352 11th Street South
Brigantine, NJ 08203
July 23, 2008
Dear friends,
If you were inland this past weekend, it was hot, very hot! Certainly to have been riding a bicycle on the hills of Pennsylvania on Saturday and Sunday, one needs his head examined! Anyone know a good shrink? Perhaps I need one. But having committed myself to cycling for MS and having collected your contributions, I wasn’t going to back down because of a few 90° plus days!
Riding the MS 150 PA Dutch tour from way north of the Valley Forge area (Green Lane) to Millersville University south of Lancaster is as beautiful a ride as any I’ve done and includes lush forests and fertile farm land including the Amish tracts. Having done this last year for the first time, I now felt ready for the rolling hills—some steep, some long and a few miserable ones steep and long. The route was well marked overall such that I only went astray once and only briefly. And there were plenty of support folk directing traffic at significant intersections and making sure that all the 500 or so riders were keeping hydrated and safe. In addition to the heat on the first day, the headwinds across the farm fields were a bit of an annoyance.
The heat must have taken its toll on many because Sunday’s ride back from Millersville to Green Lane had only about half the number of riders as the previous day. In fact there were long stretches of road where I was so alone that if I didn’t see an MS arrow painted on the road or tacked up on a telephone pole marking the route, I wondered if I didn’t go off-route.
By the last rest stop in Royersford on Sunday some 65 of 80 miles in, I was having some serious doubt about finishing. My legs felt like rubber and had little strength left to make it over the last of several hills and my mind felt wifty and irritable. I hope it wouldn’t be considered disrespectful but I confess that I used the orange bandana that my MS companion had signed to soak up some ice water and hung it around my neck to cool off. There was a woman in a wheelchair at that stop with her husband who wheeled her over to introduce her to me. Rebecca and her husband had ventured out in the heat despite its often deleterious effects on her MS symptoms to thank me for promoting the cause that helps her and so many other victims of MS. It was touching as we shared a few stories including that of Jean for whom I carried the bandana. That was all it took to convince me to get back on the bike one last time and chug up the last very nasty, long and steep hill panting and straining to push legs that didn’t want to go anymore. And finally there it was—the finish line with the balloons and cheering folks who patiently waited for me and others to complete the journey.
If you would like more of a description of the ride, you might enjoy the photos that I took during the tour. They are on view at “My Photo Gallery”.
Yes, the tour was definitely an appropriate challenge for an all too often debilitating disease for those who suffer with it. Thank you so much for all your caring and emotional and financial support! I will also be riding in the MS City-to-Shore tour in September. Hopefully unless there is a hurricane coming up the coast that day, that tour won’t be much tougher. September is also when I’ll be doing the Battle Against Hunger tour for the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. If you’d like to contribute further to either of these events, you can! You can contribute to my MS 150 City-to-Shore ride by either make out a check to “National MS Society” or go to the web site at “mscycling.org”, click on the donate/pledge button and put in my name in the indicated fields. On the other hand, if you would like to support the “Battle Against Hunger” tour, make out a check in that name. Please send your non-electronic contributions to me at 352 11th Street South, Brigantine, NJ 08203.
Thanks again for all that you do to help those less fortunate than us. I am happy to serve as a catalyst for your concerns!
Best wishes,
Harry