As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I'll be riding in the Sam's Club MS 150 (Dallas) on May 5-6, 2007. Over two days, we will ride 150+ miles. Starting from Frisco, Texas, we'll ride to the Texas Motor Speedway on day one. The next day, we'll start at the Speedway and end at Sundance Square in Ft. Worth.
I'll be riding with The Wheeler Dealers, an MS 150 team founded in 2005 by my friend Bob. I'm pleased to be riding with them this year, not just because they have so much fun but because I've seen firsthand the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. You see, Bob's wife, Gerry, has secondary progressive MS and has been confined to a wheelchair for the past eleven years.
Turtle and I first met Bob and Gerry in 2002, and each year we've seen Gerry lose a little bit more of her mobility and strength to the effects of MS. She's a lively, outgoing woman who handles her disease with aplomb and courage, but it's tragic to see her increasingly become a prisoner of her own body.
Then there are our friends Barb and Joe, another couple who both suffer from MS. Joe was diagnosed first, and was already using a motorized wheelchair to get around, by the time we met him. Barb is able to walk using a cane, but has an entirely different set of symptoms than Joe's.
MS is a wasting disease that presents itself differently in each of those afflicted with it, and it takes away dignity and mobility. If I can do a little something to help by just riding my bike—because I can ride my bike—then I'm in.
But I need your help. If you feel, as I do, that finding a cure for MS is a worthy cause, I hope you'll help me to meet my fundraising goal by sponsoring me in this year's MS 150. It's easy to make your donation online, and it's tax deductible. It doesn't even have to be a lot of money. $10? $5? Every little bit helps. And if you know others who might be interested in helping out, please refer them to this posting or to my official MS 150 donation page.
Thank you.
16 comments:
Consider it done. :-)
okee dokee, will do
Love to!
I put up a post for you. I also want to go on record as saying you look very dashing (pun intended) in your helmet/cycling gear.
Fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee!
Is Turtle riding too?
I usually provide volunteer communications for the MS150 ride here in Miami. It starts in the parking lot of a community college and ends at the John Pennicamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo.
next year I may do the ride. It will be a good excuse to buy that $1200 road bike I looked at :)
Thanks to all of you for your support. You should know that I hate having to ask for donations--probably a side effect from having to selling Christmas cards and wrapping paper for school when I was a kid--but the folks I'm riding for are worth it.
Emma: Dashing? Pun notwithstanding, I picked that particular photo because I looked like such a dork. I was doing for non-threatening and accessible. If I wanted to look dashing, I'd put on the new jersey and my sly spy sunglasses, and I'd have Turtle photograph my alter ego, Deuce X. Machina.
Pun intended.
Unfortunately, Turtle's not really a distance cyclist. Some people sign up and ride a symbolic distance at the beginning of the first day and the end of the second. We'll have to see if I can meet my minimum fundraising quota before adding a second!
Señ Iguana: I've experienced the MS 150 vicariously for the past couple years, so I'm anticipating a very fun and moving (emotionally) experience. The three friends that I'm riding for have come out in the past to cheer their riders on, and there should be some good photo ops for me to share with my blog visitors when it's all in the books.
If you're looking for a way to blow a chunk of change on a bike, go recumbent. None of those is cheap. Oh, and I loved your "honey-baked ham" valentine. Priceless.
WV: "ixjxbufk" Great. Given my current work assignment, everything is starting to look like a C++ variable name.
I lost a good friend to MS, so you can count on me for a donation. (But I have to wait a payday or two.)
Hello Foo, I was sent over here from Emma Sometimes. This is a cause that is close to my heart because my mother was diagnosed with MS last year. I'm going to be sending a few people over from my site as well. I hope that's okay! : )
Jennifer: That's great! Thanks for your support.
sarahgrace: Send 'em on. Thanks!
I just sent in $10. I did the Seagull Century a few years ago, but I don't like doing rides where I have to get donations. I prefer to just pay an entry fee and collect a tee-shirt.
yellojkt: In general, I'm with you on the fundraising rides. This is a little different, though. The friends I mentioned in my post are worth it. They've been after me to ride with them for the past two years, and this year they needed one more person to make the minimum team size. So I'm in, and we'll see if I can't bring in some research funds for the cause.
Thanks for helping!
Sent mine in!
Foo ...glad to help. Donation made. It was an MS100 ride that got me started in cycling. In one year, 1995, 3 acquaintenaces began their battle with MS and the ride was routed through my town. Said "Self..go do something for someone else." Have donated to a ride every year since. This year it's yours.
Ride safe.
Joe: Thanks for choosing me as your beneficiary, this year! I'm slowly approaching my minimum, but I can see that I'm really going to have to find some way to step up my game if I want to make my fundraising goal. I just don't know how Bob--who raised around $14K last year--does it.
Oh, I almost forgot about this. I'm glad I remembered before the ride actually takes place, although I'm assuming donations will still be collected after the race. Is that right? Anyway, got it handled today. :-)
Thanks, Jennifer. Donations continue to be accepted through some time in June, but it's nice to have you on board for the ride. It's nice feeling like I have all my sponsors along with me when I ride, along with the friends I'm doing this for!
That way if it does rain, I'll feel that much more motivated to push on.
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