Skip to main content

RIDE ON

Pedal to the Point 2014
After one accomplishment, I immediately start plotting my next adventure. If you have been following my blog, you likely saw that I ran the Glass City Half Marathon last week, and now I'm moving on... What is it the next goal for this year? I'm shifting gears, literally, and refocusing on riding for the summer. Once again I will be taking on a Bike MS event.

I have to admit, this past week has been a week met with some mixed feelings. Finishing a huge race comes with this immense feeling of accomplishment, but then I start to think about how I can meet that accomplishment, and do I even need to? I was talking with my mom today and I was telling her about how I feel I have built some of my adult identity around my athleticism, and I sometimes wonder about the 'what ifs' that likely will NEVER come. For instance, what if I can't ride my bike anymore; what if I can't run anymore; what if I can't swim anymore? Because it is part of my identity, I honestly don't know how to answer that question... AND, that is why I am participating in this ride!

OK, so that isn't the only reason I ride... The other reasons I ride include hanging with my friend, to feel the wind in my hair, the feeling of accomplishment, and quite honestly, because I just like it. Actually, I LOVE it!!!

But here is the deal, the what ifs I mentioned above are the realities for many people around the world who are dealing with MS. I'm lucky... I'm just forgetful and clumsy, but I otherwise have all of my mobility in tact. I attribute my mobility to my athleticism and the care I put into my athleticism. I certainly am not only athlete, after all I've been working on building a very cool garden with my friend over the past few weeks, I've been hanging with my kitty and thinking about the next gifts I am going to make for people; all things that also impact my identity! But even the threat of losing one part of your identity is a scary prospect. This is likely why we grieve when we lose someone we love, whether through break up or death, because they are a huge part of who we are!

So, I am committed to making sure one less person has to grieve the loss of a small part of their identity by riding for MS.

My closest friend who is always there for me, is going to ride with me again. She was there for the 175 miles last year, along with my awesome family, and now she is going to put up with me for hours on this course...

Help us raise some funds for MS!!! A donation to my friend is just as special, if not more, as a donation to me. Feel free to click on either link below to donate, and Sue and I will promise (OK so we will shoot for) another picture like the one above!!!

Donate to Sue: here.

OR

Donate to me: here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All in a Day's Work

I don't even know how to begin this post... Several months ago, my sister had this bright idea to do her first half iron distance triathlon. I have always wanted to do one so I told her if she did it I would do it too. Next thing I know I was clicking register now on the registration page of the Highcliff Triathlon in Wisconsin. You can read about some of the reactions I received when I announced to various friends that I was going to do this race here . Over the months my friends have taken on the challenge of being supportive and cheering me on along the way. This was no easy feat as I was on the training roller coaster. As the day approached, I thought about all of the possible things that could go wrong and right. I had visions of myself standing on the side of the bike course with a flat tire, me holding on to a lifeguard boat, dreams about wearing clown shoes for the run, and on and on... I also day dreamed about the finish line, what it might look like, who would be the...
16 comments
Read more

I Have Multiple Sclerosis

One of my favorite bike rides ever! I have debated whether I was going to make this public for quite some time, however there really aren't any significant reasons why I wouldn't share. It hasn't impacted my life dramatically, and if I'm lucky, it never will. I also don't want to be a poster child, nor do I require or want any special treatment simply because I have MS. The thing is, I know more and more people who are impacted significantly by this disease and I feel compelled to help the cause. So for one purpose only, I am outing myself. Here's the brief story. Two years ago my tongue went numb, my arm went numb and I though I slept funny or had a mini stroke. I brushed it off as sleeping funny day after day, after day. Then my eye started twitching, among other symptoms. I decided I was simply crazy... After a while all of these symptoms became so infuriating so I went to the doctor. While at the doctor, he chalked it up to stress, but after a closer ...
13 comments
Read more

Jumping the Gun!

This is a 'total' bonus post for the week. I highly recommend reading my previous post, to better understand where I am coming from. You can check it out here .  I am not going to go into details but my name and grandma have been used in a sentence TWICE the past two days. Seriously? Do I look or act that old??? I must... Perhaps it is all the pie making! I am a woman of my word (for the most part, we all falter from time to time) and I mentioned in my last post that there was a chance I was jumping the gun with my dramatic flare related to being sidelined! Well, sidelined I am, but maybe for less time than I initially anticipated. The doctor will tell me my plan in three weeks. The overarching goal? The Chicago Marathon!  While running the Columbus Marathon, last year, I was blessed with amazing spectators and also running companions during the race. One of my companions was my sister. Somewhere near mile 25 she took a picture of me STILL smiling. It isn...
8 comments
Read more