutrition and hydration, so be mindful of those. The page you linked to has a bunch of recommended rides. If you're looking for a riding partner for some of those, I'd be interested. Also, there's the Sulphur Springs ride this Saturday.

Steve

[crdean1]

Sounds good, I'll check with him. Also, if anyone is interested but is having a hard time with the logistics, you can ride with the team I am signed up with, and they will provide support (meals, lodging options, and gear transport). Just let me know before you sign up and I can visit with you about the information to provide at registration.

[crdean1]

Ride Report, my first MS 150:

Day 1 – It turned out to be 84 miles (personal best distance for me) instead of 75 (I guess that is a frequent occurrence with these rides, but I didn’t know it). I was riding with Nieves from the Wounded Warrior Project, who is a great guy. We started Day 1 at 7:30am and rolled in at 4:45pm. I was pretty beat at the end, and the sun had taken its toll. Day 1 was nice and flat with hardly any hills, yet we had about a 20-25 mph headwind for the first 35 miles (which made the last of the ride quite nice).

Day 2 – (76 miles) I latched onto some pace lines with some of my team members. It made a huge difference in speed and enabled me to save some energy while covering some good ground. I was able to skip some rest stops and only stop to fill the bottles. I started Day 2 (yesterday) and my butt hurt like heck. I guess you finally get used to it and just deal with it. I had taken some asprin and rubbed biofreeze all over my legs, which helped a little. I started at 7am and arrived at ‘lunch’, the 30 mile point, at 9:10am. I was then feeling pretty good. I ended up finishing at 12:30ish pm. The terrain was anything but flat. It was rolling hills the entire way. Again, again this was news to me! It sucked, but at the end I think I had accepted the hills and just took them slowly and pedaled like crazy on the downhills to make up time. While I had caught different pacelines throughout the day, I ended up with 2 other guys for the last 10 miles, and we took turns pulling and averaged about 18-19mph to the end. It was a great finish in Sundance Square, and my wife surprised me by inviting all of our siblings and their families to the post ride festivities. It was pretty emotional and overwhelming at some points because of how amazing all of the volunteers were, and overall it was an excellent ride. I'll post some pics in the coming days.

[Mash Master]

congrats! sounds like fun

[sgrahek]

My wife and I complete the ride as well. It was our first MS150 and we had a blast!!! We have only done one other organized ride and I can not imagine any other ride as well organized as this one. However, I do believe who ever designed the second day knew my rear end would be in pain and let us on chip-seal roads that would jack hammer my seat into my rear end for miles and miles:)

On our way to the hotel the first night we were talking with a woman who said "our two days of pain is nothing compaired to the lifetime of suffering of those with MS". This is what really got us through the second day.

Anyway, we had fun and we look forward to doing more rides like it.

[txags92]

As somebody with MS, thanks to all of you for riding for us!