MS 150 Bike Tour

New Bern NC, September 14-15, 2002

I Made it!

200 miles in two days! It wasn't easy this time. I had cycled numerous Century trips in the past but never back-to back. I had some tough times. Leg cramps on Saturday and fighting strong wind on Sunday cut my usual pace down. Here are some numbers and how it went:

Saturday: 750 cyclists departed  Union Point Park and snaked their way across the Neuse River bridge towards Pamlico county. I managed to hang  in with the lead group of cyclists to the first rest stop (15 miles) at an average speed of 19.6 mph but had to stop while they whizzed on past the stop. From there on I found other groups to join but had to continually go slower because of a leg cramp that started occurring first in one leg and then the other. I learned to pedal on the good leg until the cramp subsided in the other leg.  Had a great  lunch at the Broad Creek United Church of Christ (51-mile) and  thought the cramps were gone. But at the 66-mile point I was in such pain I had to get off my bike and massage both legs before continuing. I tried several more times to hang in with groups of fast cyclists but found that I could no longer keep up the pace. I finally reached the Neuse River bridge and ran into torrential rain. It felt good and I could barely see New Bern but I was almost home.   

Sunday: On Saturday, rain was forecast for Sunday morning. I debated whether I really wanted to start all over for another 100 miles in the rain,  especially with cramps in my legs. Penny Round, a reporter at the Sun Journal, who had seen my MS web page, called to get  information for her Sunday morning article and  I expressed my concern about cycling Sunday, only to discover later that my comments appeared on the front page Sunday morning. Now I  really had to cycle Sunday rain or shine. After all, I had 44 sponsors that pledged money to MS if I completed the tour. I used cold packs on my legs Saturday evening and hoped that it wouldn't rain Sunday. 

Surprise! It didn't rain Sunday. The weather turned out nice and the cramps were gone. Again, I hung in with the lead group of cyclists to the first rest stop (15-mile) which they bypassed as usual. Lucky I pulled out because several cyclists went down about 100 yards beyond the stop. But no serious damage was done, just some road rash and minor bike adjustments. It's risky drafting in a group because you try to keep your wheel 12-18" behind a cyclist and never take your eyes off his pedaling . We made good time cycling to the lunch stop, but it was lonely on the Century detour and having to depart cycling with a nice 75-mile group. Not many folks cycled the Century on the 2nd day, probably because of the long drive back home somewhere in North Carolina.

Lunch was great at Yoder's Farm and Garden Supply on NC 118, about 9 miles east of Grifton (56-mile point). The main course for me was a peanut butter/jelly sandwich. But what really hit the spot was home-made ice cream being made in a huge ice cream maker belt-driven by an old chugging gasoline engine.  How quaint and impressive!  Everybody raved about the delicious ice cream. We may just drive back there someday for a visit. 

After lunch the wind from the south got stronger (forecast 12 mph) as we headed into it on the way back to New Bern. Again, the second part of the Century detour route was deserted so I had to fight the wind all alone until it merged with the 75-mile route.  By this time the only 75-mile cyclists left were slower stragglers but it felt good to join them even at 14 mph to get out of the heavy headwind. I was exhausted as everyone was and no longer trying to set any records. The chat dwindled down to someone occasionally asking how far it was to the next rest stop. I'm not sure I'll do back-to-back Century  trips next year.  

Other:  As far as I  know, the only members of our New Bern Century (NBCC) group (http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew/nbcc.htm) that rode the MS-150 were Bill Ernul and Danny Froelich. Bill completed both Century trips and Danny completed both 75-mile trips. We didn't ride together but I kept running into Kay, Bill's wife, who had volunteered as a nurse medic at rest stops along the way.  I also ran into my ham radio friend from River Bend, Charlie Gould, who set up rest stop #2 on Sunday. The hams from Raleigh and New Bern were very helpful patrolling the roads and looking for disabled cyclists. Several saw me limping along Saturday and inquired if I needed help.

By the way, I ate so many hi-carb bananas at the rest stops I have an urge to go swing in a tree right now... 

Congratulations go to Roxanne Hall and all the Raleigh folks at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society that put on such a nice MS-150 tour in New Bern and the great buffet dinner Saturday evening at the River Front Convention Center.  We are really lucky because the MS-150 will be back here next year for the 3rd year! I'll be 74 then and hope I can cycle it again. 

If you are a sponsor listed below that pledged a donation to MS, you can make your check payable to the "National Multiple Sclerosis Society." and send it to 3101 Industrial Dr., Suite 210, Raleigh, NC, 27609. Please write "sponsor for Dave Wallace" on your check. If you forgot the amount you pledged send an e-mail to me at davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net (remove XXX).  

Many thanks for your generous support!

The rest is the original web page that solicited my wonderful sponsors...

Dave Wallace 9/16/02

Hello folks,

 I'm Dave Wallace. I'm back again this year to cycle the MS 150 tour in September and need your support as a sponsor. See http://www.encms.org/ms150_2002/index.htm for information on the tour including pictures from last year's tour.

We're fortunate to have the National Multiple Sclerosis Society choose New Bern again this year for the cycling tour. Over 600 cyclists from all over North Carolina came here last year and the ones I spoke to said it was the nicest place the annual tour had ever been held. It was especially nice that the 150-mile trip started and ended each day (75 miles) in New Bern instead of ending in a different town. Also the new convention center where we had a hi-carb banquet, Union Park where the tour started and downtown New Bern made quite an impression on our visitors.

The underlying purpose of the MS-150 tour is, of course, to raise money for multiple sclerosis research (see http://www.encms.org/).  Practically everyone knows somebody with MS. We have two family members with the disease and  hope someday there will be a cure. Medicine is doing wonderful things to arrest MS but more research is required to find a cure. NMSS spent almost $28 million on research in 2001. See http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Research-2001Nov30.asp.

How does cycling the tour raise money? By folks pledging a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in behalf of a cyclist that completes the tour. I dislike soliciting but decided last year to set up a web page providing information about the NMSS, the MS-150 cycling tour, my cycling qualifications and see if I could attract a few sponsors. To my surprise it worked and I raised $635 in pledges. Last year's web page can still be seen at http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew2/ms150.htm along with the list of the folks that sponsored me. 

This year I have decided to make the tour an even larger challenge by electing to cycle an extra 25 miles on each of the two days for a total of 200 miles, thus making two Century trips back to back, something I've never done. I feel confident that I can do this even at age 73 because of the numerous Century trips I've cycled over past years. Take a look at http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew/nbcc.htm, the web page for the New Bern Century Cyclists.

HOW TO MAKE A PLEDGE:

I plan to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society the same as I did last year using a web page. I don't want to handle any money nor request sponsors to send checks to NMSS before the tour unless they chose to do so. A sponsor's "pledge" means to me that I must complete my end of the bargain and cycle the MS-150 tour before pledges are sent to NMSS.

If you wish to make a pledge, please e-mail me your name, address, phone number and the amount pledged. I will add the information to the pledge list that must be turned in prior to cycling the tour. Unless you request otherwise I will add your name to the list of sponsors on this web page. Any amount that you wish to pledge will be appreciated and will not be listed on the web page. Pledge amounts varied widely last year. I would love to see many more sponsors this year than last even if they pledge just a dollar or two. 

Following completion of the tour on September 14-15, I will notify each sponsor by e-mail or phone and provide the address of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society  for them to mail a check. As before, I will update this web page with comments on how the tour went.

Sincerely,  Dave Wallace - 7/1/02  davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net PS: The background tune is "Daisy - Bicycle Built For Two." We had many tandem bikes last year in the tour. As a matter of fact we had about every kind of bike imaginable and about every age person riding them. Why don't you join in this year? See http://www.encms.org/ms150_2002/index.htm to register.

Why I enjoy cycling the MS 150:

Besides racing in the Nationals, the MS 150, which had 640 cyclists last year, is the only opportunity I have to ride with a large group of cyclists. Even more cyclists are expected this year at the MS 150.

Riding in a group is fun because it's almost effortless pedaling with practically no wind resistance. The lead cyclists "pull" the group for about a mile then retire to the rear as the next cyclists take the lead, all the while moving along at close to 20mph. The problem is finding a group moving at a speed you're comfortable with. The group often ends up either too slow or too fast so you find yourself cycling alone and struggling against the wind to catch up with a group ahead. As soon as you catch up, pedaling becomes easy. But riding about a foot or so behind a cyclist can be dangerous and you must watch his pedaling carefully and stop pedaling the instant he does. Fortunately, I've never been in a group crash that causes lots of "road rash."

MS-150 Bike Tour Routes

   Saturday 9/14 75-mile route   Saturday 9/14 optional 100 mile Century route

   Sunday 9/15 75-mile route     Sunday 9/15 optional 100 mile Century route  

Maps from Amateur Radio Hams

SPONSOR LIST

Below is a list of the folks sponsoring me in the MS 150 Bike Tour in New Bern on September 14th and 15th, 2002,  including the sum total of the pledges:   

Addresses are in North Carolina unless noted otherwise                       

Grand Total of Pledges!  $1449

Thanks Sponsors, this is fantastic!

updated 10/12/02