Ok, yes I am counting...its 1 day, 14 hours and 52 minutes until we roll out of Houston headed for Austin. Looks like about a 40-50% chance of rain both days (hope they don't cancel anything again!), but at least we should have a tailwind for the 100 miles of day 1.

I have been training harder than ever this year. I rode 578 miles since January 1 on the road, and I have put in roughly 120 hours of spin classes since the ride last April. I am so looking forward to the ride this year because I feel so strong! I just hope the weather holds and we get to ride full distance both days.

The best news of all is that I set a goal of $1,000 to raise this year, hoping that I might get close. This afternoon...with family, friends, and coworkers still promising more funds to come, I passed $1,000! I am at $1,134 right now, and my wife is poised to top $1,000 as well. She is at $885 and has numerous friends and coworkers still promising to donate. That is on top of $230 from me and $200 from my wife for Clay Walker's Band Against MS.

I know how tough the financial times are and how much people are tightening their belts, and I just feel so fortunate to be blessed with such generosity from the people around me. Sorry for the online victory dance, but I am at work and can't jump around and shout and I just feel so excited to have broken through my goal!

Our team as a whole has raised over $93,000 for the National MS Society and just shy of $25,000 for Clay Walker's Band Against MS. They are a terrific bunch of folks and I feel so honored to be riding with them.

So thanks for being my motivation to ride, and thanks for putting up with my incessant talking about cycling!