The beginning of the Tour to Tanglewood weekend is always a very hectic time. Strange, considering that I have known about riding in the Tour for nearly a year already. Toni and I registered for the Tour on January 1, 2013. This was going to be my third tour and her second one. Both of us ride because my Mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in late 2003, and has suffered with it constantly since. The Bike MS, Tour to Tanglewood is all about raising money for the Central NC Chapter of the National MS Society...in fact, it is the largest charity bike ride in the area.
Since this is a charity event, I needed to raise money right? Yep, I sure did, in fact, I needed to raise a minimum of $200 just to ride. While some would see that as a daunting figure, I see it as a challenge every year...a challenge to do my part to help put an end to MS! The first year I rode, I raised a little over $600 which was tremendous with only a couple of months to fund raise. The second year, I had from January to September to collect donations. It was a very good year with $2300 raised. How was I going to top that for 2013? I was going to raise more, that's what I was going to do. I set my goal at a lofty $5000, hoping to make "Mission Possible" status with the NMSS. Honestly, I figured that I would fall short, but I wanted that bar set really high to motivate me to do what needed to be done.
The stage had been set for the Tour to Tanglewood that New Years Day, but I had no idea how things would unfold leading up to September 28th when I would set off on my first century of the weekend. The next chapter happened while I was at work. For those that don't know, I am a police officer, and was dispatched to a very serious accident involving a cyclist. To make a long (and very moving story) short, the cyclist was unable to speak for himself, but fortunately had a RoadID bracelet which allowed me to contact his wife and give her directions to get to the hospital where she was reunited with her husband, Jeff Sell, who was still in critical condition. I spent quite some time with his family as they arrived and I got to learn a lot about Jeff and his cycling. He had crashed after 64 miles of riding and was still in the neighborhood of 15 miles from home that day. Come to find out, Jeff is an endurance cyclist much like myself. He also takes part in the Tour to Tanglewood each year and rides as part of the RL Riders. Having seen the severity of the injuries, I had my doubts that he would be riding in this year's event, if he would ever ride again. Feeling so helpless and somehow very connected to Jeff, I wanted to make some kind of meaningful gesture to his family. The only thing I could think of related back to my own RoadID bracelet, that Toni had bought me, where at the bottom is inscribed "Ride for those who can't." I knew it was cheesy, and would not ease the pain of the family, and wouldn't heal Jeff, but I offered to put Jeff's name on my bib number if he was unable to ride so that in a way he could take part in this annual event that he enjoys each year. That was the moment that my own personal mission for the year started. I was officially "Riding for those who can't."
The idea churned around in my head for many weeks and I decided that this is an MS benefit ride, and I am riding for those with MS...might as well put some names with the disease. Too often, diseases like MS, Cancer, Diabetes, and others end up to be faceless entities which are just the fundraising organizations. That is not the case for any of these causes....they all have faces and families who suffer due to the diseases. I was going to make this year more personal...I was going to put some names with the cause. The plan was simple, if you had a family member, or loved one with MS, and you donated any amount in support of my ride, I would add the name to my number. Of course, my Mom was the first name on that list because I ride in her honor every year. Others would follow, and that made me very happy.
By the beginning of the Tour, I had my roll call of honorees. There is a story behind each of these names. Most know the story of my Mom, Elizabeth. Jonathan is the son of a nice family that I had the pleasure of meeting (once again at work), early this year. Karin is the niece of an online friend of mine. Fannie is the Grandmother of a coworker. She passed away in early 2012 due to MS. Each of these names represents a different story, and that story affects their entire family in different ways. These are the folks that I am riding for and raising the money for.
You will also see two other names on this number...Jeff and Marcia. You know about Jeff and his impact on my personal mission this year. Marcia is another cyclist who I have ridden with as a "Spare Tire" in last year's Tour. She was positioned to be able to ride this year as she has done for the previous four years. Due to a recent injury on her ankle she would not be able to ride this year. For me, that would have been enough to get her name on my number, but she really surprised me and had her fundraising dollars credited over to my name. I was speechless. She believed so much in what I was doing she decided to help me out in a grand way. Without her help, I don't believe I would have achieved my goal. So, I now had two fellow cyclists along with me for the ride. They would form my peloton and we would ride 165 miles in two days together.
Things were coming together as the year moved by. My fundraising had slumps, and had surges. I had my doubts about being able to meet my goal, but I did achieve VIBE status early in the year which means that I had raised $1000. That is kind of a big deal with the Tour, and this was now the second year I had achieved that milestone. As some of you might recall, I gave the mission statement for the VIBE dinner party last year at the request of Shannon Newman. This year, she again asked if I might be available for that honor if she couldn't find anyone else. I agreed of course! As it turned out she did find a very good speaker, the captain of one of the teams. Listening to his statement, I realized once again that every MS story is different, but they are all related to one another. I could feel his pain as he too is in a family that deals with MS. As we all seem to do, he is making the best of it, and pedaling his way to a cure.
The final week before the Tour started, my fundraising seemed to really take off. I made some follow up contacts from earlier in the year, got another corporate sponsor, Marcia transferred her donations over to my account and with all the support that I had received through the year, I hit my $5000 goal just two days before the Tour. I really didn't think that it would happen, but this year I ride in the Tour to Tanglewood as a Mission Possible Club member. I feel very proud of that membership because there are entire teams that can't raise that kind of money....for a single rider to accomplish that is fantastic!! There are way too many people to thank here one by one, but just know that each person who donated this year has made a difference in many people's lives and has improved the quality of life for so many. You are the ones who have made this a mission possible year!!
The fund raising was all done except for some last minute donations, so it was time to get the bikes ready for action. Like I mentioned before, Toni was riding again this year so I had to get her bike all ready as well as my own. Now Toni is an interesting woman. I can never tell if she likes riding bikes or not. usually she will stay away from riding if she can in favor of other exercise. However, she does like riding in the Tour since she started last year. Since she doesn't get a lot of seat time in during the year, it would stand to reason that she would not feel up to doing any long rides. However, last year she surprised me by pulling 40 miles out of Saturday, and an additional 26 miles on Sunday...did I mention in the rain?!?!?!?!?! All this without any real training. Kind of makes my two rides look like child's play since I train all year long for them. She is just that kind amazing! This year, she is stepping it up a notch. Not with miles (she is only planning on 15 miles each day), but HOW she plans on riding on Saturday. You see, she is working Friday night, 12.5 hours is her shift. She will leave work at around 6:25 on Saturday morning....in Greensboro. She will have changed into her riding clothes, and drive out to Clemmons to meet up with her bike and ride her route. I don't care who you are....that's impressive!!! She truly is an iron woman, and I love her dearly!
Both bikes received a complete checkup, adjustment, and lubing for the weekend. They were cleaned up and numbers were affixed to the frames. It took about 3 hours to get it all done, but I wanted everything to go smoothly for both of our rides. Last year Toni had a mechanical issue from an out of adjustment front derailleur which I wanted to avoid for this year. Everything shifted smooth, everything was tightened up, and they were both ready to lay down the miles.
Now that the bikes were in top notch shape, it was time to turn my attention to the more personal details of the ride. I had to get my bag packed. I always see this as ironic. Cyclists are supposed to be very concerned with weight and are supposed to travel light, yet every time I leave for a ride, I fill this bag up with things that I carry with me on the bike. Its all part of the game I suppose. I have my shoes, helmet, gloves, heart rate monitor, cyclometer/GPS, RoadID bracelet, sun glasses with multiple lenses, and of course, food. There is also a course map in case I get lost, VIBE tent passes, food tickets, etc. Toni, being the more awesome of the two, only needs a helmet and gloves, along with her route map. She always says I make things more difficult than they need to be.
The last thing that gets done before the night comes to an end is to load up the bikes in the back of the truck along with all the supplies that will be needed. The idea is to be able to wake up on Saturday, eat breakfast, get dressed, air up the tires, and hit the road. Oh yeah....team pictures are at 7:05, and the century group starts out at 7:30.
As it turned out, last minute things come up in my life rather regularly. As I was getting ready to hit the sack and get some rest, I got a notification of another donation that had been made sponsoring me. This time it was by a fellow MS advocate, who has a sister with MS. After finding out the name of Kelly's sister, I went out to the truck and brought my Jersey back in and added Shannon Diggs to the honor roll of names I'm riding for. I was running out of room and I loved it!!!! With that done, it was time to turn in so I would be prepared to wake up early in the morning.
Saturday, September 28th
Oh wow 4:30 comes early when I'm not supposed to be working! There was no turning back now, things were in play and the start line was waiting for me. I got up and started to get things moving before I woke up Sierra and my Mom, who had arrived the night before. I made sure that the bikes were all secure, and aired up the tires. I also checked to make sure that all the supplies were packed, and made a mental check for what Toni would need after working the whole night. She had some of her equipment, but the goal was for her bike to be ready to roll at the starting line so she could just hop on and ride when she got there. With all the checks done, breakfast eaten, stuff loaded up for Mom and Sierra we were off, headed to Tanglewood for the start of what was going to be a busy weekend.
We arrived very early in the morning, with about 40 minutes for me to put the bikes together and get all my gear on and ready to ride. Team pictures were scheduled for 7:05 and since I was an official member of Team Summit this year I wanted to make sure that I was where I needed to be. With both bikes ready and waiting at the start line, I went and found my team captain, Michael Stratton. Ironically, he found me first and we got our small team showing together and got the team pictures taken care of. At that point, it was time to hustle out to the start line and get the bike ready to roll out. As I was walking, my phone rang. It was Toni who said that she was almost at the park. I'm not going to say what time this was because simple time/distance formulas will show a speed I'm not sure I want to know about. Anyway, there was a good chance that I would get to see her before I left out on my 100 mile journey, and I was excited!
She barely made it, but I got to get a hug and a kiss before I headed out, and that made me feel really good about the day. She was more awake than we had suspected as well which was a very nice surprise. Even though she was feeling pretty good, she decided to stick with the 15 mile route so she didn't push herself too much after working for 12.5 hours. I think that was a good choice! We got to visit for a few minutes, and then the Bike Marshall started to give the early morning ride instructions. It was time to get clipped in and prepared for the official start. I had learned from years past to avoid some of the congestion to go ahead and get positioned near the front of the pack. I was able to do just that and got a nice place near the start line.
The word was given and with that I was off. My intention was to ride the day solo since Jeff Sell and Marcia Pearce were riding with me (if only symbolically). I figured it would take some time to break away from the crowd and I was right. We stayed clumped up for about 10 miles before things started to spread apart. While in this crowd, a cyclist passed by and I recognized the bike and the shirt immediately...It was Stu Winikoff whom I had ridden both days with last year. I broke away from the group and chased him down. We rode together briefly until the pack was back upon us. We got separated, but instead of waiting for him, I stuck to my original plan of doing this ride my way, and doing it for Jeff and Marcia.
At about 15 miles I was pretty much on my own and was having a really good time. There was one group that would play leap frog with me from time to time and eventually settled in behind me. Oh well, this was no big deal, I was still riding my ride and was having a grand old time. Then one of the group moved out and passed me, pulling into the lead position. He said that I was welcome to join his group. I answered with a polite, "Maybe for a little while." We were all going at a similar pace and it wouldn't hurt to share the work load for a while. After a brief mile, he motioned that he needed a break from being in the front and pulled off. I was back in the lead....cool. I poured on the coals and got back to the pace I liked. I stayed that way for quite some time while the group was drafting me. That's fine, I was planning on riding solo anyway, and this way I'm helping them out as well.
Photo Courtesy Mike Sampson
Every so often the same rider would sprint out in front and stay for a mile or so and then pull off line leaving me out front again. I was starting to see a pattern with this. We passed a couple of rest stops and I was asked if we would be stopping at the midpoint stop on Lake Tom-O-Lex. That was my plan, and that was where we stopped. I have to say, that is about the most picturesque rest stop on the whole tour. The view of the water is amazing, and there is always a cool breeze that blows over the parking lot. I got a few things to eat and hydrated myself. While doing this, I noticed that the group I had been with was leaving out. My first thought to to go ahead and pull out to catch them...then I reconsidered. I really wanted this to be a solo ride today, so I waited. After a few more minutes I pulled out and started on with my second half still feeling great! Within a few miles something really funny happened. I started to see bits and pieces of that group, and I was overtaking them. This time, I didn't give the opportunity for them to grab onto my wheel.
I was doing my solo ride....one of the reasons that this was important to me was in relation to those I was riding for with MS. So many, who are diagnosed with MS carry the burden alone, and feel like there is nowhere for them to lean. I wanted to share in that feeling for this 100 miles. I wanted to deal with the pain on my own, and have no respite from it. Ironically though, I wasn't feeling any pain....I was feeling fresh and energized as I rolled into the last rest stop...which I would visit twice thanks to that 20 mile loop that completes the 100 mile option. I pulled in just to grab a bite to eat and get some more gatorade in my system to replace some electrolytes. I pulled out knowing that I only had about 30 miles left to go before getting finished. I was really moving too...having seen the mid 19's for an average speed (unheard of on a century for me!). I was confident that I would keep a 19+ average for the whole ride, and I was so happy about that!!!!
Then it happened....in the MS world, I had a flare. I went from feeling strong and energized to feeling like I had hit a wall. That wall was a stiff headwind, and lots of climbing. Some of the worst climbs of the day were on this loop. My speeds plummeted, and I found myself using the little ring more and more to get up and over the hills. I was starting to hurt....my legs were screaming. I was regretting the pace that I had set earlier on in the day....but I had felt so good. Just an ironic parallel to MS that I found on my solo ride. It strikes when you least expect it, and usually at a time when you are feeling like you are no longer afflicted with the disease. Like those with MS, I had no option but to endure and keep on moving the best that I could.
I came into that same rest stop a second time, but I was a completely different rider now. I was beat down....I was tired, and I was hurting. My legs were toast, and I still had 10 miles left to travel. I knew I could do it, only because I had no choice...Giving up is not an option for an MS patient, they have to live through it and hope that the pain eases up eventually. After collecting myself, I clipped back in and continued the movement back to Tanglewood. Having finished with the hills, my outlook improved a bit, and found a second wind as I came into the park. Despite having struggled the last 30 miles, I came in strong and finished proud...just hoping that I did justice to Mom, Jonathan, Karin, Shannon, Fannie, Marcia, and Jeff. There was a lot riding on this ride, and I wanted to deliver!
Photo Courtesy Mike Sampson
Even though I hit that wall, I still had my absolute fastest century to date with an average speed of 18.6 mph. I really think it was because of all the support that I had received throughout the year for this ride. I was in some really good company with the names on my bib number which I proudly wore for the rest of the day at Tanglewood. Each of you were with me throughout the day, and that was the way I wanted it to be!
When the riding part of the day was all done, Toni and I had put down some serious miles to put an end to MS. While my century wasn't really all that unexpected, the real story here is Toni who after having only three training rides to prepare for the Tour, and having worked for an entire shift before arriving, rode 16 miles. Yep, she added an extra mile to the 15 mile route just to show how dedicated she is (she told me its cause she missed a turn, but I don't believe her). She really is an amazing woman and an advocate for MS as well. taking my lead, she even rode for a couple of MS patients. Of course, she rode for my Mom, but also for a friend's wife, Stacy.
After lunch, I had one more thing to do before we headed home to get some rest and get the bikes ready for Sunday. You see, a couple of weeks before the Tour, I was approached by Shannon Newman with the Central NC Chapter of the NMSS with a request. She wanted Mom and myself to do the mission statement at the awards ceremony. For those that recall, I gave a mission statement at the VIBE party last year. That was in front of 30 people...this was going to be in front of thousands!! I wasn't nervous, I had a little trick....just picture the audience in spandex. Oh wait....they actually were. Wait again...so was I....CRAP!!! Oh well, I could do this, and so could Mom.
Shannon gave us a grand introduction that left me searching for a way to not undershoot the bar she had set. I went into public speaking mode and quite honestly don't remember what I said. I have a video of it, but don't know how to post it just yet. Apparently Mom and I are long winded and that makes for a rather large video file. Mom did great, and really illustrated what the money is actually going for. The cliff's notes here is that as you can see, she is not bed ridden today, not in a wheelchair today, not even using her walker today. In fact, she is standing up after working all day as a volunteer. This is what the money goes for....to help people with MS in real time get medications that work to ease the effects. While there is still no cure for MS, this is a grand stepping stone towards that end.
Please forgive the sideways orientation. I can't figure out how to fix that.
I am thankful to Shannon and the NMSS for allowing Mom and me the opportunity to share our story on such a grand scale. Its a story that I think needs to be put out there to show not only the need, but the results. Too often charities ask for money and show the "why we need it" cases. This time, we were able to show a "this is the results of your dollars" case, and I think that is much more powerful!
With the speech wrapped up, and the awards ceremony completed, it was time to load up a bunch of tired folks and head home to get some rest. After doing some quick maintenance on the bikes, we got some dinner, and then it was off to bed for the girls while I stayed up for a little while and did some work with the pictures that had been taken. In no time, it was getting much too late to continue so I went to bed, ready to wake up and do it again on Sunday.
Sunday, September 29th
Yeah, this picture pretty much sums up the morning. None of us were feeling energized just yet. It was cold, and still very early, even though we had arrived at the park about 30 minutes later than the day before. Not having team pictures helps out, but my start time was still at 7:30. It took just a short amount of time to get the bikes put together and get all the gear in place for the ride.
After getting the bikes ready, I found my way to the starting line where I met up with Stu again. We had talked at the end of Saturday and decided that we would ride together for today's 100K route. Stu, like me usually rides solo, and prefers it that way. However, we have pretty good chemistry when we are riding together, and he is great company. With the big ride behind me, and feeling the need to nurse my aching legs, this was going to be a nice easy "recovery" ride, and I could think of no better way to spend it than with Stu. While we were talking and catching up on the past year we heard from the Coble's that a very special little girl had come to see them yesterday. She was nine years old, and her name was Olivia. She had just recently been diagnosed with MS, and her Mom and Dad were very distraught over it. They had stumbled onto the Tour to Tanglewood and had been overwhelmed by the show of support for those with MS. This is the kind of thing that really warms my heart about this event. It is so much more than just a bike ride. I asked Susan to add Olivia's name to my bib number so that I could ride for her. Stu, being the caring person that he is, followed suit and had her name put on his number as well. Sam Coble, let us know that he had beat us both to the punch and already had her name on his number. This was too cool! The three of us were riding for Olivia...just 9 years old.
So, the stage was set for the ride...Stu and I would be riding together for Olivia, and Sam would be riding along with Toni for the same reason. Sam wasn't even going to ride today having ridden his furthest route ever on Saturday...but he felt compelled to ride for Olivia. We all set off, in a much less organized fashion from yesterday. Stu and I took it easy and cruised down the road into Lewisville where we ran into Aaron Houston, the Captain of the Spare Tires. He rode with us briefly until he pulled ahead and left us behind.
Not too many miles after leaving Lewisville, Aaron met back up with us and informed us that he had added about a mile to his ride due to missing a turn. He decided that it might be best to stick with us at that point and we started a pace line rotation. the speeds started to pick up a little bit, but nothing too fast. We were just enjoying the countryside. Sunday, while having more climbs, is the most scenic of the weekend, and we wanted to enjoy the calm morning heading into Yadkinville and eventually Westbend.
At roughly the halfway point, we stopped for our break and I got some food and hydration to prepare me for the last half of the route which is more flat, and even a fair amount of downhill riding. When we left from the rest stop we picked up another rider from the Mighty Fine Swine team and we continued rotating through the pace line as we started making very good time down the road. Surprisingly, my legs were starting to feel much better the longer we rode. I guess I just needed a 30 mile warm up to get to feeling good...but like MS, the pain comes and goes, we just keep on moving.
The remainder of the ride was relatively uneventful. The hills that I remember from my first Tour in 2011 were barely hills anymore. I am assuming that erosion has done its part in leveling them out because I remember clearly struggling to climb them just two years ago. We stopped at the last rest stop before completing the last 10 miles back to Tanglewood just more for tradition than anything else. From there we moved with a purpose back to the park, officially putting another Tour to Tanglewood behind us....well sort of.
Here you see me crossing the finish line, all smiles and happy with the ride. For the most part this is true....but in all honesty, this is a staged picture. Rewind about 10 minutes before.....I was crossing the finish line with Stu and Aaron (picture to be uploaded after it is posted from the photographers) and we were all in line happy to have finished together. As I roll past the Linking Lives tent I see Mom, Sierra and Toni cheering me on...I even see Toni's phone pointed my way....cool! After getting my hugs at the end of the finish line Toni tells me that she didn't get a picture and wants me to come back down the finish line again for a picture. I really thought that she was telling me a fib and was setting me up for something as she would normally do. I decided to follow along to see where this would take me. We went all through the village and I really thought that there was something special in there that needed me and my bike. Nope.....we continued to the exit that brought us back out to the finish line approach where I was instructed to finish again. Hmmm, extra miles???? OK, I'll do what I'm told. So...here I come again with the photographers clicking away again...and Toni with her phone snapping another picture. I guess she wasn't kidding...she needed me to finish again. So, there is my funny story from the weekend...I have a staged finish under my belt...first one ever.
Remember Olivia....the 9 year old. Well she was back at the park again for day 2, and she was in the Linking Lives tent when we finished....both times!!! Knowing a little bit about how a 9 year old thinks (thanks Sierra), I went over to the tent with my bike, in full kit and introduced myself and told her what an honor it was to ride for her today. I talked to her Dad as well, and got to know a little bit about their situation. It was a really cool meeting! My favorite part was getting her Dad to snap some pictures of Olivia with some of the riders who had ridden for her today. Here you see the Three Musketeers...or Three Stooges depending on how you look at it. Sam was still there at the tent after riding 24 miles with Toni, and Stu came over to get in on the picture as well. This might have been my favorite part of the whole tour....I wish that everyone who's name appeared on my number could have been there to be a part of this experience, but at least Olivia got to witness first hand what her new MS family is all about.
What a ride...not a bike ride, but the ride that was this weekend! The bike ride was just part of it. Toni had another 40 miles for Bike MS under her belt, adding to the 65 she did last year, and I cranked out another 165 miles. Mom got to be a part of the Tour to Tanglewood for the first year...the same year that she completed a 2.5 mile Walk MS event back in the Spring. The money being raised is directly responsible for her ability to be able to take part in these events, and give back to the NMSS which has given so much to her. Sierra also got to participate in her second Tour to Tanglewood and she is now counting the years until she is 12 years old and can ride in the event like her Mom and Dad. The Tour is more than just a bike ride, its more than just an annual event. This is an annual family reunion for all of those affected by MS in one way or another. Its a reminder of what the "Orange Army" is capable of, and what it does on a regular basis behind the scenes. It is a chance for those of us who can ride.....to "ride for those who can't."
Garmin ride data
Saturday
Sunday
