2001 Magical Mystery Tour

sponsored by

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation

New Bern NC, September 8-9, 2001

I Made it!

I completed the MS tour (175 miles) successfully on September 8th and 9th. The weather was excellent on the 8th for the 100-mile Century trip that went to Cove City, Dover, Fort Barnwell and into Pitt County before returning to New Bern via the vicinity of Vanceboro. I had no mishaps other than a flat tire that occured at the Mennonite Church lunch stop in Honolulu. An unseen sharp piece of metal punctured the sidewall of a new $40 tire and ruined it. Luckily there was a repair service available to sell me a tire but I lost precious time getting back on the road and missed joining other riders on the Century route. I spent lots of time alone on the road after the flat and got cramps in my legs trying to catch up.

On the 75-mile loop Sunday that went east to Oriental, Whortonsville and Bayboro, all went well until heavy rain for the last 15 miles on NC 55 to New Bern. I had managed to draft in fairly fast groups until the rain came but ended up riding alone to avoid back-splatter from the bikes ahead. Arriving back in New Bern at 12:30 PM I was told that I was the 30th cyclist out of over 600 to return to New Bern. The first cyclist arrived at Noon.

It was two fun days of cycling. I'm exhausted but it's a good exhaustion. I met lots of interesting cyclists enroute. Most were in the 30-40 age range that cycled in the 20+ mph range. I participated in these groups of 10-20 cyclists every chance I could get because pedaling became effortless with practically no wind. We rotated the lead every mile such that each cyclist had to "pull" the group on his/her turn. Lots of fun!

Here's my numbers. It wasn't a race but it always works out that there's fast cyclists and slow cyclists when you bunch them together. Approximately 650 cyclists participated. 

NMSS sponsored a very nice hi-carbo Pasta dinner Saturday evening at the Convention Center. On Sunday following the 75-mile tour, luncheon was served on the picturesque "patio" at the rear of the Convention Center while a dinner band played music. At each of the rest stops, fruits, bagels, cookies and Gatorade were available as well as a medic and bike repair help. The Raleigh Ham Radio club along with the New Bern Ham Radio club patrolled the roads and did a great job assisting disabled cyclists. Several accidents occured but I didn't hear of any that were of a serious nature. I heard that NMSS was so pleased in raising over $300,000 and feedback from cyclists was so positive that the tour will definitely be held in New Bern again next year. All cyclists I spoke with said it was the nicest place that they'd ever been to for the annual MS 150 cycling tour.

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL THOSE NICE FOLKS WHO PLEDGED DONATIONS TO THE NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY AS MY SPONSOR. THEIR NAMES APPEAR BELOW...

Dave Wallace

The following is the original web page that solicited your support...

My name is Dave Wallace. I live in River Bend, NC.  I have registered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) to cycle the MS 150 Bike Tour that consists of 75 miles on September 8th with an option of adding 25 more miles and 75 miles on September 9th in New Bern NC. I plan to cycle 175 miles in two days. The NMSS web site is at: http://www.encms.org/

The folks listed below have pledged contributions to NMSS as sponsors in my behalf to complete the tour. If you would like to sponsor me by making a pledge please click on the mailbox and send me your name, address, phone number and the amount of the pledge. I will notify you following the tour and either collect or have you send your check to NMSS. Should you decide to send a check early to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at NMSS/MS 150, 3101 Industrial Dr.,Suite 210, Raleigh NC, 27609,  please indicate on the check that you are sponsoring Dave Wallace in the MS 150.

Click the mailbox to send a pledge message to me. Don't forget to mention your name, address, phone number and  the amount of the pledge.

Another way to sponsor is to go the following NMSS web site. This, however, requires payment in advance of the MS 150 tour using your credit card:

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/pledge/pledge.asp?participantid=21363

This site brings up my name Dave Wallace. You will be asked to enter your name, address, etc, amount pledged and credit card number. I was told that a pledge could not be made online without a credit card. I will be notified of your online pledge and add your name to my sponsor list below.

I have never solicited before. I am cycling this tour to help end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis, a chronic and often disabling disease of the central nervous system that strikes otherwise healthy people in the prime of their life. We know, because we have two family members with MS. Almost everybody knows somebody with MS.

So that you'll know that I'm a serious cyclist and intend to cycle 175 miles here is a brief resume of my cycling experience:

I will be 72 years old in August. I began cycling at age 55  in 1984 when I retired. My objective was to average 100 miles per month which seemed at the time to be a very high goal considering that I had not exercised in years, was 20 pounds overweight and smoked.

That was 17 years ago. I'm still cycling. I've kept a record of all my miles since '84 and the overall average is 197 miles/month. Since 1996, when I began racing in the Senior Olympics, the average went up to 383 miles/month.  I have won 26 medals and have competed in local, state and national races. In the past four years I've completed 25 "Century" trips (100 miles in a day) that all serious (or crazy) cyclists ride at least once. For those interested in racing, see my results in the Senior Nationals at DisneyWorld at the following web site. By the way, I didn't medal in the Nationals but did far better than I had expected:

http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew/clermont.htm

Dave Wallace 7/16/01 - davewallace@XXXsuddenlink.net (remove (XXX)

SPONSOR LIST

Below is the list of folks sponsoring me in the MS 150 Bike Tour in New Bern on September 8th and 9th, including the sum total of the pledges.

TOTAL OF PLEDGES = $635.00     Date: 9/9/01

Thanks folks for sponsoring me!