MS-150 Bike Tour

New Bern NC, September 10-11, 2005

Turn up your volume for "Salty Dog"

Background photo of cyclists leaving Union Point Park at MS-150 Sunday start in 2004

Whew! It was a tough two days! With Hurricane Ophelia off the Carolina Coast, the wind was relentless. But I made the 175 miles! I was considering going for 100 Sunday instead of 75 but they cancelled the Sunday Century trip because of Ophelia. Just as well. I'm not sure I could have cycled an extra 25 miles in the heavy wind anyway. 

Here are my stats. Not as fast as last year but I still returned to New Bern ahead of most cyclists. 

Saturday September 10 - 100 miles:

I was in the lead group of about 1500 cyclists as we headed up the curving ramp to the Neuse River bridge when I heard a pop! Someone shouted that I had a flat so I stopped. I was going to stop anyway to take a photo so after clicking a couple pictures of cyclists whizzing by I proceeded to repair my flat. But to my surprise my saddle bag had simply come loose and was dragging on my wheel. Thank God, no flat. I immediately joined a large group of cyclists and was on my way. Boy, was I lucky! I saw at least 5 flats on the road.

We headed into Pamlico county directly into heavy northeast wind all the way to the lunch stop. I was in and out of large groups of cyclists all morning as I had to keep dropping out because of leg cramps. About 10 miles from the lunch stop I ran into 14 year-old Elliot Befus on the road. Elliot was supposed to be doing 75 miles but took a wrong turn and was on the 100-mile route. We alternated pulling each other and when we arrived at lunch his father was waiting for him. Back in August the Befus family from Raleigh joined the Flythe Bike Shop sponsored 50-mile MS-150 training ride.

It was a pleasant surprise to see banjo picker Marvin Walker with his NEW GRASS GOSPEL GROUP entertaining cyclists at our lunch stop. See my web page on him at http://home.earthlink.net/~banjomaker/banjo.htm. Marvin occasionally plays with our Pickin & Grinin group in the Twin Rivers mall on Friday evenings.

Saturday evening banquet:

I was so exhausted when I got home Saturday afternoon that I just took a hot shower and collapsed, therefore, I missed going to the nice banquet at the Convention Center this year. There's always a nice hi-carb buffet, free beer and good friends.

Sunday September 11 - 75 miles:

Rain was predicted for Saturday night and Sunday morning but Sunday ended up a nice day except for the heavy wind. It was fun going downwind at the start. For the first time, I whizzed by the Tuscarora rest stop without stopping at 19.3 mph saddle average but as the route turned against the heavy Northeast wind cycling got tough. Again, I was in and out of groups of cyclists but no leg cramps occurred Sunday. There were times that I simply couldn't keep up with the young cyclists, most of whom were younger than my children. I wish I could hang in because it was hard to maintain even 12 mph alone in the heavy wind. It was a relief to finally reach the lunch stop at Yoders Farm Store which is always the high-point of the day with their home-made ice cream being made as we watched.

 Both days were tough cycling and at times I had to ask myself if I was really having fun. But arriving back in New Bern with a cheering crowd handing out MS-150 medals and joining cyclists on the scenic veranda of the Convention Center for the barbeque and chicken buffet it all seemed worth it. And look at all the money we raised to combat Multiple Sclerosis.

Pictures: 

As I did last year, I purchased a small Kodak throwaway camera that I could keep in my Jersey pocket. A few of the shots are posted: Click Here

Where to send your check:

If you haven't done so already and you are listed as my sponsor below, please write your check to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and note on it "MS-150 sponsor for Dave Wallace." Send it to:

    Multiple Sclerosis Society, 3101 Industrial Drive, Suite 210, Raleigh NC, 27609

If you have questions you can call them at 1-800-FIGHT-MS. Also if you forgot your pledge amount send e-mail to davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net (remove the XXX) and I'll return your pledge message. 

Thank you folks! 

Thank you for your wonderful support for me to cycle the MS-150. Many of you have pledged money year after year to the MS Society for me to ride the tour. I always felt that I have the easier part of the deal because it's a lot more fun cycling than parting with money. But I want you to know that we have two young family members with MS and can see how it affects them. We can only hope that a cure will be found before it's too late which will only happen if research is continued. The MS Society is the largest private source for MS  research worldwide. Check them out. 

Thanks also go to Amy Lott and all the good folks at the Multiple Sclerosis Society in Raleigh for putting on a really first-class bicycle tour. 

Sincerely,  Dave Wallace

BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL WEB PAGE THAT SOLICITED YOUR SUPPORT

The MS-150 bike tour is coming back to New Bern again!

  Hello, I'm Dave Wallace and I'm ready to ride the MS-150 bike tour in New Bern on September 10th and 11th. This will be the 5th year for me to cycle the tour as the oldest male cyclist at age 76. I'm hoping once again that you will support me in joining over 1500 cyclists to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research

What is the MS-150? 

The basic MS-150 tour consists of two 75-mile loops out of New Bern on September 10 and 11. On each day there is an option of adding 25 miles to round out the trip to 100 miles or what cyclists call a Century trip. I plan to cycle 100 miles the first day and 75 the second day as I have in the past. Each day's tour starts and ends at Union Point park in New Bern. The Tour is not a race but despite all ages and types of bicycles participating for many it's still a race. I try to hang in with the lead group as long as I can, usually to the first rest stop around 12 miles which they simply bypass. 

I need your support

The purpose of the tour is to raise money for research to find a cure for the devastating disease of Multiple Sclerosis. What I need are sponsors that will pledge a donation to the MS Society provided I complete the tour, which in my case will be 175 miles of cycling in two days. If you go to http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew/dave.htm you may access all my  previous MS-150 web pages and see all my wonderful sponsors for the past four years that raised $635, $1449, $1562 and $1555 respectively. The overall goal this year for the Tour in New Bern is $1,000,000.  

Last year I had many sponsors that pledged fairly large donations. While I appreciate all the support I can get I was thinking that perhaps this year it would be nice to have more folks support me with smaller pledges and perhaps end up topping my last year's total contribution to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. How about it folks, please consider pledging a few bucks for a really good cause. The Society is a first class organization that raises lots of money for MS research. Everybody knows somebody with MS. We have two members in our family with it.

How to pledge support

To pledge a fixed amount or an amount per mile please send a message to me at davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net (remove the XXX before sending) with your name, address and the pledge amount. Don't send money. I will then post your name (less amount pledged) to the list of sponsors below on this web page. 

When and where to send money

Upon completion of the tour, I will post a narrative on this web page how the tour went. Assuming that I complete 175 miles you will be notified where to send your check to the Multiple Sclerosis Society for the amount that you pledged. If I don't complete the Tour you owe nothing. But don't count on it!

What is MS and what is the Multiple Sclerosis Society doing about it?

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can be life-long. This year the MS Society will spend more than $35 million to fund more than 300 new and ongoing MS research projects. There are now five FDA-approved drugs that can impact the underlying disease course in people with the more common forms of MS: Avonex, Betaserom, Copaxone, Novantrone and Rebif. The Society funded basic research that led to the development of several of these drugs and continues to advance research that will help end the devastating effects of MS. 

What's it like to cycle 175 miles?

If you've been cycling as much as I have it's lots of fun to cycle long distance but if you haven't it can be a long and torturous trip. Many cyclists don't make it all the way and only ride to one of the rest stops and return. But most of the 1500 cyclists that come from all over the state have nice road bikes and are accustomed to riding cross country. The average age is in the 30s. What makes the Tour really fun is being able to ride in large groups of cyclists. It's dangerous riding behind a cyclist at high speed but you'd be surprised how easy pedaling becomes. The problem is that most groups are not organized and as each member takes the lead "pulling the group" the speed gets notched up a bit until members start dropping out. A group moving along nicely at 18 mph might eventually reach 24 mph as the lead is rotated. But there's always another group coming along behind to hook up with. One of the nicest groups I encountered last year was a group of gals on a Raleigh team that stayed together at 18 mph. But it gets boring at times continually staring at a wheel perhaps 12-18 inches ahead so when the route turns downwind I usually break out and travel alone for awhile. Despite numerous rest stops along the way with refreshments I'm absolutely exhausted coming in for the home stretch. 

Hey, you can ride the MS-150 too!

Dave Wallace - Send E-mail to davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net  (Be sure to remove XXX)

SPONSOR LIST

Below is a list of the folks sponsoring me in the MS 150 Bike Tour in New Bern on September 10th and 11th, 2005, including the sum total of the pledges:   

Addresses are in North Carolina unless noted otherwise                       

PLEDGE AMOUNT TOTAL = $1640.00 Wow!

Webmaster: Dave Wallace 11/28/05  

(Web page originated 7/18/05)