Foodcents's Blog

This is the third in a series of posts I am sharing, in honor of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. You can click on the following links for the past posts. 

            MS Matters 

            MS Matters: Big Lesson #1 

Today I share with you all a wonderful guest post from a rockin’ lady, who has been kind enough to share how MS touched her life and what it motivated her to do. Thank you SO much, Andrea, you are inspiring!!! 

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I absolutely love the food blog community.  I’ve made so many friendships and connections with some awesome people.  One of them being our gal, Dottie!  I have the utmost respect and amazement for any individual having to live and thrive with Multiple Sclerosis, or MS.   
 

About three years ago, the husband of my friend and co-worker passed away from MS complications.  He was 54 years young.  
  

Lindsey had a vibrant spirit and in the three years I knew him, he touched my life and I will always remember him.  He had severe physical limitations because of his MS, but he was such a funny, happy-go-lucky guy that you looked past the cane and wheelchair and just saw guy with a big smile and an even bigger heart.  
  

I didn’t know Lindsey before his MS diagnosis, so it wasn’t until his funeral that I finally realized how much MS had changed his life.  There were so many pictures of him from his younger years fishing, hunting, dancing and singing.  I had even forgotten that he served in the military.  I saw how much MS had taken away from him, at least physically.  
 

Shortly after the funeral, I went on the MS Society website to see how I could get involved with the charity.  That’s when I came across the MS Bike Ride.  I am not an avid cyclist, so I didn’t know that MS Bike Rides are popular events with riders all throughout the country – almost all local chapters of the MS Society hold a bike event every year, and it is commonly called the MS 150 - maybe you’ve heard of it?  
  

The Oregon MS Bike Ride is a fully supported, two-day event held every summer.  If you’re a seasoned rider, you can do the longest routes each day at around 150 miles total – hence the name MS 150.  But, for someone like me, who in 2007 had only been on a bike once in the last 10 years, I signed up for the 33 mile ride on day 1 and the 24 mile ride on day 2.  
I knew I couldn’t do the ride by myself, so I recruited some friends to join me, and pretty soon Team P.I.T.A. was born.    
  

Team P.I.T.A

Our team was a rag-tag little group.  While other teams had jerseys and bikes that cost thousands of dollars, we had homemade “Team P.I.T.A.” t-shirts and a desire to have some fun while helping a great cause.

But, I’m not going to lie – the 33 miles of Day 1 was the hardest thing I’ve ever physically done in my life.  Despite the fact that I was “in shape” from my regular gym workouts, I had not trained for the ride at all, which was stupid, and my legs were not happy!   

 
Here’s me all smiles after the first 11 miles.  Up to that point, the ride had been flat and easy (kind of like me in college.  I keed, I keed!).  But see that lake behind me?  Yeah, I had to bike around that and it was ALL HILLS.  The next 11 miles were pure torture and I honestly questioned my ability to finish.  But, I kept thinking of all the people who couldn’t be out there with us because of their MS diagnosis and I pushed on.  
  

Here’s me fist-pumping around the last corner of the lake – I couldn’t get downhill fast enough!   

The final 11 miles were relatively flat, but we were going against the wind. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t even moving the wind was blowing so hard.  I started talking to Lindsey at this point as a way to pep talk myself and I imagined him pulling my bike with his motorized wheelchair he rode around in. It totally worked!  Next thing I knew, I was crossing the finish line for Day 1.   

After the ride, we hung around our campsite, ate some food, and drank some beer – New Belgium was a sponsor, so there was Fat Tire for everyone!   

                                         Sore crotches were inevitable.  

The best part of the ride was meeting the other teams and volunteers.  MS had touched almost everyone there in some way. We met people with MS who were able to do the 100-mile ride that day.  We met a guy who couldn’t ride a bike anymore, so he did the 2-mile kiddie ride on his roller blades.  There was a man with MS who thanked every single rider from his wheelchair as they crossed the finish line.   

The stories, the people, the energy of that weekend were truly inspiring.  It made me appreciate my body and what it is able to accomplish.  I am so grateful for my health and I try to respect that every day.   

If you have a MS chapter near you, I encourage you to see if there is a MS ride in your area. The rides are fully supported and the only commitment you have to make is at least a $250 fundraising goal.  All of us had no problem raising that and more. With just a few emails to some friends and family, I surpassed my goal in no time.   

What you take away from the ride will last a lifetime – I guarantee it.