MS150 2002
My First Year
Early in the spring of 2002 I started riding my bike with Kristen, to spend more time together. This grew into something I really enjoyed. It was nice getting on a bike and going somewhere. The side effects were nice, weight loss and cardiac conditioning. I started the summer at 210lbs and a heart rate of 82 bpm. After finishing the MS150 I weigh in at 190lbs with a heart rate of 59 bpm. Below is my story.
Like all new things,
we started strong. Mike, Mitch, Angie,
and myself all bought bikes and started riding all over the place. When we started we had no goals or
objectives, just riding to ride. All
this changed with a phone call from Steve.
Steve called and challenged us to set a goal of riding in the MS150 that
was in September. We decided to make
this our goal. We were going to train as
a group, ride all summer long, do the training rides for the MS150.
June started out
wonderful. Every night we went out,
doing between 6-20 miles depending on how late we started. There was one stretch where Mike, Mitch, and
I went out six straight evenings and rode 20 miles. It was after this long stretch that we had
our first casualty. Angie really wanted
to do the MS150 in September, but did not want to get left behind since she was
not in good shape. I told her that I
would ride at her pace for the training rides.
We started out that evening with no problems, she kept the pace for the
first mile with ease. Then the first of
our three major hills came and she was forced to walk her bike to the top. A mile later we came to a gentle uphill climb
that lasted about a mile. It was midway
up this gentle slope that Angie decided she was not ready for this tough
physical activity. Not to mention that
she spent the next 45 days with a second degree sunburn on her back. This effectively eliminated her for the
summer. End result, 47 miles ridden for
the summer.
With the weather
heating up every day, the riding partners began to thin out. I was able to drag Mike out at least once a
week, but most nights found me riding on my own. On one of the rare occasions that I was able
to get Mitch and Mike out at the same time, tragedy struck. We were going down one of the larger hills
about eight miles into the ride. Mitch
was coming down the hill, shifting into a higher gear for more pedal power, and
his foot slipped off the pedals. He knew
he had to stop the bike, but forgot how to use the brakes. There he was, running down the hill on his bike. Looking to his right he saw a telephone pole
with a support wire attached to it.
Using his extreme athletic ability he guided his run away bike into the
guide wire. It worked and the bike came
to an instant stop. To bad that Mitch
had not taken a physics class yet, a body in motion tends to say in
motion. When the bike hit the wire, it
stopped instantly. Mitch, just like in
the cartons, went over the top of the handlebars like “Superman” and crashed
into the grass on the other side of the pole.
Luckily for all of us he was able to get up and finish the ride back to
the house. Needless to say this was his
last ride for about a month. His next
ride would end even more dramatically.
I had finally
convinced Mike and Mitch that they had to get out, get in shape and get used to
the heat if they wanted any chance of finishing the MS150 in September. Not even them in all of the athletic glory
and 17 year old bodies could do 150 miles with no training. They would ride but wanted some way for us to
keep in touch when riding since we tended to spread out. As a group we went out and purchased some
walkie talkies with hands free options and a five-mile range. We would use these on every ride to keep in
touch. So out we went.
I remember the day
well, it was 99 in the garage, 103 in the shade, and the heat index was
114. Loaded with extra water in our
camel packs we started out. The goal was
to ride to the river and back with a stop at Sonic on the way home to top off
the fuel tanks. Total ride distance was
20 miles. This ride did not go well for
either Mike or Mitch. Four miles into
the ride, as we approached Sonic, the boys started stopping every block to
catch their breath. When we turned the
corner for downhill run to the river, they stopped, sat on the curb, and
refused to go on. I took a serious look
at them and realized that the heat was getting to them. They were red faced, breathing heavily, and
feeling sick. We turned around and rode
back to the Sonic we had just passed. We
sat down and they just laid their heads down on the table and started pouring
water on their heads. Not wanting to
pass up a chance to put some fuel in the tank I decided to have a small before
dinner snack,. I order a large burger,
Sonic size tatter totes, a route 44 water.
As I devoured this small snack I noticed the boys were still sitting
head down on the table with a bunch of heavy breathing going on. As I was licking my fingers thinking about
getting a little snack for the ride home, I noticed that they sky was getting
dark behind us. I turned on our radios
and tuned into the weather channel. I
heard that a storm with strong winds, heavy rains and hail was heading in our
direction moving fast.
I called home and
told Sandy (Mom) to open the garage door that we were coming home and the rain
was right behind us. She told us to be
safe but hurry, this was a big storm. I
tied the boys onto their bikes and we started home. I kept the pace an easy 12mph for the first
three miles. All the while the clouds
kept getting closer and closer until the sky turned black all around us. With less than one mile to the house, the
wind picked up and the first drops started falling out of the sky. I told the boys it was time to leave it all
on the table and empty the tank. I told
them to ride for all they were worth.
Being in a little better shape I easily pulled ahead of them and made it
through the last stop light on the ride home.
When I passed through the intersection, the sky opened up and a curtain
of rain came down. It was raining so
hard that I closed my eyes and squinted through one just trying to see what was
in front of me. I had trouble seeing the
side of the road. I did not see the turn
off to our street until I was in the middle of the turn. When I pulled into the driveway Sandy (Mom)
told me that she did not see me until I pulled into the garage out of the
rain. It was raining so hard she could
not see the end of the drive way. I
quickly grabbed an umbrella and went in search of Mike and Mitch, hoping that
they had holed up somewhere. As the rain
began to let up, Mike and Mitch rode up behind me. It seems that they had made a wrong turn on
the street before ours. When Mike
realized that they were on the wrong street he yelled out, “TURN AROUND!” He then hit the brakes and turned sideways
right into the path of Mitches bike.
Just like in the cartoons, Mitch hit Mike’s bike and went airborne over
the top of both bikes, cutting his leg on the pedals in the process. Needless to say, this was his last ride of
the summer and a few days later he announced his official retirement from
professional riding. End result 157
miles ridden for the summer.
Going into August we
decided to as family start a new diet.
This diet was called the fat flush plan and was designed to help you
lose weight. Needing to drop a few
pounds I followed the eating plan to a T.
The plan called for cutting out carbohydrates, limiting portion size,
and reducing calories. While doing this
I continued to train like I had in June and July going out nightly to
ride. The longer I was on the diet the
harder it became to ride. Twice while
riding in August I called for pick up within two miles of the house, unable to
go another foot. I did lose ten pounds,
but I destroyed my riding shape at the same time. Before starting this diet I was able to leave
Mike in the dust. It did not help Mike
that he was able to keep up with me easily the farther I went on this
diet. Mike was very confident that he
could do the ride in his sleep, no additional training needed. He was very confident in his abilities. As he liked to tell me, he was half my age
and weighed 50 lbs. less. So, the old
fat guy was just going to put it all on the table for the first every Family
Championship at the “MS150” ride.
“MS150 Ride”
Family Championship
I spent the week before the ride, reading all the things
that I should have read earlier in the summer, how to train, what to ride,
equipment that helps the rider, bike maintenance, and conditioning. Talk about finding out a week before the big
ride that you did not prepare properly and were in way over your head. Who knew you were supposed to tune up the
bike, oil and clean the chain, tighten the brake levers, and fix the
gears. No wonder my brakes were not as
sharp as when I bought the bike. I was
oiling the chains, inflating the tires, tightening the brakes, putting on new
pedals, and putting a new tire on Mike’s bike when Steve pulled in from
Day 1
The day of the ride
we pulled on our T-shirts and shorts, pilled the bikes into the back of the
truck for the ride to the start line.
When we pulled into the hospital parking lot the place was packed. There were over 500 riders waiting to eat
breakfast and start the ride. We got in
line to pick up our packets for the ride.
One of the things we did was fill out a bracelet to wear during the
ride. This was to remind us who we were
riding the MS150 for. All of us filled
out a bracelet with Sandy’s (Mom) name on it.
This bracelet would be an important tool to keep us going later in the
ride. As we moved our bikes to the
starting line, talk about being out of place.
Mike and I were a definite minority on mountain bikes. I was the only person that did not have toe
clips for the pedals. Every rider but
the three of us was wearing a professional looking jersey. Most of these were custom made team
jersey’s. Steve said it best, “Look out
I spent the first 54
miles chasing the rabbit. Boy, Steve
sure was fast. I was on his heels for
the first ten miles. Mike fell off at
the five-mile mark. Steve finally pulled
away from me just before the 20 mile mark.
When I arrived at the 20-mile rest stop, I was hoping to see Steve. No such luck, he was already gone.
If I could not beat him to the rest stops, then I had to beat him out of
the rest stops.
If left the second
rest stop pedaling for all I was worth.
I kept seeing this same rider, she would pass me, and then I would pass
her. Finally just before the 30 mile
rest stop, she pulled along side me and said, “Hi, I am Susan, lets ride
together.” I did not know it then, but
if it was not for Susan then I would have never made it up those hills after
lunch.
I was pulling into
the 3rd Rest Stop as Steve was pulling out. I was on his tail. Quickly I filled the camel pack and off Susan
and I went. I could just see him in the
distance, but was never able to get any closer.
When Susan and I arrived at the 4th Rest Stop, we marvled
over the valet parking; however, I did not need valet parking for my bike, I
just put down the kickstand. Looking
back, I do believe that I was the only person with a kickstand. I wonder why?
It was here at the 40 mile mark that I found out Steve was still 20
minutes ahead of me. I looked over at
the “Free Massage” table, turned around, and got back on the bike. I had to close the gap.
We arrived at lunch
and I could hardly believe that I had made it.
Here we were at the 54 mile, that was 12 miles farther than I had ever
ridden before. Tanya and Mike arrived
just after we sat down. It seems that
she picked him up at the 40 mile mark and brought him to lunch. Mike had abandoned the ride for the day. Looking back, it was a marvel that Mike had
made it to the 40 mile mark. He did not
train all summer and only rode the 20 mile distance a few times. Mike made it here on guts alone, I do not know
how many other people would start a 86 mile ride having never ridden more than
20.
Day 1 (After Lunch)
After lunch I was
going to learn about dams. I never
really gave any thought about why dams were built, or where they were
built. I just knew that we were going to
cross one about six miles after lunch.
As we climbed towards the dam, Steve and Susan made it look so easy and
effortless riding uphill. I asked Susan
if this was one of the big hills, she just shook her head and started
laughing. Boy, I was starting to get
worried. When we got to the top of the
hill and I could see the dam in the distance, I knew I was in trouble. You see, they build dams where the natural lay
of the land is best to have the smallest dam possible hold back the largest
amount of water possible. A dam has a
damn hill on one side and a damn hill on the other side. When we started down that hill I hit 37mph on
my mountain bike without even pedaling.
I was cruising across the damn thinking to myself, this is not too bad. Boy was I wrong. Once to the other side of the dam, there was
a volunteer flagging me to go up the hill away from the river. When I started up the bottom of the hill it
was like my foot hit a wall. It was all
I could do to get my pedal to go around.
I quickly shifted to the granny gear and started up. Susan was steadily pulling away from me. Steve pulled away from me. All I could do was mash the pedals down. Up and up I climbed with no end in
sight. The hill was more than a mile
long and it about killed me. At the top
of the hill was a rest stop. This was
the best rest stop I had ever seen, it had ice cold rags in a cooler for the
riders. I did not even mess with the
rag, I just stuck my whole head in that ice water. Man did that feel good. I sat there for about five minutes trying to
recover and wishing that I had done more training.
Once back on the
road, I asked Susan about the hill we had just climbed and how it compared to
the last one we had to climb. She told
me that we had just done the easy hill.
The final climb of the day came at mile marker 78 and lasted for two
miles. I was weaving back and forth
across the road. I cursed the existence
of my mother, I ripped the MS150 Memory bracelet from my arm, and still I
suffered to the top. As I rode up, there
were signs along the side of the road and painted on the road that said mean
things like:
“My Grandmother Rides
Faster Than You!”
“Don’t You Wish You
had Trained More”
“Halfway Up” – This
sign was less than 200 yards from the top
It did not help that
while riding to the top, Mike and Tanya come up behind me in the truck. Mike yells out the window, “Man, you are
going slow! You will never make it to
the top!” He then laughed as they drove
to the top. When I made it to the top, Susan
and Steve were waiting for me. I noticed
that Mike was getting his bike out of the back of the truck. He told me he was going to ride in so that he
could get the crowd to cheer for him.
When we left the last rest stop of the day, Mike set out at a blistering
pace. His goal was to beat Steve and I
to the finish line and then claim that he beat us for the race. Steve was not going to let that happen. The fast Mike went, the faster Steve
went. We came across the line a little
after 3:30pm. We had been on the road
for almost eight hours. Our average
speed was 13.5mph. I was whipped and
Steve was looking like a champion. I
knew right then and there that he was the better rider for the year.
That Night
After riding 86
miles, all I wanted was a shower and a plate of food. We went into town and checked into the
Hampton Inn. As I took my shower, I
started to feel sick. The longer the
afternoon went the worse it became. We
drove back to
I woke up at 11:00pm
in the middle of the hallway.
Apparently, I had been sleep walking and had managed to walk into the
hallway. I had to go to the bathroom
really bad. I pounded on the door, but
Mike was asleep and did not hear me. I
went down the stairs looking for a bathroom.
I could not find one. I ran to
the side door, went outside, and found a tree.
As I stood there, watering the tree I realized that I had drank over 6
liters of water and never went to the bathroom since the 20 mile mark earlier
in the morning. After watering the tree
I went to the front desk and asked for a key to my room. They gave me the key and up to the 3rd
floor I went. When I got to the door, I
put my hand in my pocket and pulled out not one, but two keys. The entire time I had been in search of a
bathroom and had been pounding on my door, the key was in my pocket. I was really out of it. I went back to the room and se the alarm for
5:30am. I was going to ride tomorrow. As Mike saw me setting the alarm, he said,
“Chris, there is no need to set the alarm, there is no need to ride
tomorrow. Lets just go home and say we
did it.”
Day 2
Flags
standing straight out. Wind blowing out
of the north. Riding straight into the
wind. Going downhill behind Steve and
pedaling to get to 15mph. Steve quits at
mile marker 62. Steve pulls away from me
and rides like a madman from mile 52 to 62.
I win by default.
I
finish the year with 1,500 miles ridden at 15mph. I told myself that next year I was getting a
better bike and I was going to train harder.