MS Ride Day 2 - David's Perspective

Day two arrived much to early. We rolled out of bed again at 5:30 am, and headed over to the race headquarters for an early breakfast with other cyclists that were limping around like me. I was pretty sore, the legs were pretty achy, but the worst was just the general behind area, which made it very difficult to sit down. I did not relish the thought of another day in the saddle.

The ride again commenced at 7 am. This day the top fundraisers in the ride were asked to start off the ride. Thanks to all the contributions of my generous friends and family I, too, was able to start out Sundays ride sporting the cool top fundraiser jersey.

The ride out today was really fun, everyone was in pretty good moods as we cycled toward the first checkpoint. A map of the second days ride is here. I hung with most of the pack for the first of the ride, which spread out only as we climbed a pretty significant hill going into Chimayo.

After leaving the first stop, about a mile away was the turn that split between the short 40 mile ride, and the very intimidating long ride of 60 miles, which included an 8 mile stretch of between 8 and 12% grade straight up on the road to Truchas. I had debated which one to do all night - the short or brutal ride. It pretty much came down to a split second decision as I approached the turn. I decided to give MS the middle finger and headed out on the ride uphill to Truchas. I was feeling pretty good for about 5 minutes until the hill starting kicking my butt.

After a long 1 1/2 hour climb at peak speeds of about 8 miles an hour, I made it to the top! It was very rewarding as the view was stunning. Truchas Peak was towering above and behind us, and spread out below was a large valley encompassing most of the Rio Grande. Off in the distance we could see Los Alamos illuminated by the early morning sun.

At the top I met up with a family team that I got to know very well during yesterday's ride and banquet. After congratulating each other on our successful climb, we headed back down the same hill we just climbed up. It took only 15 minutes to go the 10 miles to the next stop. I did set a land speed record on parts of the decent, maxing out at 45 miles an hour! (above right is a photo of part of the decent where we were at 10% grade for about 2 miles). This was definitely the most exhilarating part of the whole ride!

The rest of the ride was relatively flat, as we covered the next 3o miles rather uneventfully. I was getting really tired (and very saddle sore) near the end, but knew that the end was not far off. Finally after 5 hours in the saddle, and a total of 56 miles later I drug myself across the finish line. Ali was there waiting for me, camera in hand, to document the achievement (below).

All told, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Two months and over 900 miles of training, and then the actual 150 miles and 12 hours of the event. I plan on doing this as long as this as long as I am physically able. Most importantly, thanks to all of you that helped me raise over $1800 to support MS research!

Ali and I have already begun discussing doing this as a family next year, and I intend to talk as many people as I possibly can into joining us. (Ian, I am looking at you!). Below are two photos, at the starting line Sunday morning with Ali, and then at the finish line Sunday afternoon. (What you can't see is Ali being repelled by my 5 hours of road stink.)