On October 3rd, 2009 I had the pleasure to participate in the MS 150 Bike Tour that rode from Hammond, LA to Percy Quinn State Park in Mississippi.  A friend from high school, Robi Rispone, has had MS now for over 5 years, so, before the race, I decided to dedicate my ride to he and his family.   I also designed a 'Team Rispone" logo to put on a custom jersey which I presented to Robi, Nikki and Jake a couple nights before the ride.  Jake, Robi's son, really seemed to dig that I put a picture of Popeye, his favorite cartoon, on the back of his shirt.  When I told my buddy Llew, team leader for Royal Purple, about my intentions to dedicate the ride to Robi he took it a step farther and decided to dedicate our entire riding team to Robi as well.   We had close to 20 riders out on the course now riding for Robi and his family! 

The ride was beautiful with a few challenging hills towards the end of the course as you entered Percy Quinn.   Rest stops were strategicallyl placed every 10 - 12 miles or so.   I did the ride alone for the most part averaging 20mph or so.   I ended up in a couple peletons for a few miles but the roadies seemed to give me the evil eye as I stayed in my aero bars the whole time.  Trust me, I didn't want to be in their little group as much as they didn't want me there.  ;)   I passed them as quickly as I could and got onto the open road to enjoy the scenery.

I met up with Vanessa Aucin, Coleen Dean and Debbie Tausis at the 2nd or 3rd rest stop and rode with them for 20 - 25 miles.   We kept a really quick pace and I enjoyed riding with them. 

I guess at around mile 56 I started to cramp really bad in my inner quads.   Maybe it was from not hydrating properly but I had to get off my bike on at least 5 occasions to stretch as the muscles were literally locking up.   A nice lady saw my predicament and gave me a few Endurolytes which seemed to help to some degree.

I attacked the challenging hills towards the end of the ride and entered Percy Quinn to the cheering volunteers and the smiling faces of Nikki and Jake Rispone.   Overall it was a great day and I really appreciate everyone that donated.  Through the kind people that donated I ended up raising close to $1400.  Team Royal Purple raised over $10,000 between the 20 people that fund raised.

I've seen first hand what this terrible disease does to the people that are diagnosed and the day to day struggles that the families involved go through as well.  I can only hope that the MS Society is able to advance the research to find a cure for the disease.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you enjoyed reading my account of the MS150 Bike Tour as much as I enjoyed writing (and living) it!