I received several varieties of encouragement to do the 40 mile instead of the 19 mile course Friday night at the Ride Ataxia NorCal reception; some could be printed and some perhaps not. I decided, both for my sponsors whom anticipated the effort of pulling the 200lbs of trailer, chair and adult around the 19 mile course and myself because I knew without the trailer the 19 mile would be a breeze, that I'd lean into the 40 mile, and maybe there was a little bit of "if I can do this at 70 I know more of y'all could take a shot at it as well".
8:30am was cool but not cold so I pulled off the sleeves of my bright yellow jacket and wore it as a vest both for core warmth and to be better visible. This year's jersey which both Brianne and I got thanks to you all(!) is pretty
but not as visible as Susan would want for me. ;-) The best news was that the forecasted wind of below 6mph until Noon-ish was accurate which would change the whole complexion of the Ride. Not having to fight the wind would be super!
I also had great hopes for my youngest daughter's new Arbonne sports product, http://www.arbonne.com/Pws/homeoffice/store/AMUS/product/PhytoSport-Set-6273,7711,1024.aspx which I had used on two practice rides recently and seemed to significantly extend my range and stamina. So that morning I chugged the 16oz of mixed pre-powder and mixed the first 16oz of "during" powder.
Ride Ataxia NorCal provides the very best in food and support. There was an excellent biker's breakfast with all sorts of in-ride energy boosters and even a bike repair station at the start line. A good thing too because Susan had been dispatched off on a SAG assignment before I got a chance to top off my tire pressures. A technician quickly got me "pressurized", checked brakes, alignments, gear shifting and oiled the chain and off to the starting line I went.
I was in line and ready to go when suddenly "Shirley" appeared next to me and reminded me (I had forgotten) that we had decided last evening at the reception to be ride buddies. Shirley is the widow of the RAAM (Ride Across America) mover and shaker Lee Mitchel https://ultracycling.com/sections/awards/hof/mitchell/ . Shirley supported Lee's interest for many years. http://www.joandeitchman.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/14322424238_1ac0cf9f5c_k-1.jpg
So Kyle Bryant, Ride Ataxia program manager and personal sparkplug, gave us our safety/DMV talk and reminded the great reason we and all our sponsors were involved that day, to help push through to a treatment for all these kids so unfairly burdened with FA. And then off we went!
Shirley and I made a good team. She was riding an early 70's road bike with the shifters low down on the frame while I was on my late 70's Schwinn Traveler with shifters at the neck of the handlebars. I paced myself to her so over the 40 miles we averaged 12mph. I could have done 14mph but this way I finished with lots of stamina left and we were able to have some excellent sharings along the way. It took us 4 hours with 3 hours and 14 minutes of that being riding time. The rest was socializing at the amazing rest stops along the way.
About mile 25 I lost my chain but was able to reconnect without stopping, but then I noticed whenever I stopped pedaling the chain would begin bunching up; my idler was not working correctly. This was not a deal-breaker but I had to be mindful to keep my feet moving to avoid throwing the chain off the sprockets.
Within a few miles we arrived at the Winter's rest stop and the first thing I saw was a bike repair station! WhooHoo! I left my bike with him, got food (BBQ hot dogs!) and visited the blue fiberglass building while he pulled off the wheel and liberally applied WD40 into the sealed rear bearing. He said the grease inside the sealed bearing hardens and the WD40 over a day or two would re-soften it. I suppose 35+ year old grease is permitted a bit of hardening. ;-) Even immediately I could tell it had helped.
From Winters it was a straight East shot for 14.5 miles to the finish line but now it was 11:30am-ish, the sun was bringing us to about 80 degrees and more significantly I could feel the wind coming out of the Southeast was freshening (blowing harder!). Shirley and I agreed picking up the pace a bit would be a good move so that last 14.5 miles of riding we did in one hour!
Back at the Vets building the lunch was in full swing and both daughter's Brianne with Trent and Cheri with Doug, Danny and Sarah were there to help celebrate my birthday with cake, cards and presents. During the middle of lunch Kyle drew attention to my BD and help sing a rather off-key version of happy BD which was nice of them.
After lots of socializing with FA family and friends that I don't get to see much of the event ended and we helped (a little) with cleanup before some of us went to the Woodstock Pizza to continue with the after-event event. lol Close to 40 folks gathered there for pizza. About 6pm I could feel my energy ebbing and Susan was ready so we gave hugs all around and headed home arriving just before 8pm. We brought in the minimum and called it a night.
The Ride continues to grow with registered riders over 400 and the sponsorship total at $104.4K right now!! This will help so much to stimulate more research and allow FARA to continue collaborating with all the researchers and drug companies involved in FA research efforts!
So I thank you all SO much for your sponsorships, your prayers and causing FA visibility in our community! May your lives be as blessed as mine is because of the friends, family and supporters that surround me!
