2008 MS Ride to Lake Erie.

I just completed a two day bike ride from Cranberry, PA to Conneaut, Ohio. It was to collect donations for MS. This was the second year that I did it. Last year I did the Century option on the first day and pushed myself hard on both days. This year I rode with a friend of mine at a slower pace and really enjoyed the ride. It was nice to be able to take my time and enjoy the beautiful scenery. For a ride report, I'm just going to copy what my friend Gwen (who also happens to be my Spin Teacher) wrote. She pretty much included everything except for one accident that we saw. Just north of Morine State Park, at the bottom of a pretty decent hill there was a bridge that looked like the surface of the moon. The pot holes were many and deep. One cyclist hit the bridge too fast and was unable to dodge all of the deep pot holes and he flipped his bike. I was told that the bike flipped over the side of the bridge to the road below. The guy was laying on his back with blood running down his head. I was told that his helmet cracked upon impact. Good thing he was wearing one or he would have had a much serious injury.

Below is the ride report as written by Gwen.

We started the ride in Cranberry, PA at 7:30 AM Saturday morning. There were rest stops approximately every 25 miles with plenty of food and water. Day one was the longest and hardest. We had lunch at Grove City which was half way through the first day. The worst of day one was on the second half of the day. I must say a BIG THANK YOU to my friend Gary who stayed with me the entire trip. There were times during the trip that I had lots of energy then there were times that I was almost, I say almost tapped of energy. During the low times Gary would circle his bike back next to me and either tell stories to keep my mind off the hard task or sing Army sing which kept me smiling and breathing!

He was a great mentor and partner for this trip and he deserves a BIG THANK YOU as because of him, I made it!!! He also had a secret stash of "Espresso Love" which I used to get through the last segment of say one which was the hilliest and hardest by far! For those of you that do not know about Espresso Love, it is a wonderful gel like substance that you eat and gives you the boost you did not know you had. He uses this stuff for marathons. The best part of the day was the finish at Allegheny College in Meadeville. Joann and Jimmy were there to cheer us on the the finish line. It was so nice to have them there. What a relief for me that I did not know I needed! Day one celebration included lots of food, drink and massage therapy for the riders. Gary and I got a well deserved message after riding 81 miles. Then Joann took us out for an Italian dinner and a few more drinks. My son tucked me in bed before he left and he was so great taking care of his mother before they hit the road home.

Day 2 started out a little hectic. Gary and I planned to meet up for breakfast at 5:30 AM. We were both at breakfast but at separate dining halls. When I retrieved my bike from the gym, I asked the guard if he knew how many bikes were locked up. He said 2,700!!! Amazing.

The official start time was 7:30 AM. Both days there were volunteers at every intersection guiding the bikers and stopping traffic as needed. We decided to get an earlier start because of the heat. Yes, it was 90+ degrees day one however, there was some overcast so we felt that day one could have been a lot worse. We both did a good job hydrating throughout the day one. We carried water with us on our bikes and extra water in our back pockets of our shirt. We made sure we ate at least a bite of something at every rest stop and drank continuously!

OK, back to the early start. The volunteers did not start until 7:30 AM but they did have directional signs posted so we thought if we started early we could get a jump on the heat. Yes, what you're thinking happened. We got lost early on. One of the directional signs was missing and we missed a turn. Thank God we did not go to far before we realized that we had made a mistake. We got back on track and on with the day. Now day two leveled out and was shorter in mileage, only 69 miles. The rolling hills were much easier however, there was one segment that was extremely hard for me. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing and it felt like a 15 mile climb without relief. Again, Gary came to my aid with motivating words and songs! Just when we hit the last rest stop and I thought I was going to die, someone said only 9 more miles to go. I jumped up and said let's do this and finished STRONG! The last 9 miles were through town and beautiful. People were in there yards cheering us and the town posted signs welcoming us with mileage updates.

We ended in Conneaut, Ohio at Lake Erie! There was a huge party at the finish with music and food.

Oh ya, in the words of Gary, "I think I rubbed all the skin off my ass."

Nuff said.