Reflections from the 2003 MS-150
09/08/03
This past weekend, I participated in the MS-150 cycling tour for a second straight year. If you have never heard of the MS-150, you may need this abbreviation decoded. The event is the Multiple Sclerosis -150 mile charity cycling tour. Unlike last year, (in which it rained so hard that some riders were literally blown off their bikes) -this early September weekend deserved the description of “glorious.” The temperature stayed in the middle 70’s to low 80’s both days and the humidity was very low. The sun was bright but not oppressive and held court in a clear blue sky.
This year I had the opportunity to ride with the Lion’s Choice restaurants team. The team was organized sort of last minute by Jim Tobias, the President of Lion’s Choice. Jim, who is an avid cyclist and had never participated in the event before, decided it was time and that his first time in should be big. Within two months 13 team members had been recruited and a fantastic team jersey had been designed and ordered. Most of us, myself included, had not planned on participating this year and so had to throw ourselves into the effort.
During those two months, the event had become all consuming to the point that it is now difficult to believe it is a historical event rather than still something just over the horizon. This year, as last year, a lot of energy and attention went into training, and organizing our participation and – most importantly - fundraising. Weekends and after work, my friends and I looked for any opening in our schedules and the weather that would allow us to “get in” a 20 or 30 mile practice ride. Hotel reservations and travel arrangements were made (the ride started in Columbia, Missouri about an hour and a half away for most of the team). Posters went up at our workplaces panhandling donations. Using email, I tapped the shoulders of many old friends I hadn’t spoken or written to in ages saying basically, “How have you been? Can I have some money? If you follow this internet link you can use your credit card.” My employer and our Employee Activity Committee allowed me to host a “brown bag” Lion’s Choice lunch and a Lion’s Choice themed raffle which resulted in 44 lunch orders and 162 raffle tickets being sold.
This year I didn’t need to read the newspaper or watch the evening news to see that the economy has been soft. Last time around I was overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of my friends and coworkers who produced a staggering $1,500 donation ( a minimum of $200 is required to participate). Even greater than the amount of the donation was the enthusiasm and willingness with which they gave. This time the enthusiasm and willingness were not the slightest bit diminished but I will feel very lucky if I reach the $600 mark. At the event itself, you could also see signs of fiscal belt tightening. Last year the corporate sponsors went all out. Enterprise and Mastercard went toe to toe trying to out do one another with the best rest stops along the route. One of the stops had a full BBQ, another free massages, Blue Bunny ice cream made a lot of converts and at the lunch meal they actually served prime rib sandwiches thanks to the generosity of a local restaurant. This year, Enterprise still provided the SAG (Support and Gear) vehicles and Mastercard still had a huge cycling team but there was no ice cream, the only BBQ was at dinner and lunch was cold cuts and shrink-wrapped sandwiches.
The event itself is always a wonder. The logistics of trying to oversee a productive, entertaining and safe event for thousands of participants is mind boggling. Last year there were about 1,900 riders and this year they were expecting more than 2,700. Not only did the riders need to be housed, fed and entertained but the volunteers needed to be cared for as well. The ride took place over two days with the riders pedaling approximately 75 miles each day. Along each day’s route (different each day) there were rest stops about every 10 miles. Legions of volunteers shoveled high energy snacks and dispensed hundreds of gallons of Gatorade from 6 am to 7 pm. It will be quite some time before I can eat another banana or anything with peanut butter again. The SAG vehicles consisted of Enterprise vans, private motorcycles and private SUVs variously equipped with EMTs, bicycle repair components, bicycle technicians and the news media. The SAG teams roamed the routes continuously looking for injured or distressed cyclists and protecting the riders from other motorists. Regrettably, I know of at least one cyclist who left the ride in an ambulance.
Team Lion’s Choice came together so quickly that many of us met for the first time the morning of the first day’s ride. I was very pleased that we all seemed to bond instantly. There was a nice variety of personalities and professions (other than Jim, none of us worked for Lion’s Choice) but most importantly everyone had a great sense of humor. We got to the starting area about 6:30 am and had just lined up to have our team photo taken when we got our first taste of what would prove to be a theme for the weekend – people LOVED our team jerseys. Throughout the entire weekend, 15 minutes didn’t go by that someone didn’t ask who designed them (my good friend Troy Guzman who was on team), where we had them made, or if they could buy one (they may become available on the Lion’s Choice Web site). We also discovered that Lion’s Choice has a cult-like following that did all but kiss Jim’s ring in expressing their love for Lion’s Choice restaurants. We expect that next year’s Lion’s Choice team will be significantly larger than 13 people.
Our team consisted of a variety of cycling skill levels, and so we were quickly spread out along the route. Being spread out from the other team members, coupled with the need to ride mostly in single file, gives you a lot time to enjoy the country scenery and to think. It was during this time alone with myself that I began to ponder the real reasons for having such an event. Obviously, thousands, even millions of people simultaneously pedaling their bikes for 150 miles or even 150,000 will not cure a single person afflicted with MS. Much as the spirit of Christmas is discovered each December by the script writers of every network sitcom – each September I realize I am not at the MS-150 to ride my bike. Truthfully, I have never known anyone who has MS and only recently discovered that MANY of the people I know do have friends and loved ones who are affected. Truthfully, I knew that there was a disease referred to as MS and if pushed could probably have remembered that it meant Multiple Sclerosis. Truthfully, I started participating in the MS 150 as a way to go someplace cool to ride my bike and to participate in a fun event. Since these truths first became evident to me last year I have had new experiences. I have met the husband of an honorary teammate who has MS and heard him discussing his gratitude to his wife for her unlimited support. I have attended a presentation at my workplace where a former nurse detailed her experiences and described the way that her life was slowly being stolen away from her and by extension from her husband and children. I have learned that there is more to the MS 150 than paying $200 and riding for 150 miles.
As I rode on and pondered my “revelations,” I thought about the nature of the event. Does referring to this devastating disease as MS soften and sanitize the reality of the tragedy? Would people understand the insidious nature better if the name Multiple Sclerosis were out in the open? From a fundraising perspective, I suspect that “MS” is more palatable. People, myself included, have a tendency to shy away from uncomfortable truths and will more readily pursue entertainment than education. Most of us are more than happy to help a charity. Give five or ten dollars and we can go on about our lives feeling good about ourselves that we helped someone less fortunate. “No need to tell me all the unpleasantries, who do I make the check out to?”
Riding further, I began to suspect that this ride is the perfect way for the MS Society to raise funding and awareness. You enter the event looking for entertainment and to challenge yourself. While there you are exposed to people who are actually affected by the disease. Many of the volunteers are personally affected by MS or have family members who are. As you push yourself closer to your limits you begin to understand the frustrations of a body that cannot support the mind’s desires. Stretches of road which would have been no challenge at all the morning of the first day, seem impossibly long by the second day. Hills, like life’s challenges, do not always arrive when we are strong, fit and able to tackle them. Nonetheless, they are there and to not conquer them would be to admit failure. This year, I climbed each hill on my bike. Last year there was one I just couldn’t handle and I had to walk my bike to the crest. Accepting that failure is difficult, but it is reality. Many MS sufferers are intimately familiar with tasks they could once do but now find impossible, no matter how strong the need or desire.
Among the many great experiences of the MS-150 is the friendliness and openness of perfect strangers (and not just the ones on your team). There is an air of camaraderie that has become rare in our society. At the MS-150 it is perfectly acceptable to sit down with a stranger during lunch, or have a pleasant 30-second conversation as you are passing or being passed by another rider; everyone is your friend (especially if you are wearing a Lion’s Choice jersey!). I really enjoyed these brief windows into other people’s lives, but three really stayed with me. The first was that as I was struggling to take my light-as-air “road” bike (think 10-speed) up a rather steep hill, I was passed by a heavyset middle - aged man riding a tandem (a two - seater bike that is considerably heavier than mine) with his young (6 or 7 years) son on the back seat. As they passed me the boy looked over with an expression of “Why are you going so slow?” The second incident also involved a man and his son. In this case, the son was probably 13 years old and had Down’s Syndrome. Throughout the entire event the man was incredibly supportive and encouraging to his son. When they crossed the finish line the rest of the family was waiting and everyone exchanged hugs. It was a very moving moment and my words don’t do it justice. The third and most on target incident involved a man and his wife who were riding another tandem (and yes they did pass me). The woman had MS to a degree that her motor functions were being affected. At the rest stops you could see her moving with a sort of lurching gate with erratic gyrations in her torso and arms. She was an attractive woman. The part about this that I found so touching was what a good time she and her husband were having. Both of them smiled continuously, chatting with each other and the other riders, laughing and enjoying the scenery. They were obviously very much in love. I was very struck by how much pleasure they took from life in the face of such circumstances.
After each day’s ride, we returned to the Columbia fair grounds which was ground zero for the event. Everywhere you looked the scene was swarming with activity. Shuttles were going to and coming from local hotels. There were acres of tents, RV’s and campers. People were storing their bikes in the “secure” area (which, no lie, was inside a cattle barn called the “Cow Palace”). Musicians performed on the stage and a catering company grilled enough hamburgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs to feed more than 3,000 people. The $1,500 - generosity of my friends and co-workers last year had helped me attain “SILVER SPOKE” status this year. The MS Society recognizes above average fund raisers with Bronze ($500), Silver ($1,000), Gold ($2,500) and Platinum ($5,000) distinctions. They have other higher levels available, but I guess they ran out of precious metals to name them with. Being a Silver Spoke came with all kinds of perks. I got a VIP parking pass and admission to the VIP dinner tent (no hotdogs for me, thank you), but best of all I got bragging rights with my teammates. There was also a long stretch of fence that was covered in posters made by school children. Each “spoke” got their very own personalized poster. After the event was over I “liberated” mine and it is now in my office. It was difficult to get too big of an ego when you saw the number Platinum Spoke participants that were there.
Heading home Sunday evening left me with a number of impressions: the tent city gradually coming down, RV’s pulling away from their concrete landing pads, hundreds of cars and trucks bearing bicycles in a variety of different carriers all moving to the interstate and eventually to home. Full of food, freshly showered, exhausted but excited – my own car moved back toward St. Louis. Along the way, we passed the last rest stop and saw a group of riders still there gathering energy for their last push. A few miles further I saw a lone figure that I hoped was the last rider. I wondered if they would all make it to the finish line, ten more hilly miles from the last rest stop, or if some would have to “SAG – it” back in a van. Having so much time alone in your own head makes this ride a very personal and unique experience. I wonder what epiphanies the other riders had and how similar they were to my own. I wonder now what new insights MS 150 - 2004 will bring me. Most importantly, I wonder what progress will be made in treating Multiple Sclerosis. Quite a hill will have been conquered when the MS Society can disband and turn their organizational resources over to some other worthy cause. That day is the finish line all of the participants were riding toward whether they knew it or not.
10-14-05 / The last cookbook is spoken for. Keep checking back. I'll do something similar in the future.
