[nitelightboy]

Damn dude, you're almsot 2/3's of the way to your goal. I'd say you're doing rather well and might even be able to surpass it. I find when I do the MS Walk down here, that if I just mention that I'm doing it, people ask how they can help. Be proud of what you're doing and why you're doing it. You're not begging, you're just asking people to help save the world one disease at a time.

[Sentient]

Just in case you guys didn't already know it, nitelightboy kicks ass.

* Sentient is extremely appreciative.

[nitelightboy]

* nitelightboy blushes....

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Sentient

But on a more aggressive note, Drew has already helped me out with a great donation, and I doubt the rest of you dudes want to be outdone by a dude in a pink polo, do ya?

* Sentient hopes Drew didn't mind that, as he just figured he'd stir up the waters a bit there, using Drew for bait.

It's for a great cause, and I'm a cyclist myself - of course you can use the Power of the Pink Polo™ to further your cause.

[Sentient]

Ok, the ride was this past weekend, and not only did everything go perfectly, but the whole thing was just an absolute blast. It was like bicycling heaven…. Nearly 2,000 cyclists (and rollerbladers) were on the road, all stretched out in both directions as far as the eye could see. Cops & volunteers were at every intersection & stop light, holding the traffic and waving us through. The rest stops & sag support was incredible, and the meals they served us had us goin’ back for seconds & thirds. I was able to meet & talk to so many people, either living with ms, or helping those that were. It was really an incredible experience, and everybody should be so lucky as to get to do something like this at least once in their life.

I never had seen roller bladers out on the road in team formation before this. They were slower than the bikes going up hills, but they would blast back by us on the downhills, tucked in like downhill skiers, single file & drafting faster than us. It was wild to see.

I was taking pictures while riding, and while I expected most to be blurry, many came out better than I expected. I don't think I have access to do a picstory fitting of ss.org tradition, and it looks like I can only upload a maximum of 5 pics per post... But here's 5 of my favs....

In the pics, I'm the shorter guy in the orange & blue jersey. The tall guy is my buddy Mike, who has MS, and was able to ride this whole thing with me (90 miles over two days; 45 per day). The names on the my pin-on were folks that have ms, that I rode in honor of.)

(Special thanks goes out to Nitelightboy & Drew, who were among the folks that helped make this whole deal possible for me. My friends, should we ever actually get to meet face to face, we'll take a line from AC/DC, and ya'll can "have a drink on me".)

Sincerely,

Burke

[Sentient]

...And here's 5 more pics...

[nitelightboy]

Sounds like it was well worth it. Congrats on going through with that ride. Personally, I don't think I would've made it more than 10 feet without passing out. My cycling skills suck.