Bike MS 2008 - Cokering for Charity

Dear Fellow Unicyclists,

On September 13th and 14th, I’ll be riding in the National MS Society's
annual "Bike MS Tour" (formerly MS 150), a two-day ride to raise funds
for the MS Society’s research and local programs. This is now my fourth
year riding, and for the past three years I've been the sole unicyclist
in the Washington event. The first year I rode for selfish
reasons...get in shape, get better at distance riding, etc. But through
my involvement in the event the past three years, I've met more and more
people afflicted with MS, and have seen first-hand its devastating
effects. I've also met more and more people that have been helped by
the programs run by the MS Society, and have seen first-hand the
positive impact the Society's work can have on MS victims and their
families.

The more people with MS I meet, the more passionate I become about
doing this ride. MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system
affecting the brain and spinal cord. It is also unpredictable, and can
attack anyone in the prime of life. One day you’re top of your game,
and the next you're diagnosed with a debilitating, incurable disease. I
feel blessed to be in relatively good shape for my age, and hope that my
annual ride can help those less fortunate.

While I've created a post like this each year, I still always hesitate
to send anything that could be seen as “spam”. But these fora and
many of the members remain important elements of my riding life, so I
wanted to share this and at least give those that want to—and are able
to—the opportunity to join me in supporting the National MS Society's
mission. Last year, thanks to the generosity of friends, family, fellow
unicyclists, co-workers, and a match from my employer, I was able to
raise over $6,000 on my ride—making the top 20 out of over 1,000
bicycle riders. The pro-unicyclist community came through, and I hope
some of you will consider helping me again this year with a donation to
my ride.

Sponsoring my ride is easy to do and every dollar helps. Quickest way
is to just click the “sponsor me” link below and make a secure online
e-pledge. If you’re averse to online transactions but still want to
help, just PM me and let me know how much you’d like to pledge. I’ll
add it to my total and ping you in September when it’s time to write
the check.

While I've been riding regularly, I'll be spiking my training over the
next three weeks to focus more on hills, and some longer back-to-back
rides to mimic the event. Even having done the event previously, the
long back-to-back days are still a challenge, and the course always
finds something to throw at you. Last year it was headwinds, although
there's no good way to train for those except with more climbing.
Hopefully between the extra climbing this month, a couple long rides
over Labor Day, and the energy and contributions of my supporters, I'll
get through the two days in fine shape.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE TO ANYONE THAT CAN HELP! Together we can make a
difference…

Tom B

To sponsor me, click 'here' (http://tinyurl.com/6e3ay4), then click the
"Donate to Thomas" button.

To learn more about this year’s Bike MS Tour or to get involved, click
'here' (http://tinyurl.com/6s853k).


--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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Glad to pitch in.

I will entering into the MS ride in November (Sydney to the Gong)


--
nexty
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tomblackwood wrote:


On September 13th and 14th, I'll be riding in the National MS Society's
annual "Bike MS Tour"

While I've been riding regularly, I'll be spiking my training over the
next three weeks to focus more on hills ...





I see you may be free September 7th for the Ride 542 - Mt. Baker Hill
Climb. Just a short 24.5 mile training ride. It has only two hills in
it. Maybe you wanted more hill work than it provides. I'll give you my
bib number for the event.

I bought it early in the spring. And the doctor will not release me to
ride yet. Just yesterday the doctor started me transitioning to partial
weight bearing use with the goal of being off the crutches in two
weeks.

You have always been waiting for the year when the Ride 542 and Bike MS
Tour did not conflict. Here is your chance.

Which routes are you planning for the Bike MS Tour? We may try to meet
you some where and supply espresso.

Joe


--
bungeejoe
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bungeejoe wrote:
I see you may be free September 7th for the Ride 542 - Mt. Baker Hill
Climb. Just a short 24.5 mile training ride. It has only two hills in
it. I'll give you my bib number for the event. You have always been
waiting for the year when the Ride 542 and Bike MS Tour did not
conflict. Here is your chance.

Which routes are you planning for the Bike MS Tour? We may try to meet
you some where and supply espresso.


Thanks Joe! I will give this some serious consideration, and also look
at what it would take schedule-wise to make it happen. To be honest,
however, I'm not at all confident I could "hack" the event. The
longest sustained climb I've done was Hai Van Pass in Vietnam, which
was somewhere in the 8-10K range. And at that I had to stop once
around 7K to get my heart rate down. When you say two hills, is that
one up and one down, or does the up have someplace mid-climb where it
flattens out?

What was your time? If I do manage to commit, certainly your record
won't be threatened.

On a related note, glad to hear the recovery is going well, even if you
won't be cleared for take-off in time. You'll be riding and climbing
again soon enough.

Day 1 doing the 58 mile route, which turns around just after the
Deception Pass Bridge crossing. Day 2 I need to figure out. The 50
mile option is less visually interesting than the 75 mile option, but
the 75 mile option is not really doable (for me) in the limited time
they have the course open. When I did the 75 two years ago, I was out
on the course an hour and a half before the official start time,
pedaling by myself in the early grey mist. What I may do is ride to
Rest Stop 1, then hitch a ride in a SAG wagon out to the Shell Station
before the climb starts to Lake Samish. That way I get to do the
Chuckanut Drive section, which is as you know an amazing stretch of
road.

But I would detour for espresso.

PS: Thanks to both of you for the support. Hoping with this bump a
couple others might jump on the wagon and help support my ride. I know
that no one wants to see my beg, although I promise I'm capable of it.



--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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In the interest of bumping this thread, I'll share some exciting (for
me) news. After being the sole unicyclist on this ride the past three
years, I'll finally have company this year. I "convinced" my son Miles
to do the ride with me, and he's already off and running on fundraising
and training. But he's also pretty apprehensive. At 58 miles on day 1
and 50 on day two, these will be the longest riding days he's ever
done. In fact, if they were in reverse order he'd be bagging
back-to-back personal bests. Here's the link again to my 'event web
page' (http://tinyurl.com/6e3ay4). And to 'Miles's page'
(http://tinyurl.com/5u9ee6).

Nice shot from the training ride that finally convinced him:


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: Miles and Tom PBP.jpg |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/28270 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

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tomblackwood

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tomblackwood wrote:
I "convinced" my son Miles to do the ride with me, and he's already off
and running on fundraising and training.



Go Miles ... and more miles ... and more miles ...

Always ride out front of Tom and you will not have to worry about the
tailgate issue.

JM


--
bungeejoe
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Good luck to the both of you!

Wish I could be there to ride with you.


--
ahollow
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In the spring of 2007, only 8 months after meeting her, my girlfriend of
5 months was diagnosed with MS. I watched first-hand the effects of MS
on someone who wasn't expecting it. The collapsing and inability to
walk, to get out of bed, tingling pain, and severe exhaustion quickly
made her "normal" routine frustratingly impossible. We were both
attending the same university at the time, from which she was forced to
do a medical withdrawal, going back home to CT. She was 19.

Now my girlfriend of 21 months, she is doing *much* better, aided with
treatments of all kinds, but still must live with this disease daily.
She is still living in CT, and is attending a college near her home.
She's given speeches around her area, lead an MS walk with her old High
School, and was considered to be an MS Ambassador (but was deemed too
young).

I've seen first-hand the not only physically debilitating results of
this disease, but the mental and emotional ones as well. The
hopelessness, despair, uselessness, and general frustration because of
the physical symptoms are just as bad.

If you have the money to spare, PLEASE donate to this cause. MS is a
terrible disease with no cure and only sometimes-effective treatments
with high side-effects.

I plan on attempting an MS150 ride here in Texas, hopefully in this
coming May 2009. Not sure if it will be on a bicycle or unicycle yet.
Either way, when I do one, I'll be posting on the fora! But don't save
any money for me, donate now to tomblackwood! I know I am!


--
SqueakyOnion

"The pleasure of what we enjoy is lost by wanting more." - Fortune
Cookie

I am not a Texan. I'm a Pennsylvanian!
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Giving this one (possibly) final bump. Reading SqueakyOnion's post
reminds me why I do this ride every year, and why I always put it out
there to the unicyclist community to ask for support.

Tonight was my final training ride. I didn't have a ton of time after
work, so rather than trying anything epic, I invested 15 miles to do my
favorite local climb twice. It has some ups and downs, but gains about
600 vf a shot, and is a nice intervals climb. I've been timing myself
lately on the main uphill section...first about 12 minutes, then I cut
it down to 11:30. Tonight I jumped on it and knocked almost another
minute off. I've done this climb now maybe 20+ times over the last few
years, and felt stronger tonight than ever before. Lungs felt good, and
had legs to spare to spin the rest of the way home. I'm ready.

So for anyone who can consider making a donation, please 'click here'
(http://tinyurl.com/6e3ay4) to access my ride page and contribute.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE TO ANYONE THAT CAN HELP! Together we can make a
difference…

PS: If you're in the younger forum crowd or simply want to help support
the youth of America in its development and charitable focus, you can
also 'click here' (http://tinyurl.com/5u9ee6) to support my son Miles
in his ride. This is the first year I'll have unicycling company on
this ride, and I couldn't be more thrilled that it's Miles. Saturday
and Sunday will be the two biggest rides of his life...

Tom B


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Day 1 is now history. As fine a day for cokering as you could ever ask
for. At 61.5 miles, it was the fourth longest ride for me, but a new
personal best for my son Miles at more than double his previous best.
For a 14-yer-old kid being dragged into something like that by his old
man, he was just rock solid.

Photos and detailed write-up after we finish Day 2 tomorrow. Just
wanted to bump in case anyone is still interested in supporting our
ride and the MS Society's great work. Following the ride tonight there
was a short, extremely moving program, which featured a number of
speakers with MS who have benefited from the programs that the Society
runs. Despite his exhaustion, i think this was the point where Miles
really "got" that he was part of something bigger than himself.

Can't wait to drag our sore asses back out on the course tomorrow.


--
tomblackwood

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