Tour de Pig

Have to brag on Micah a bit now.  On October 8, 2011, he rode his first 50K ride, at 10 years old.  I did not see any other kids riding this distance.  He drew a lot of stares as we lined up for the start, I think they were wondering if he knew he was in the 50K lineup.  He did know exactly where he was and what he was in for.  In my opinion, it was quite an accomplishment for a 10 year old!  We rode together for the whole 31.9 miles.  We averaged 11.7 mph.  Once he gets a better feeling for going down hill faster, that average will increase.  Most of the time, when we passed someone, it was while we were going uphill.  We had several comments from people as we passed them on the uphills.  I was very proud of his determination.  The longest ride he had done before this one was the Ride for Sally's Y.  This was an 18 mile ride, with some significant hills.  He almost doubled the mileage for this ride.  Everybody keeps telling me that I am going to have problems keeping up with him once he gets a road bike.  They don't know that I intend to keep that as my advantage, since I am the one buying the bike, I will keep him in the hybird so I can keep up with him.  All joking aside, it will not be long before he is confident enough in changing gears that he will be ready for a road bike. 

We had a crew from work that rode Saturday also.  I had told them that I was turning in my A&E jersey for the day, that I planned on riding with Micah and he was my teammate for the day.  It was very nice of them to hang around to congratulate Micah after the ride.  Micah says he would like to ride the metric century next year.  He is sure starting to sound a lot like me.... always looking for a longer ride...

Micah and me before the ride

Micah and me after the ride (still standing and smiling!)

The A&E Gang with us after the ride.

Breakaway to the Beach - 2011

What a great ride!!  Many thanks to the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National MS Society, they should be highly commended for putting together a ride of this size and managing it so well.  This was a great opportunity for me to ride and to help raise funds for a very worthy cause.

At the start line, I had a chance to catch up with some friends from Cycle to the Sea.  I was reminded then that I had never completed the story about our AB that rode the hand cycle on the last day of CTTS.  Mark did complete the entire 60 mile route on the hand cycle.  He said that it was one of the most physically challenging things he had ever done.

As for this ride, I also want to thank Dariel Dellinger and Angela Childers for the work that was done to organize our team.  Would also like to thank Keith Isenberg for letting us use the store name for our team and the support from BSG!  I was very privileged to get to be a part of the Blood Sweat and Gears team.  I did not see any other team stick together through the ride the was that our team did.  We had about 18 riders that stayed together for the entire 200 miles.  We rarely saw any other groups with more than 4 or 5.  Riding with a group like this made the trip enjoyable and much easier. 

Team BSG after first 100 miles!

The first day of the ride, was a bit of a challenge for me.  We rode for about 60 of the 100 miles in the rain.  I have tried my best to avoid riding in the rain, and was apprehensive riding that close to others in it.  It was also not very enjoyable having the rooster tail from the bike in front of you in your face all day.  A couple of our riders ended up having a crash at about mile 78.  Neither were able to finish the day with us.  One rider went to the hospital to be checked out for broken ribs, and the other broke the stem on his bike.  We found a local bike shop to bring out a replacement stem, and our other ride finally was checked out with no broken bones.  Both of those guys were able to return the next day to ride the full century with us.  Over all, our mileage was 100.91, 20.0 average, with 2116 feet of climb.  Click here for full info.  It was humbling when we came towards the finish line and there were orange flags in the median representing the people that are affected by MS.  Even more, when we see the people with MS, smiles on their faces, working hard to get us checked in or struggling in the face of the disease to stand and cheer us on. 

On the second day, it started out foggy, and stayed overcast for the whole ride.  I was very thankful that we did not have any rain.  The ride marshalls had advised there was a chance of some severe weather that may close the course, but we never got it.  This day was much less eventful, with only a flat tire by one rider.  Oddly enough, it was also at mile 78.  We rode just a little slower, averaging 19.8 over 99.03 miles, with only 528 feet of climb.  Click here for full info.  It was very nice when we rolled in with Captain Dariel in the front of the pack.  It was also great to see my family there waiting for me.  They are so supportive of my crazy ideas of taking off to ride my bike for hundreds of miles at a time.  I hope and pray that there will one day be a cure for MS and the only place we will find MS is in the history books.

Team BSG after 200 miles!

Shelley, one of the reasons I ride!

So what's next?  October 8, will be the Tour de Pig that I will ride with Micah.  I can't wait for that one!  I am sure there will be something else before then, but I am already looking forward to Cycle to the Sea again in April, 2012!

Exciting Cycling Months Ahead

Hard to believe that the MS Breakaway to the Beach is only about a month away.  I am looking forward to the ride and spending some time at the beach with my family.  Hopefully in the couple of days we have there I can recover enough to enjoy the beach!

Thanks to all the friends and family who have made donations on my behalf to the MS Society.  This year I will be riding in honor of Edith Lake and Lisa White.  My prayer is that the funds raised through this and other events will help find a cure for this disease.

October will also be a very exciting month for the Mize Cycling gang.  Back in April, Micah soloed on his first organized ride.  He rode the 18 mile option in the Ride for Sally's Y.  This was a fairly difficult route with some big hills.  He did great, we were so proud of him.  Caleb also rode with me on the trail-a-bike.  October 8, Micah will ride in his second ride, this time he will solo the 50K.  I am very proud to see his determination.  Last year, the first organized ride I had ever participated in was the Tour de Pig in Lexington, NC.  This will be the ride that Micah does this year.  I am so excited for him, I can hardly wait.

Breakaway to the Beach - 2011

I guess it was not crazy enough to ride to the beach once in a year, so I have signed up to do it again.  In September, I will ride with the Mid Atlantic Chapter of the National MS Society on Breakaway to the Beach.  I will ride a 200 mile route over two days in support of this organization.  I will be riding in honor of a friend and a co-worker's wife who both suffer from MS.

If you are willing to support this cause, click here to visit my fundraising page!

Report on Cycle to the Sea 2011

I know that it is a little late, but here is a summary of our last day.  We had a final 58 miles to ride on Saturday.  Clouds threatened all day and it was windy, but we made it all the way with no rain.  I spent the most of the morning riding with the second pack.  This was a little different experience.  The ability level was more diverse in the second group and we worked a little harder to keep the pack tight together.  I think I worked a little harder, but enjoyed getting to spend some more time with some of the riders that I had not talked to as much on the first two days.  After lunch, we all met a N Myrtle Beach High Shool and rode into N Myrtle Beach as one pack.  We had all of our hand cyclist in front and the tandems and standard bikes were behind them.  I have to admit, it was hard to ride with a dry eye watching all of the hand cyclist lead us to our finish line.  Spending a couple of days with them, we got a glimpse of some of the challenges they face, but to be honest, with the great attitudes they had, I know there was much more that they have to deal with on a daily basis than we could ever imagine.  It was very emotional for me as we were lining up for a photo of the entire group, everyone had worked together for the ride and together, we had a great accomplishment.  The ride was great, with our police and motorcycle escorts, lead and trail vehicles, we all arrived safe and there were no incidents (just the way you want a ride to be).

So there is the wrap up report for this year.  I would like to thank each of you, Jennifer Moore and her staff at ASAP, all of our police and motorcycle escorts, and all of the other riders for allowing me to be a part of the 2011 Cycle to the Sea.  I hope to get to participate in this event in years to come, and would encourage everyone to look at our opportunities instead of our limitations, you can truly see where there is a will there is a way.  I am thankful that ASAP helps provide the differently abled folks in our community with the way, they all provide plenty of will!  In all, $44, 579 was raised in support of ASAP!

Interesting Afternoon

Today was a very interesting and fun afternoon. One of our AB's decided that he would ride the spare hand cycle on the final leg of our trip. That led to several of us AB's (yes, including me) taking a turn around the parking lot on them. Well, naturally with a bunch of athletic people, it led to a race. When they took off, Mark still had his brake on so he went nowhere. Tina was off to a pretty good lead, and Mark finally got going and he had the hammer down. Greg, one of the handcyclist was right beside me. As soon as Mark took off, Greg said "he's going to wipe out in turn four." Sure enough, Mark comes flying around the las turn in the parking lot on two wheels. To his credit, he had made up the entire gap from the start during the quarter mile lap. Unfortunately, he had not heard how easy it was to turn one ofthe hand cycles over. Over he went and as fast as he was going, he slid about twenty feet. No major damage, just a little road rash on his legs and arms.

My three laps on the hand cycle certainly gave me a new respect for the hand cyclists. Don't think that I could even come close to making it sixty miles on one of those. These guys are incredible. I noticed Dr. Bill has a superman symbol on the back of his seat. Quite appropriate for these guys. They may have some physical disability, but there is nothing keeping them down!

Cycle to the Sea, Day 2

Day two is done!  We rode a little over 58 miles today.  The front pack averaged about 16.2 mph today.  So far on the trip, I have seen the fastest speed I have ever been on my bike.  I hit 41.7 mph going downhill trying to keep up with the hand cyclists.  Those guys can leave us on a long downhill.  They hit some speeds over 50mph!  We can always catch them on the uphills as they have to work very hard using their arms to climb the hills.  Today flattened out considerably from yesterday.  I have come to notice that Rod, the oldest one in out group at 71 starts looking for me if I am not close to him during the ride.  We worked it out yesterday that I would push him on the hills to help him out.  He usually doesn't need very much, just a little bit to close the gap and he is good again.  I have found that it is a delicate operation to meet up and reach over to get the push stick attached to his bike.  Today, I finally seemed to get the hang of it and could easily get the stick to help him get going.  This has been the most incredible sporting event I have ever been involved with.  There is a great deal of mutual respect between all the riders, able body and those with disabilities.  It really shows that attitude has a great deal to do with the way we live our lives.  I have discovered that we have (sometimes) affectionately been designated as the AB riders (able bodied).  There are a lot of new AB riders this year and most of the time it has been the AB's holding up the packs. 

We have one more day left, I am looking forward to pulling into Myrtle Beach and seeing all of the supporters waiting for us, but I will miss a lot of these guys.  It has been really neat to see the wide range of disabilities and how they have overcome whatever has been thrown at them.

Thank you for your continued prayers for safety and for the weather to hold off. 

Getting ready to saddle up for day 2 of Cycle to the Sea.

Cycle to the Sea - Day 1

Last Training Ride!

Kristy on her new ride

Eli and Greg in Huntersville

Today was the last training ride at the Park in Huntersville.  It was a very pretty day, but was a little windy.  We had a van full of bikes on the way over there.  We had the back seats down, with Kristy's, Micah's, and my bike inside, then we had Eli's strapped down to the top of the van.  Above is a picture of the draft line with Eli and Greg.  I told Greg later on, that I was right there with them, but they were not knocking any wind off of me.  We also met several other riders today that we had not met before.  I have really enjoyed talking with Greg while he has been riding with us.  He has been very helpful riding with Eli.  With as high as I sit, I do not help him with drafting, so it has been good to have someone to help out. 

Kristy did her first road ride with us today.  When she got her bike last week, she rode it about 6 miles at the church parking lot.  Today she got a little better taste of the hills you run into on the road.  She did very well on her first ride.  Micah is also riding very well.  He has really picked up on the riding and keeping up a good pace.  I am looking forward to seeing how he will do on a ride on the roads close to home with the big hills.

We have some very interesting conversations to and from the park.  Eli had just gotten new legs yesterday, so I once again interrogated him about them on the way over there.  Eli is very young to get computerized legs, we got the scoop on them on the ride today. 

I am looking very forward to the ride this week.  I can not believe that it is finally here.  As Greg said today, three days of work, then three days of real work.  The three days of real work on the bikes will be the most fun I am sure.  Thanks to everyone who has sponsored Eli or myself on the ride.  EVERY donation is greatly appreciated.  Please also pray for safe riding and good weather for this week!

Wonderful Weather Weekend!

Micah back in the saddle today

Caleb's First time on two wheels!

Eli at Huntersville Business Park

Today was a great cycling day all around!  This morning I took Eli to the Huntersville Business Park for a little riding.  I enjoyed the morning.  I got to interrogate him on the way over about everything I could think about for Cycle to the Sea.  I was also impressed with his effort out there on the first time that he has ridden this year.  That will be a great place for me to take Micah sometime to ride.

When I got home Micah and Caleb were ready to go riding.  I was determined that Caleb would start riding today on just two wheels.  I had read an article on sheldonbrown.com about teaching children to ride.  Following that method, he was up on two wheels in just minutes.  He took a pretty hard spill once, but was ready to go again.  This was Micah's first ride this year and he clocked about five miles.  I am looking forward to more of this beautiful weather!!

Fund Raising Goal Met!

Today was a very happy day in this journey. As the emails rolled in, my fund raising topped the goal to be able to participate in the Cycle to the Sea. Now the fun of just getting on the bike and riding can begin. It speaks volumes of our friends, co-workers, and family how everyone has come through to help with the fund raising. I am thankful and appreciative of EVERY donation. Your contribution along with all the others have made this ride a reality for me. I also speak on behalf of the staff at ASAP and the recipients of their programs to say thank you. Some of you have told me that you wish you could give more or that it wasn't much, I want to assure you that every gift makes a difference, everyone working together is what makes this a success.

I am also looking forward to the group rides that may start this weekend. I am excited to meet some of the others that are crazy enough to do this with me. One last note, as of today, Eli is a little over half way on his fundraising. If you would like to make a donation to ASAP, please go to the web page listed below and make the donation on behalf of Eli. I would like to get his done quickly also!

Eli's Fundraising Page

Fund Raising - Day One

Today has been an incredible day for fund raising.  I would have never thought that I would raise over half of the money needed for the ride in one day!  This morning the emails started coming in at 9:00 that the first donation had been made.  Ben Espada was my first official sponsor.  It just kept rolling from there.  By the time I left work today, i had $550 of the $1000 needed.  I had been concerned that this may be a difficult amount to reach, but feeling pretty good about it now.

I really appreciate everyone's support.  ASAP is a great organization that helps people lead an active life, just a little differently than others.  I am really looking forward to meeting some more of the people that have been involved with ASAP.  I will share their stories as I get to know them.

First Blog

Welcome to my cycling blog.  I have started this blog to keep a log of my first major ride and to keep everyone informed of fundraising totals and progress on the ride.  I will be riding with Adaptive Sports and Adventure Programs (ASAP) on their Cycle to the Sea this year.  I will have to raise $1000 to participate in this ride.  I know about ASAP through Elijah Hager, a 12 year old young man at our church.  Eli was born without the tibia in his legs.  Before he was a year old, both legs were amputated.  ASAP has provided Eli with the opportunity to water ski, snow ski, and cycle.  This program is great in providing someone with a disability access to the sports we all love.  Eli started riding on the cycle to the sea when he was 4 years old, he rode the last 2 miles.  He built on that each year.  In 2010, at 11 years old, he became the youngest rider to complete the 180 mile journey from Charlotte to N. Myrtle Beach... with his arms!!  I am extremely proud of this young man and am glad to help raise money to allow him and others to participate in adaptive sports.  I am really looking forward to spending three days with these incredible atheletes.