Riding from Houston to Austin... I must be crazy!!

50 DAYS!!!! and counting...

Those of you who know me know I don't like car rides... honestly I don't even like to drive from Houston to Austin so why in the world do I ride my bicycle from Houston to Austin? Great question!! I ride the MS150 because I believe in raising awareness and money to try and cure Multiple Sclerosis! My childhood best friend, Erin,  has MS and she is one heck of a fighter against it! The least I can do is hop on my bike and ride!!
(I sure hope Erin doesn't absolutely kill me for all these old pictures!!! Love ya Erin!!! And I intended these pictures to be in better order by the blog site isn't cooperating with me so they will just end up wherever they end up apparently!)

In Kindergarten at the Zoo - I'm in the ET sweatshirt and Erin is in red.

Yes it is a tough ride. Somebody wasn't using their brain when they set the route because there is a fairly significant elevation change (in the wrong direction!) between Houston and Austin... It would have been much better if we started in Austin and rode "downhill" to Houston!!!

High School Hall of Scholars Dinner

Junior Prom

Senior Prom

It's an incredible event though - for starters it's amazing to see nearly 15,000 cyclists all riding for such a great cause. Plus there are thousands of folks who come out as volunteers because without them the event simply couldn't happen! All along the route when we go through towns people come out to wave and cheer us on. What really brings tears to my eyes though is when you see MS survivors out cheering us on. (Frankly I get chills just typing about it.) THAT makes the long ride so worth it.

College Days! Me at Purdue and Erin at Indiana State. I think I am visiting her in Terre Haute in this picture.

Our short stint as Girl Scouts (To be honest it wasn't a favorite thing of either of ours!) -
Here we are singing with the Choir at the Mall and Erin is giving me bunny ears.

The claim the ride is 150 miles but it's really closer to 180! (Talk about false advertising!) To give you an idea of what the ride is like imagine riders as far as the eye can see for 90ish miles a day. We start on day 1 in Katy and head out. There are rest stops with food and drinks every 10-20 miles but obviously you need to carry some of your own supplies as well. We do have a lunch stop about halfway and I'll tell you what - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich never tastes so good!!




You stop for the night in LaGrange and if you're part of a team it's awesome because there's a team tent with food and drinks already set up. We ride for the Saint Arnold Team because well.... we love Saint Arnold! And I won't kid you - honestly knowing there is free flowing Saint Arnold beer in LaGrange and at the finish line in Austin can also be a very motivating factor!!

I have ridden the MS150 quite a few years with quite a few different friends but this year's ride will be especially special. 

This year Ken has decided to participate for his first time ever! He is excited to be part of Team Saint Arnold along with some other extra special guest stars Mel & BJ! All of us are excited to be riding with our friends Kate & Mike (both rode last year as well!) and first time rider Jay as well! We are all excited about the event and also a little nervous that April 21 & 22 (the days of the ride) seems to be coming all too fast!

In the meantime we try and train as much as we can find time for and then there's the other big thing... we each need to fundraise $400. Not much in the scheme of things (especially considering how much I used to raise for Komen - and I haven't begged anyone for Komen donations for about a year and a half now)... but we're behind on that too. (Life has been busy what can I say?!) Please consider reaching into your wallet and donating even just $5!! I can tell you that your donation will be GREATLY appreciated.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO CHELLE

I also ride for my Aunt Janet who is battling MS as well. (I am bummed to say I can't find any pictures of me and her though I know there have to be some somewhere!!!)

We recently found out that a close friend of ours has been diagnosed... I haven't talked to him yet so I don't want to divulge his info but I can tell you that we will be riding for him as well. (Ken was not the most motivated about this ride because we have so much going on but when we heard this latest breaking news Ken has a renewed sense of motivation to ride.)

There are so many people who all of us riding the MS150 ride for.... The ride is the easy part in the scheme of things... And we are honored to ride! Please help us by making a small (or large!) donation... THANK YOU!

UPDATE!!!!!
Our buddy has given me the go for us to ride for him. We have had the privilege of getting to become great friends with an amazing Navy pilot Lucas who goes by call sign Spicoli (As usual when someone says Lucas I say Who? But I know exactly who they are talking about when they say Spicoli.) I am beyond honored to ride for him and so is Ken. I can tell you that he will definitely be the driving force behind Ken finishing because you know those fighter pilot guys have to stick together! (And to say Ken hasnt really trained for this bike ride might be a bit of an understatement!) We love you Spicoli and are here for you my friend! And if you wanted to send a jet along to help pull us to the finish line in April that would be okay too!!