Turtle Bar!

Nothing is better than riding 114 miles, getting cleaned up, eating a meal catered by Carino’s, and then topping off a nice summer Saturday with a turtle sundae bar from the ice cream man 🙂

Thanks to my hubby for this gem of a photo. We are indeed a couple of goofs!

Whoohoooo! We did it :)

We made it through the MS Ride last weekend! This is a picture from my camera phone of the two of us at the second rest stop on Saturday.

The ride was good, I made it through 114 miles all together (62 miles on day one, 52 on day two). I wasn’t sure how the second day would go, especially because the terrain between Frankfort and Lexington is more hilly than what we had the first day of the ride. But, I did it! And even though I was thinking on Sunday that I might never want to ride my bike again, I am already thinking about what other rides I can do in the future.

We even made it home in time to get a brief rest and get cleaned up before heading to our friend’s wedding that afternoon. Congratulations to Karin and LeAdam! We are so glad we got to be part of your big day. 🙂

Now, a new development: I found out that there is an official 2009 Bike The Bluegrass bike jersey that is awarded to any participants who raise $500 in donations. I managed to raise just over $300 before the event, and donations are still counted up through July 7… so, if any of you out there haven’t already donated and would like to help me win a bike jersey (I don’t have any jerseys, so I’m not one of the “cool kids” yet), please visit my online fundraising page and make a tax-deductible donation online. OR, you can mail me a check made out to the National MS Society, and I’ll turn it in. You’ll be helping a great cause, and you can help me get a nifty jersey commemorating the weekend that I biked more than I ever have before!

More details about the actual ride to come soon…

Countdown to Craziness…

It’s about 9:30 p.m. and I need to get my shower and get to bed. We will have to wake up tomorrow around 4am  in order to get ourselves over to Keeneland and ready to hop on the shuttle that leaves at 5am for Churchill Downs. Assuming everything goes OK, we’ll return to Keenland sometime Sunday afternoon. Then we get to go to a wedding! (Hi Karin and LeAdam!)  I hope I’ll be still be able to move my legs at that point… we’ll see 🙂

Here are the images of the routes we will take both days:

Day One: We plan to do the pink route, 62.1 miles…

Day Two, we plan to complete the green loop, 51.2 miles…

Assuming I make it through, this will be the most miles I have put on my bike at one time.

I guess I’d better get some rest…

The Five Dollar Challenge!

Hey everyone! In an effort to reach my fundraising requirement to participate in the MS150: Bike the Bluegrass, I am asking you to take the five dollar challenge… consider chipping in as little as $5 to the National MS Society in support of my ride on June 6-7.  If everyone donated just $5 I would easily reach (and surpass) my fundraising goal in no time! Please visit my fundraising page to make your tax-deductible donation online.

Thanks go out to Mary Robertson, Kenny & Susie Basham, and Rich Hall for already making donations!

Again with the craziness. (This one’s for you, Connie!)

A shot of me and Glenn at the first rest stop on the Bike Trek to Shakertown last fall. My very first bike trek. Now I'm doing another one!

So, I’ve done it again. I’ve signed up for a ridiculously long bike trek, and this one will happen on June 6 and 7. It’s the MS150: Bike The Bluegrass – a benefit ride to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. The ride starts on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs in Louisville… and finishes on Sunday afternoon at Keeneland race track in Lexington. There are different routes available each day, with different mileages to choose from. My current goal is to ride the 50-60 mile rides on both days, totally somewhere around 110 miles over the two days. I hope I can do it without embarrassing myself too much!

In order to participate in the event I need to raise some money for the National MS Society. A very worthy cause! And I also wish to point out that this is the first time I have attempted this ride (although my husband has ridden it a few times in the past), and I will be riding this year in honor of my friend, Connie Goehner. I have known Connie since I was a little girl growing up and attending my home church in Maryland… Connie has a son a few years older than me, and she is the first person I ever knew to have multiple sclerosis. For years she was confined to a wheelchair… but one day something was changed in her treatment that resulted in her leaving that wheelchair behind. Obviously she was not cured of the disease, but just the fact that she was able to get out of the chair was a miracle to me! Although I haven’t seen her in years, I hear that she is still doing well today.

Through the years Connie has dealt with her disease with grace and perseverance… and so this is my way of letting Connie know that I admire her spirit. Raising money to fight MS is the same as raising money to help my friend… so please, consider pitching in!

I am required to raise a minimum of $200 but I’d love to raise more than that. If you can see your way to contributing ANY amount, I will greatly appreciate it. Please visit my personal fundraising website (here) to make your tax-deductible donation.

And now… I need to get back out on the bike for some training rides.

THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, CONNIE!  🙂