Bike MS

this past weekend i joined a group of girls for Bike MS Washington.  What a fun weekend!!  Dana puts the team together every year and last year i thought about joining, i thought it might be a good goal to work towards after surgery and such.  but with the ride being in september and radiation ending in september and the sheer exhaustion that came with it, plus my lack of time on the bike, i just couldn't do it.
but this year i decided to make the leap and i am SO happy that i did.
most of the girls on the team are from LUNA chix either past or current, two of the girls i know from swimming with them, and then there was one dude.  but no matter how you sliced the group - it was a great group.
dana and karoline organized a super fun fundraising event at the Dilettante Cafe in late august.  Dilettante was a big sponsor of the team which allowed us to have these fantastic matching jerseys!  plus they gave us some of their fabulous chocolates to hand out!  who doesn't love that!  having matching jerseys made the event that much more fun.  dana also gave us each some great socks with bikes on them, which was super fitting, seeing as we are team Sock it to MS.

2 days before the event, i had not yet met my individual fundraising minimum, so i posted on facebook.  i couldn't believe the immediate response i got from so many friends!  some i hadn't spoken to (even over FB) in years.  i was overwhelmed with their generosity and touched by their stories and how MS has affected them.  because of them, not only did i exceed my personal fundraising minimum, but they helped our entire team get within spitting distance of our overall goal of $10k!
with my fundraising met, all i had to do was be ready to ride!  for some reason i was quite anxious about the logistics of this event, almost more so than any recent races.  i don't know why.
saturday morning we woke up super early and drove up to the skaggit valley fairgrounds for the start.  we met up with all the other girls, put on our jerseys, complained about the rain an headed out.  day one had four distance options - 22 miles, 59 miles,  80 and 97 miles.  we were originally all planning on 59 since we all wanted to cross Deception Pass, but with the rain, we decided we'd play it by ear.  Next thing we knew we were at the first rest stop (and witnessed a rider smoking??  who does that?) and things were drying up and there were some breaks in the clouds!  We made it out to Deception Pass (Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca.) and it was amazing!!  we stopped for a group photo before heading over the bridge.  there was a low lying cloud that you can sort of see behind us, the water was a crazy blue, and we were very, very high above the water.

 

we had lunch on the other side of the bridge, then headed back across the bridge and back towards Mt Vernon.  going on on the day's ride, i was pretty sure that the day's mileage was the furthest i had ridden since i was training for my 2nd 1/2 ironman in 2009.  yeah, i don't tend to go on very long bike ride.  

 with about 20 miles to go, we picked up the pace and finished the day strong.  when we got back to mt vernon, we went straight to the car and changed our clothes then headed to the beer garden.  i am still not drinking the beers but i was parched!!  i got the most amazing strawberry popsicle from the guy giving away ice cream treats, which was extra fun since he had been at my company's summer picnic the day before giving away ice cream treats!  he couldn't remember what i had asked for then, but that was ok, he was super cute anyway!  i also got a quick massage, but only after chatting it up with a civil engineer from olympia who finally explained to me in actual definitions the difference between a freeway, a highway and city streets.  now i know!  AND he paid for my massage, too!  but said i would have to do the longer route the following day when i was planning on the shorter.
we stayed for the presentations in the beer garden, learned about the MS Society, the results of all the fundraising, some inspiring stories and soem rah rah hiss boom bah type of stuff.
back by our home base where a few of our peeps were camping, we met another group of riders and spent the next hour or so chatting about the day, cycling, the summer and whatever else.
by 10pm i was exhausted.  it felt like 1 or 2 am, and i fell into bed and right asleep!
i woke up a little before my alarm, a bit sad that it was right as i was about to meet Alyssa Milano and Christina Milian, but i was excited to be up and heading out to start the day.

day two started with fog but no rain!  hooray! the entire group rolled out together.  this day there were two distance options:  52 and 72.  i was feeling pretty good and after some prodding from leslie and allison, i decided that i'd join in for 72.  and i am sooooo glad i did!  we headed north up to bellingham and along chuckanut drive.  WOW.  that is almost all i can say about that.  the road was smooth, and rolling and fast.  the views were AMAZING.  AMAZING!  must say it that 2nd time.  the entire day was amazing and beautiful.  it was one of those days that is perfect and reminded me of one of the guys in one of the brain tumor groups i belong to.  he is always using the expression Life is Good.   I am lucky and grateful to be healthy, to have a loving family, and to have supportive, smart, funny friends.  and yes, sunday was one of those days that reaffirms that Life is indeed Good.