Biking to end MS

A fifty miler on Sunday for MS, and a 3 mile after work "run" on Monday, which followed my 2 mile morning walk, which followed my visit to the gym, yes, tonight (Tuesday) I rest my body. Hopefully, I can get this written and posted within the next day or two (I failed, so it is going up today, June 14).  Hey! I am really trying to keep up with this blogging thing.

50 mile MS ride, my second charity event of this season. The event raised 6k for MS.  My employer, St Francis Care, has a bike team that rides every year to support the MS ride. The Mandell Center  at Mt Sinai Hospital is a St Francis Care Provider, so you can connect the dots. I was proud, really proud to wear that jersey, and raising money makes me feel good, riding my bike makes me feel good too, and riding with a good friend, well, it was a win win win all the way around.

St Francis Bike Team 2015

So, this past weekend, we brought in some dollars for MS. I wore with pride my Saint FrancisCare jersey, and I smiled while I did that flat-ish 50 miles with a high school friend, Alison. Now, let me talk about Alison for a moment.  

Karen and Alison at the start

                                             

Alison is a runner. I don't mean she runs, she really runs. I have no idea how many marathons she does a year, probably into the double digits. She even does that Goofy or Dopey thing down in Disney, a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Full Marathon all in 4 days, so when I say she is a runner, she is a runner. But, she only had one outing on my old bike and that was an 8 mile tour around Collinsville, so I kept offering to her that we could do the 25 mile ride instead of the 50, she would have none of it. We stopped at one light on Rt 10 in Simsbury and I asked her if she was shifting that bike. Her little voice came back with "I forgot how to". So, we had a little lesson at the light and once she got it, let me tell you, she was the bomb! We maintained an average speed of well over 14mph and she showed no signs of slowing down. She mastered doing a pace line, learned how to climb a hill, pointed out road hazards, used hand signals and we had a ball. We raised money, we brought awareness, we supported those who need support. Two 60 yr old gals, that 'chicked'* a few guys, got lost, got found and crossed,the finish line. But, until we end MS, until we end Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma, until we end cancer of all types, and until we put a smile on the face of every sick child, we haven't crossed the real finish line. 

56 miles later, Karen and Alison at the finish.

With that, I will leave you with one thought. Ride a bike, run, walk, download the  Charity Miles phone app**. Don't want to do any of that, or don't think you can? Find a run/walk or bike ride and see if they need a volunteer to hand out the PB&J, or man the water stations. Can't do that? Donate to someone who is running/walking/riding, it doesn't have to be much, a couple bucks, or a couple bucks with a few zeroes. It all adds up.  And believe me, the giving feels good. Someday, maybe soon, with everyone's help, we may just cross the real finish line.

My thanks to the St Francis Bike Team, Jae Lorenzet, the awesome cupcake truck, the Sports Massage Team (the Thai guy, Bill, was really great!) and the gal that fell off her bike at the start for not taking me down with her.

* To 'chick' a guy means you are a chick and you pass him. It was really fun to chick some guys on a hill, doesn't happen often for me, but we had our little pace line really moving out, so we flew by a couple of guys, although, I think this is where we missed our turn. We were kind of  'in the moment' and feeling really good about ourselves.I have to ask, if a guy gets 'chicked' by two Grandmothers, should we call it 'grannied'? Hey, Dude, you just got grannied!

** Charity Miles!!!! A FREE phone app that tracks your miles (no, it is not mapping you to see where you are), just tracking your miles. Different sponsors give donations to various charities in return for the miles you walk/run or ride. The list of charities is long and varied, and 0.10 a mile is donated for bike rides, and 0.25/mile is donated for walk/run. Hey, you are doing the  miles anyway, turn on your phone and  have those miles help someone! My favorite charities on the list are: Nothing but Nets, which provides anti-malarial bed nets, The Michael J Fox Foundation, which supports Parkinson's Disease, Team Red,White and Blue, which enriches the lives of veterans.  There are many, many charities to chose from, so if you are going for a walk, run or ride, have at it and put those miles to use helping someone. Did I mention it is free? So far, I have donated 2,138.81 miles. Now, most of those miles are at 0.10 or 0.25 per mile, but sometimes different sponsors will set up a time period where they give you $1.00/mile! I try to do a lot of miles on those days :) Did I mention this is a way to donate without opening your wallet? Charity Miles was the winner of  SXSW Dewey Wilburne Interactive Award, click on the link and go check them out.