Sam's Club MS150

This past weekend (Sat, May 3 - Sun, May 4) Derek, Don, Matt, and I joined over 3,200 other cyclists to ride the 2008 Sam's Club MS150. In addition to being one of the largest bike rides in the DFW metroplex, the goal of the MS150 is to raise money for and awareness about Multiple Sclerosis.

Each week, the symptoms of multiple sclerosis are diagnosed in 200 Americans. A new case is identified every hour. Approximately 400,000 Americans are living with multiple sclerosis. Counting family members and caregivers, MS affects more than 1 million Americans. The National MS Society estimates that multiple sclerosis affects approximately 3 million people worldwide. All proceeds from the 2008 Sam's Club MS150 help the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, an organization dedicated to ending the devastating effects of MS.

We started the 150+ mile journey Saturday morning in Frisco, just west of the Stonebriar Mall. The weekend's weather was nice overall (no rain - yay!); however, Saturday had some fairly strong winds out of the north and since we were headed mostly north and west to Sanger, it was in our face for most of the morning's ride.

At Rest Stop 3 (around the Mile 25), we got a nice long break and eat some snacks and gels and lounged on the grass near a pond while Derek got his bike repaired (rear derailleur damaged from an earlier crash). More than halfway to the lunch break.

After having a lunch of Subway subs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and various snacks and drinks at the Sanger High School, we rode down FM 156 through Krum, Ponder and Justin to the Day 1 finish line at Texas Motor Speedway. We totalled about 83 miles in 7 hours and 27 minutes (inclusive of all our rest stops and the lunch break).

Tired but happy we left our bikes in the corral at TMS, picked up our luggage and partook of the finish line festivities - including live music, complimentary foot/calf massages, and meals at both the Plano Cycling team tent (fajitas) as well as the main MS150 dinner area (chicken wraps, pasta salad, baked potatoes). Finally around 5:00 PM, we headed off to get some rest and relaxation before day number 2.

Day 1 Route Map: http://dallas.ms150.org/dallas/maps/2008/08SCDay1Route.pdf

On Sunday, we arrived back at Texas Motor Speedway just before 6:00 AM. With the various breakfast options, I ended up eating three breakfasts (a bagel and yogurt at home, breakfast burritos at Plano Cycling, and eggs/pancakes/sausage/bacon at the MS150 pavillion). Unfortunately, we misread the schedule and didn't line up inside TMS early enough to do the lap around the track. I had experienced this before at last year's Cross Timber's Classic, but I wanted to do it again and also let Don, Derek, and Matt get the experience as well. Oh well.

Sunday's weather didn't have as much wind, which was very nice. However, the road conditions were terrible for the first half of the ride. Bad roads with chip-seal and potholes marred what would have been a nice relaxing ride through rural areas enroute to Decatur.

Due to the location of the lunch break (at the 30-mile mark), we actually ate "lunch" at 9:30 AM at the Decatur High School. So I ended up having four meals before 10:00 AM. I definitely didn't go hungry this weekend.

In the afternoon, the roads got better - especially after we cross back into Tarrant County. The route near Eagle Mountain Lake got kind of hilly and there were definitely some challenging climbs. My GPS data says that we had 5,588 feet of total ascent on Sunday. (Saturday was only 2,900 feet of total ascent even though the distance traveled was longer.)

After the last big around the lake, we rolled into Rest Stop 6 (at the 61-Mile mark) knowing that we only had about 15 miles left. As we rode through Saginaw and crossed over Highway 820, we could see the Fort Worth skyline and knew the finish line was near. In downtown Fort Worth, we had to ride up one last large hill on Main Street towards the Courthouse, but once that was complete, we just made a few final turns and crossed the finish line in Sundance Square. We went over 76 miles in about 7 hours and 10 minutes. The grand total for the two days was 159 miles of cycling and almost 8,500 feet of total ascent.

The post race festivities started with getting our finishers' medal, MS150 pins, and completion certificates. Then we had a delicious dinner catered by Razoos and partook of various beverages. We were all very tired after the back-to-back cycling days, but at the same time felt very relieved that it was over and very happy that we had finished such a challenging event.

Day 2 Route Map: http://dallas.ms150.org/dallas/maps/2008/08SCDay2Route.pdf

This was a fun ride and for a great cause. Maybe next year, we'll be able to get even more of our friends and fellow athletes to join us.

P.S. Donations for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society accepted at http://www.ms150.org/dallas/donate/donate.cfm?id=218416