Good for you! Alot of people get hung on "what if I can't make it the whole way?" The reality is that it is the fundraising that counts, not the mileage under your tires. If you tell your donors "I probably won't make it 150 miles, but I will go as far as my body will let me go", you will find that most don't really care if you are going that far or not...they just want to help the cause.

My first one was from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, Texas, and it was 2 years before I got my dx, but after my first symptoms. It was 95F with a 105-110F heat index and about a 15-20 mph headwind pushing against us. I made about 68 of 90 miles the first day and all 62 miles of the 2nd day.

During the ride it looked like somebody had driven down the road tossing bikers out the window into the ditch. Ever place where a tree had grown over the fences, there would be a couple of bikes laying in the ditch and a couple of riders laying in the shade under the tree...no matter how small the tree was.

At one point I was laying in a small patch of shade at the last break point next to a high school with about 10-15 other riders. I opened my eyes and looked up and there were about 8-10 vultures circling above us about 200 feet up. I told the girl next to me that either we REALLY smelled BAD or the vultures thought that a few of us weren't going to make it.

I specifically time my Copaxone injections so that I do my thighs on Monday and Tuesday so that I don't wind up with that problem for my weekend rides. It does make Tuesday night spin class a pain at time though...

I told my wife before she joined me for her first ride that she needed to tuck her sense of shame into her back pocket and leave it there before the ride. I told her that there would be people that were older (like in their 60s), younger (like 14), fatter, handicapped, riding mountain bikes, riding single sped bikes, etc. that would pass her up at some point during the day...and if she got depressed or upset because somebody like that passed her, she would make it a long day on herself. I told her if she just accepted that it was going to happen before the ride started, it would make life alot easier

Thanks, but I don't really look at what I do as hard. I am not currently afflicted with balance problems, extreme fatigue, etc. I greatly appreciate the support of others with MS, but to me, the ones who have much more severe symptoms than I do and are forced to use a wheelchair or who can't walk to the mailbox because of balance or fatigue, but still put on a smile each morning and make the most of their lives...those are the heroes to me.

They overcome whatever physical or mental issues they are having and put forth the effort to live a full life and to help those around them in the ways that they are able, and it really inspires me to try to do more each day in my own life. Those are the people I am riding for.