150 Mile Coker Ride for Charity

At the start of the summer, as I began spending more and more time on my
36-er, I started thinking about some riding goals for the summer. At
first, I was just thinking about total miles I wanted to ride, but soon
realized I had an opportunity to link my riding goals to a greater good.


On September 10 and 11, I’ll be riding in the National MS Society's
annual "MS 150 Bike Tour", a two-day, 150-mile ride that helps raise
funds for the MS Society’s research and to support local programs. In
talking with some of the MS Society ride organizers, I may be the first
ever to ride this event on one wheel (at least in Washington). While I
realize this isn’t a major ride compared to some of the current
uni-tours, back-to-back 75s will represent back-to-back “personal bests”
for me. My longest single day ride to date has been 55 miles, and while
I plan on doing at least one 50-miler prior to the event, I’m not
planning on riding 75 miles in a day until the event.

The more I’ve learned about MS, the more passionate I’ve become around
doing this ride. MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system
affecting the brain and spinal cord. It is also an unpredictable disease
that can attack anyone in the prime of life. Imagine, one day you’re on
top of your game, and the next you're hit with the diagnosis of a
debilitating, incurable disease. I feel blessed to be in relatively
good shape for my age, and hope my ride can help those less fortunate.

I’m always hesitant to send out anything that could be considered as
“spam”. At the same time, this forum and many of its members have
become important elements of my riding life, so I wanted to share this
and at least give those that want to—and are able to—the opportunity to
join me in supporting the National MS Society's mission.

Sponsoring my ride is easy to do and every dollar helps. One way is to
just click the “sponsor me” link below and make a secure online
e-pledge. If you’re averse to online transactions but still want to
help, just PM me and let me know how much you’d like to pledge. I’ll
add it to my total then send you a note in September when it’s time to
write the check.

In the meantime, time for me to go ride. Since committing to the ride
on June 1, I’ve logged 300 miles, and will log another 300 before the
start of the event. I've been learning a lot about hydration and
nutrition from these training rides, and from the many recent posts from
other distance riders. Hopefully all the learning and training will come
together on September 10th and 11th to get me through the Ride.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help!

Tom B

To sponsor me:
Click 'here.' (http://tinyurl.com/dxmpx)

To visit My Personal Web Page for the ride:
Click 'here.' (http://tinyurl.com/8jqbs)

To learn more about this year’s MS 150 Bike Tour or to get involved:
Click 'here.' (http://tinyurl.com/c4gsw)


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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My Mom has MS, so it's always pleasing to see when people Unicylce for
the MS society. The Unicycle Across Minnesota (the long way) was also to
raise money for the MS society.

The donations to the MS society have made a ton of difference. Over the
past 10 years there have been some major advances in drug therapy. My
mom was in the test group, and even on placebo she improved remarkably,
now she's on the real drug, and it's allowed her to do so much that she
wouldn't be able to do without, like travelling, coming to visit me.

Keep up the good work, it really is a good cause. As soon as they stop
blocking stem cell research a cure will occur.


--
ThisGuyIKnow - Film Guy
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Tom, That's awesome. Good luck. I know there are a few of the Austin
riders that did this earlier this year. I really would like to do
something like this in the next year. I just did the Tour de Cure in
May. We only did 50K or 31 miles. Not nearly the challenge you are in
for. Congratulations on all the funds you have raised already.


--
bugman - Proud member of the UALW
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BTT for a good cause.


--
bugman - Proud member of the UALW
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That'll be a hell of a ride. Good luck.

I have a friend with MS who used to be a dancer, and musician, and now
struggles to walk, and seldom plays.


--
Mikefule - The first cuckoo of unicycling

Sumer is icomen in, loud sing Mikefule!
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tomblackwood wrote:
*Since committing to the ride on June 1, I’ve logged 300 miles, and
will log another 300 before the start of the event. *

Well, my training is now over and all that remains is to go do the Ride
this weekend. While I think some elements of my training could have
been more effective (such as more long days of nothing but climbing),
I'm feeling ready. To my quote above, I actually logged another 400
miles, making my total 700 miles since committing to do the ride.

The GB4 36 is feeling good, and it's lighter than ever thanks to John
Childs helping me out with the 28" tube conversion. In fact, the level
of support from this community has been great. In addition to the
direct help in the form of pledges toward my ride, I've also received
climbing advice from the climbing gods of the sport, endurance advice
from Norway/Alps tour veterans, and nutrition advice from professional
eaters (JC).

My biggest concern at this point is "time". Each day starts at 8am and
at 5pm they start kicking you off the course. Since I average 10mph,
that only gives me an hour and half of padding for the entire day, so
I'm going to really have to watch the time when I stop for lunch,
circulation breaks, etc.

Thanks to everyone for the support and encouragement. I'll let you know
how it goes. In the meantime, if anyone feels passionate about helping
find a cure for MS and would like to support me on this ride, please see
the links below.

Cheers,

Tom B

To sponsor me, click 'here.' (http://tinyurl.com/dxmpx)

To visit my Personal Web Page, click 'here.' (http://tinyurl.com/8jqbs)


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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Go rip up the road, Tom! I hope you realize that most of your training
miles came from John Childs and I spinning up your wheel while you were
in the restroom on the Iron Horse Trail. You've actually only put in
about 6 miles on your own.


--
harper - A walk in the park.

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

"You guys aren't thinking this through. Hey, where's your other... BANG.
" - Brian MacKenzie
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Good Luck Tom. Reid talked me into doing it here in Atlanta, so I'll be
heading out early in the morning as well. Ours is the MS150, but is
only 100 miles. Next year it will be an official 150 miles.

It will be a lot easier to make in under the time limit for us. Sounds
like your going to be hauling butt. My advice is to get a couple of
hundred tacks and head out early. If you scatter those along the route,
I think you'll have a good chance of staying ahead of the Pelaton.

If that fails a well timed dismount into the Pelaton should give you
some extra time. That's my deviant plan any way.


--
bugman - Proud member of the UALW
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Good luck Tom! You will do great. I know you won't need to, but worst
case a unicyclist may have to SAG in at the end of the day on a ride
like that. You still get respect from everyone there because...YOU'RE
DOING IT ON A UNICYCLE. So have fun, and be proud of what you are
doing.

And don't let Harper's revelation hurt your confidence. I am sure those
6 miles of training will pay off for you.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - Unsafe at any speed

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn
how to do it." Pablo Picasso
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Well, the ride is now history, and the MS-150 in Washington this weekend
was an incredible experience and great success. Certainly it was the two
hardest riding days of my life, but also the two most rewarding, with a
great cause to benefit, fantastic ride support, and unbelievable
encouragement from the MS Society workers, all the bikers on the course,
and the many people afflicted with MS who were in attendance.

The ride also represented back-to-back "personal bests" for me on the
distance, 61 miles on Day 1 and 59 on Day 2...the MS-120. I was really
hoping to make the full 150 miles with two 75 mile days—and I went for
it on both days, eschewing the 50 mile option when the decision point
came where you had to choose between the 50 and 75 mile routes. But
pedal hard as I did, the full 75 just wasn’t achievable (for me) from a
time perspective. The event had specific times...you couldn’t start
before 8am, and you had to be done with the ride by 5pm (4:00 on Day 2)
or they would sweep you off the course in one of the SAG vehicles. With
an average speed of 10 mph, that only gave me 1.5 hours of total fluff
time through the whole day (1/2 hour Day 2) for breaks, lunch, rest,
bathroom. That seems like a lot, but it’s amazing how quickly it gets
chewed up, especially at the break areas, where a 5-minute water and
banana stop usually turned into a 10-minute question and answer session.
There were lots of people interested in learning about the
unicycle...how the brake worked, whether it was geared, did I really
have to pedal down all the hills, etc. Once it became clear this would
happen every time I stopped, I decided I’d rather be a uni-ambassador
than a guy who was in too much of a hurry to talk to people. That said,
I’m not sure I could have finished the 75 in the required time even
without all the people and questions, as it was that support and
enthusiasm that really gave me the energy to get back on and keep
pedaling.

The first day was just lots of killer hills between Fidalgo Island and
Whidbey Island. Total day—according to ride organizers—was 4,600 feet
in elevation gain, of which probably 3,500+ occurred in the miles I
rode. Some were steep, some were long, and two were long and steep.
With the exception of one 50-yard stretch where I fell and had to hike
to a safe re-mounting spot, I made them all and no bicyclist got to see
me pushing my uni up a hill. But it also took a lot out of me and
required more rest. When it became clear by Mile 40 that I wasn’t going
to be able to make the full distance in time, I cut off doing the full
loop to the end of the island, so I could at least finish under my own
steam versus crossing the line in the trunk of a SAG car. I crossed the
finish line a minute before deadline...still had some legs left, but no
more time.

Day 2 was less hilly, with much of the ride winding north through the
Skagit Valley farm country before looping around and returning down the
coast of Bellingham Bay. My pace was quicker over the first 35 miles,
with an average speed of 10.8 versus my 10.1 average for Day 1. Like
Day 1, the 50/75 decision point came at about Mile 30, and I felt good
so I pressed on for the 75. When I reached the next rest stop 5 miles
later, however, they were already packing everything up! All the faster
riders were well ahead on the 75, and all the slower riders had chosen
the 50. Another tough decision…turn around, work my way back to the 50,
and eventually re-unite with the main loop and other riders, or press
ahead on the 75 without any food/water support for the rest of the ride.
Not really much of a choice, but at least I picked up the extra 10
miles in the process. Turned out to be a good decision, because the
entire return route down the coast was into a strong head wind which
ranged from mildly distracting to debilitating, mostly tending to the
latter. It actually felt like a 20-mile-long hill…at some points it was
all I could do to maintain a pace of 8 mph. My average mph dropped from
10.8 at Mile 40 to 10.6 by the finish, which is a pretty big change
after that many miles. I have to say that this last 20 miles was the
single most draining ride I’ve ever done. Tougher than the hills the day
before, and I felt like a giant sail in the breeze. Earlier, before the
headwind started, I had been entertaining thoughts of taking a small
detour before the finish so I could reach 65 miles and top my previous
day’s record. But by the time I hit Main Street LaConner, all such
thoughts had disappeared. Day 1 I had legs but ran out of time. Day 2 I
had time, but ran out of legs.

High Points:

Riding my unicycle across the 'Deception Pass Bridges'
(http://tinyurl.com/du9zw) twice--once with a Harley escort behind me to
cushion me from traffic, and once with nothing but a prayer that the
truck in my rear-view had patience and a sense of humor.

Riding down main street in LaConner on Day 1 with four blocks to go and
seeing my son Miles on his unicycle riding up to greet me. We crossed
the finish line at 4:59 with hands linked to the deafening applause of
all the riders and volunteers.

They had a bunch of Harley guys who rode the course to help out, keep
cars at bay, etc. About 15 miles into Day 2 one of the tougher looking
ones pulled up next to me and said "You know, you're the baddest ass out
on this course today." I had to laugh. HE was the baddest ass on the
course…I was just a dork on a unicycle.

The countless variations of “Hey Unicycle Guy!” and “Go Man Go!” that I
received from the passing riders. The best comment? I was passing one
of the more casual riders on a long hill and she said "Oh my
livers...you go boy!" Oh my livers?

And the biggest High Point: Raising over $3,000 to support the MS
Society’s work to provide benefits to the many people affected by the
disease, and to one day find a cure. I can’t express my thanks enough to
all of you that supported my ride, either through direct financial
contributions, or through advice, help, and encouragement.

What would I change? Probably the main thing is I’d train harder on the
hills. I trained 700 miles, but I spent a lot of time climbing little
shorties here near my house, which are the climbing equivalents of wind
sprints compared to what was found on the actual route. I should have
spent less time worrying about total mileage and a lot more time finding
and riding 400-500 vertical foot, 8%-12% grades, since Day 1 strung like
nine of those together. I never imagined that possibility. I think also
when I ride it next year, I’ll set my sights on back-to-back 50s and
just be happy with those rides, versus spending energy worrying about
how to make the longer loops and stressing over every minute spent idle
at a rest stop.

Thanks again for all the encouragement and support!


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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