Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Pictures!!
To view my pictures from the trip you can go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/100050767607740450516/BikeTheUSForMS?authkey=Gv1sRgCLfb8Z3WkbjGvQE#
And also:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100050767607740450516/BikeTheUSForMSPart2#
Hope you all enjoy!!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thank You!!
I want to Thank everyone who so generously donated to the cause!! As a result of all of your donations $181,000 thus far this year has been raised to help find better treatments and hopefully a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. It is because of these types of programs that treatments for MS have been changed. I ask that you continue to support this cause and many others in order to help improve the lives of others. It was truly inspirational to meet many very special individuals who suffer from MS and to hear their stories and how treatments have been improved over the years.
Robin one of the women we heard speak in Pittsburg, KS was one of the most inspirational women that I have heard speak when she had spoke about how she was diagnosed with MS 30 years ago and it had robbed her of her many senses. She could no longer smell, taste, hear, see, walk or barely move on her own. Due to much research and many medications she can now walk with a walker, smell, taste and still has trouble hearing. She spoke that her only dream was to be able to hold her grandchildren someday and at that time knew that she wouldn’t be able to. Due to better treatments she can now do as she dreamed and hold her grandchildren!!
I recognize how incredibly blessed that I am to be able to have this opportunity and want to Thank everyone who followed me and supported me through this wonderful journey!! I am a very fortunate person to be able to come home to a wonderful job at The James Cancer Hospital as a Nurse and will approach this with as much enthusiasm and passion as I did this ride. I hope to be a better nurse because of my experiences on this journey!!
I cannot tell you how many MS patients told me THANK YOU along with the many friends and family members of people who suffer from MS. Really the ones to thank are all of you because of the funds and support that you have provided. Once again, THANK YOU for the hope that you give to all of these people!!
Also Thank You to all of you who have followed my journey and blogs. I truly enjoyed waking up every morning to read the comments that everyone had posted!!
Robin one of the women we heard speak in Pittsburg, KS was one of the most inspirational women that I have heard speak when she had spoke about how she was diagnosed with MS 30 years ago and it had robbed her of her many senses. She could no longer smell, taste, hear, see, walk or barely move on her own. Due to much research and many medications she can now walk with a walker, smell, taste and still has trouble hearing. She spoke that her only dream was to be able to hold her grandchildren someday and at that time knew that she wouldn’t be able to. Due to better treatments she can now do as she dreamed and hold her grandchildren!!
I recognize how incredibly blessed that I am to be able to have this opportunity and want to Thank everyone who followed me and supported me through this wonderful journey!! I am a very fortunate person to be able to come home to a wonderful job at The James Cancer Hospital as a Nurse and will approach this with as much enthusiasm and passion as I did this ride. I hope to be a better nurse because of my experiences on this journey!!
I cannot tell you how many MS patients told me THANK YOU along with the many friends and family members of people who suffer from MS. Really the ones to thank are all of you because of the funds and support that you have provided. Once again, THANK YOU for the hope that you give to all of these people!!
Also Thank You to all of you who have followed my journey and blogs. I truly enjoyed waking up every morning to read the comments that everyone had posted!!
The End!!
4,000 miles, 9 states, 4 time zones, 20 people, 6 flat tires, 5 service projects and one cause…Multiple Sclerosis. All in all I spent 28 nights sleeping indoors in either a church, gym, hostel, mission or motel/hotel. Out of all of the days there were 12 days that I didn’t get a real shower and 50 days that I did get to shower. So I will now answer some of the many questions that many people ask me.
What was the best part about the trip? I would have to say being able to eat anything and everything that I wanted. I realize that I don’t think that I will ever be able to eat like this again. Also the level of stress was nonexistent. Everyone was so laid back and there really were not any worries throughout the day. It was also exciting to see all of the different scenery and how it changed as I rode on. Also especially out west it was really cool to stop at the top of big climbs look down at the winding road and think to yourself wow, I cannot believe that I just rode through all of that and climbed all of that.
What was the worst part of the trip? I would have to say not being able to shower and possibly doing laundry and or grocery shopping.
How have I changed? I would for sure say that my thighs are much stronger. Also I think maybe I have learned how to be a little bit more simplistic as out in the nature you really don’t need a whole lot.
What have I learned? I think that I have learned a lot of patience and compromise. When you are with a group of this size and in the situations that we were in you really had to learn to be patient and compromise with everyone.
Any other questions feel free to post on here!!
What was the best part about the trip? I would have to say being able to eat anything and everything that I wanted. I realize that I don’t think that I will ever be able to eat like this again. Also the level of stress was nonexistent. Everyone was so laid back and there really were not any worries throughout the day. It was also exciting to see all of the different scenery and how it changed as I rode on. Also especially out west it was really cool to stop at the top of big climbs look down at the winding road and think to yourself wow, I cannot believe that I just rode through all of that and climbed all of that.
What was the worst part of the trip? I would have to say not being able to shower and possibly doing laundry and or grocery shopping.
How have I changed? I would for sure say that my thighs are much stronger. Also I think maybe I have learned how to be a little bit more simplistic as out in the nature you really don’t need a whole lot.
What have I learned? I think that I have learned a lot of patience and compromise. When you are with a group of this size and in the situations that we were in you really had to learn to be patient and compromise with everyone.
Any other questions feel free to post on here!!
August 1-2nd - San Francisco, CA
Mileage: 15ish miles
Terrain: Riding around San Francisco. It is very hilly with streets that go straight up and ones that go straight down.
Temperature: Not sure but it was cold!!
Woke up at the youth mission this morning. It was nice to not have to blow my matt up for a change due to bunk beds that they had to sleep on. Got everything packed up. The night before I had removed everything from the trailer to try to get somewhat organized and get everything into two bags that I brought. After throwing away my pillow and towel along with a few miscellaneous things the bags finally shut. I had decided to go in on a hotel room with three of the other riders that were not flying out until the 2nd as well. The hotel was one of the cheapest in town and if you know anything about San Francisco hotels are not cheap. It was located about 5 blocks from the youth mission that we stayed at which had tons of homeless people outside of. I think there was a soup kitchen across the street or something. However, in this area of the city there are homeless everywhere. It really is sad! So at about 7:30 am I drug my over packed, stuffed to the top, very heavy bags to the hotel to store there until the afternoon. We then walked back to the youth mission where I got on my bike and rode it 2 blocks to a breakfast place. We had to sit by the window to watch our bikes so they wouldn’t get stolen. This is rather common to have to keep a close eye on them as we have found out that cable locks really aren’t a deterrent. We then hopped on our bikes and rode a few miles to Crissy Fields which is at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, as I was looking up directions to Crissy Fields I realized that we were going to be going down Lombard Street which is known as the curviest street in San Fran so we stopped at the bottom and took some pictures!! It was not an easy task getting to Crissy Fields as San Fran is VERY hilly with streets that go straight up and straight down, probably some of the steepest climbs on the trip however, they were very short!! Got to the water and took some pictures and chilled out then we did the official dipping of our front wheel!! We then got on our bikes and headed up to the access to ride across the bridge. However, there were tons of pedestrians and others people on rental bikes so it was slow and difficult to cross on our bikes however I am glad that I had done so!! Came back across the bridge and hung out by the trailer, saw many off and said some sad goodbyes!! I am going to miss these people SOOOOOOOO MUCH!! The trailer then drove off. I then rode with two other riders to a bike shop to get my bike boxed and shipped back to Ohio. We stopped to eat on our way to the shop. Then took a cab to the hotel. Got into the room to realize that there wasn’t a shower or toilet in the room, thought it was odd but decided to just go with it. There was a toilet and a shower down the hall both in basically closets. Before this trip if I would have had to stay at a hotel like this one I would have probably thrown a fit and wouldn’t have done it. However, after having the experiences and staying at some of the places we did just decided to go with it realizing that everything would be fine and work out fine. Chilled out at the hotel for awhile, took a nap and then went to dinner with two of the others staying in the room. Came back and chilled out at the hotel room for awhile finally went to bed and got up at 3:45 this morning west coast time.
Got the shuttle to the airport and went to check my bag which weighed 61 pounds. Found out that this was too much and it had to be 50 pounds or less otherwise there would be a $100 charge. Started going through my bad threw out all of my liquids and put some things in my carryon bag in order to get it to 50 pounds. Got on the plane to Chicago. Slept most of the way there as I feel like now I can sleep anywhere and through anything!! Then got my next plane to Columbus where my sister, Renee picked me up. The whole thing is so surreal as it still doesn’t seem that I rode my bike across the entire country!
Terrain: Riding around San Francisco. It is very hilly with streets that go straight up and ones that go straight down.
Temperature: Not sure but it was cold!!
Woke up at the youth mission this morning. It was nice to not have to blow my matt up for a change due to bunk beds that they had to sleep on. Got everything packed up. The night before I had removed everything from the trailer to try to get somewhat organized and get everything into two bags that I brought. After throwing away my pillow and towel along with a few miscellaneous things the bags finally shut. I had decided to go in on a hotel room with three of the other riders that were not flying out until the 2nd as well. The hotel was one of the cheapest in town and if you know anything about San Francisco hotels are not cheap. It was located about 5 blocks from the youth mission that we stayed at which had tons of homeless people outside of. I think there was a soup kitchen across the street or something. However, in this area of the city there are homeless everywhere. It really is sad! So at about 7:30 am I drug my over packed, stuffed to the top, very heavy bags to the hotel to store there until the afternoon. We then walked back to the youth mission where I got on my bike and rode it 2 blocks to a breakfast place. We had to sit by the window to watch our bikes so they wouldn’t get stolen. This is rather common to have to keep a close eye on them as we have found out that cable locks really aren’t a deterrent. We then hopped on our bikes and rode a few miles to Crissy Fields which is at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, as I was looking up directions to Crissy Fields I realized that we were going to be going down Lombard Street which is known as the curviest street in San Fran so we stopped at the bottom and took some pictures!! It was not an easy task getting to Crissy Fields as San Fran is VERY hilly with streets that go straight up and straight down, probably some of the steepest climbs on the trip however, they were very short!! Got to the water and took some pictures and chilled out then we did the official dipping of our front wheel!! We then got on our bikes and headed up to the access to ride across the bridge. However, there were tons of pedestrians and others people on rental bikes so it was slow and difficult to cross on our bikes however I am glad that I had done so!! Came back across the bridge and hung out by the trailer, saw many off and said some sad goodbyes!! I am going to miss these people SOOOOOOOO MUCH!! The trailer then drove off. I then rode with two other riders to a bike shop to get my bike boxed and shipped back to Ohio. We stopped to eat on our way to the shop. Then took a cab to the hotel. Got into the room to realize that there wasn’t a shower or toilet in the room, thought it was odd but decided to just go with it. There was a toilet and a shower down the hall both in basically closets. Before this trip if I would have had to stay at a hotel like this one I would have probably thrown a fit and wouldn’t have done it. However, after having the experiences and staying at some of the places we did just decided to go with it realizing that everything would be fine and work out fine. Chilled out at the hotel for awhile, took a nap and then went to dinner with two of the others staying in the room. Came back and chilled out at the hotel room for awhile finally went to bed and got up at 3:45 this morning west coast time.
Got the shuttle to the airport and went to check my bag which weighed 61 pounds. Found out that this was too much and it had to be 50 pounds or less otherwise there would be a $100 charge. Started going through my bad threw out all of my liquids and put some things in my carryon bag in order to get it to 50 pounds. Got on the plane to Chicago. Slept most of the way there as I feel like now I can sleep anywhere and through anything!! Then got my next plane to Columbus where my sister, Renee picked me up. The whole thing is so surreal as it still doesn’t seem that I rode my bike across the entire country!
Monday, August 1, 2011
July 29-31 - Silver Lake, CA to Folsom, CA to Davis, CA to San Francisco, CA
Mileage: 83 miles, 42 miles, 65 miles
Terrain: Climbing and descending
Temperature: 90ish degrees
On the 29th we knew that we were going to be doing a lot of descending. However, it was a little bit more work that what was expected. The terrain was descending but it went up and then down so there was some climbing. The scenery was beautiful!! We stopped for breakfast and I had some delicious chocolate chip pancakes. The riding was really fast rolling. There were many flats of the day however none were mine thankfully. About 20 miles out from Folsom in a town called Placerville we stopped for some great Mexican food!! We then rode into town after a very hot day of riding and went to the Courtyard by Marriot which was by far the nicest hotel that we stayed at!! We were supposed to stay at a campground outside of town however it was full due to it being the weekend.
Got up and got on the road at 8 am even though the trailer wasn’t pulling out until 9 am. We met one of Shannon’s friends Whit who lives in Sacramento and owns a bike/welding shop. He rode with us for about 20-30 miles and then we had breakfast. Almost all of the riding this day was on a beautiful bike path. We then went back to his shop and hung out there for the rest of the afternoon. Then got word that while in Sacramento one of our fellow riders’ very expensive bikes had been stolen. He had it locked right by the trailer however the thief had cut the cable lock. In Sacramento bike theft is HUGE!! It was a very enjoyable day hanging out with the girls. We then decided to head the rest of the 12 miles into Davis to the Motel 6 where we stayed the night we left Sac about 5:30 in order to be to Davis by 7 due to a reminiscing session that we had at the hotel. We all hung out by the pool and shared stories and talked about all of the good memories we made on the trip. Went to be and was exhausted. We did stop short of mileage due to the campground in Winter being full so that means we had to make up the mileage today on the 31st which was supposed to be 40 miles and ended up being 65 miles.
Got up this morning and the trailer left at 7 so that’s when we headed out of town. We were told to be to Vallejo by 2 when they would hand out the ferry tickets for the 3:30 pm ferry to take us to San Francisco. So we made two very short stops in order to get to Vallejo early and grab a bite to eat. The winds turned out to be ferocious and slowed us down along with a few small hills. Everyone was rather quiet as it was the last official day of riding. We arrived in Vallejo at about 1:15 pm and got some great breakfast food at a place called Good Day Café. Made our way the next block to the ferry and hung out with the other riders and took some pictures. Finally got on the ferry with all of our bikes and rode over to San Fran. The ride was about 45 minutes long and when we got off we hung out with the other riders and some friends and family of them as well. We then walked over to Sinbads a restaurant on the bay and ate there along with MS patients and Copaxone reps as well. Chilled out for awhile and then at about 8 pm we rode about a mile or so to the youth mission where we are staying tonight. Tomorrow there is more planned with dipping our wheel and crossing the golden gate bridge along with transportation and much more!! It is hard to believe that this journey is coming to a quick end
Terrain: Climbing and descending
Temperature: 90ish degrees
On the 29th we knew that we were going to be doing a lot of descending. However, it was a little bit more work that what was expected. The terrain was descending but it went up and then down so there was some climbing. The scenery was beautiful!! We stopped for breakfast and I had some delicious chocolate chip pancakes. The riding was really fast rolling. There were many flats of the day however none were mine thankfully. About 20 miles out from Folsom in a town called Placerville we stopped for some great Mexican food!! We then rode into town after a very hot day of riding and went to the Courtyard by Marriot which was by far the nicest hotel that we stayed at!! We were supposed to stay at a campground outside of town however it was full due to it being the weekend.
Got up and got on the road at 8 am even though the trailer wasn’t pulling out until 9 am. We met one of Shannon’s friends Whit who lives in Sacramento and owns a bike/welding shop. He rode with us for about 20-30 miles and then we had breakfast. Almost all of the riding this day was on a beautiful bike path. We then went back to his shop and hung out there for the rest of the afternoon. Then got word that while in Sacramento one of our fellow riders’ very expensive bikes had been stolen. He had it locked right by the trailer however the thief had cut the cable lock. In Sacramento bike theft is HUGE!! It was a very enjoyable day hanging out with the girls. We then decided to head the rest of the 12 miles into Davis to the Motel 6 where we stayed the night we left Sac about 5:30 in order to be to Davis by 7 due to a reminiscing session that we had at the hotel. We all hung out by the pool and shared stories and talked about all of the good memories we made on the trip. Went to be and was exhausted. We did stop short of mileage due to the campground in Winter being full so that means we had to make up the mileage today on the 31st which was supposed to be 40 miles and ended up being 65 miles.
Got up this morning and the trailer left at 7 so that’s when we headed out of town. We were told to be to Vallejo by 2 when they would hand out the ferry tickets for the 3:30 pm ferry to take us to San Francisco. So we made two very short stops in order to get to Vallejo early and grab a bite to eat. The winds turned out to be ferocious and slowed us down along with a few small hills. Everyone was rather quiet as it was the last official day of riding. We arrived in Vallejo at about 1:15 pm and got some great breakfast food at a place called Good Day Café. Made our way the next block to the ferry and hung out with the other riders and took some pictures. Finally got on the ferry with all of our bikes and rode over to San Fran. The ride was about 45 minutes long and when we got off we hung out with the other riders and some friends and family of them as well. We then walked over to Sinbads a restaurant on the bay and ate there along with MS patients and Copaxone reps as well. Chilled out for awhile and then at about 8 pm we rode about a mile or so to the youth mission where we are staying tonight. Tomorrow there is more planned with dipping our wheel and crossing the golden gate bridge along with transportation and much more!! It is hard to believe that this journey is coming to a quick end
July 27-28 - Fallon, NV to Carson City, NV to Silver Lake, CA
Mileage: 62 miles, 58 miles
Terrain: 27: Flat with two small gradual inclines 28: Climbing last big climb of the trip
Temperature: 90ish degrees
Woke up at the hotel and it didn’t take long to get everything ready to go due to staying at the motel. Had myself a bagel buffet for breakfast on the fold out couch at the motel. Hopped on the bike and then rode down the street to a breakfast place that many others were eating at and just had coffee. It was a fairly easy day and mostly flat, winds were not bad as well. Rode the first 30ish miles filled up on water had a snack and moved on. It was a different day because one of the route leaders who always drives the mini van got to ride with us. Came upon the second water stop 20 miles later and decided to quickly move on as we had googled a Dairy Queen and there was one coming into Carson City. So we decided we could go another 10 miles to the DQ where I enjoyed a large Georgia Mud Fudge with peanut butter. I am hooked on these!! You all must try one they are heavenly!! Sat and chilled as more than half of our group stopped at the DQ. We got to the DQ at 2:00 pm. We joke around that 2 is milkshake/ice cream time every day…lol. We finally decided to head out about 3:30ish because we were told to be at camp by 4 due to a news paper reporter being there. We also have a rider with MS that is joining us for the California portion of the trip so he was at camp as well. Got to the Camp-N-Town which was a pretty nice campground with really nice grass to set up our tents on and really nice restrooms and showers very close to the camping area. They also had laundry right there as well so we did one more load which will hopefully hold us out for the rest of the trip. Some of the riders then decided to go to the theater across the street and watch Pirates of the Caribbean, however, this didn’t interest me so I decided to go to dinner with some of the others and then to the Nugget, a casino in town. I played a dollar in one of the slots and then 5 dollars on black jack and went up about 15 then down and got a black jack one hand so won an extra 2.50. So I stopped before I went in the hole and then played another dollar on a slot. So all in all I came out 50 cents ahead. I know big spender….lol. One of the other guys with us however decided to start with 200 dollars on the black jack table and was doing really well. He was up 250 dollars when he decided to cash out. Once he cashed out he asked what time is it? It was like 9:30 or something and he contemplated going back to the table to try to win more. I was like NO, don’t do it, stop while your ahead, if you go back you will lose money. So we left and went back to camp.
Woke up this morning and got everything put away etc. and then went to breakfast in town. Got on the road at about 9 am and the first 25 miles were fairly flat to the border of Nevada and California. Wow am I excited to be out of Nevada. It is a very boring state, not a lot to look at or do there. California is gorgeous and kind of reminds me of Colorado. After the border crossing we started climbing. It was the last big climb of the trip. We went up to about 8,500 feet and went up about 3,500 feet today. The road went up and down so we really did more climbing than that. We had about 25 miles of climbing and then a 10 mile descent to camp. 5 miles from camp we stopped at a restaurant and ate and then went to the campground set up my tent and am now hiding out from the mosquitos. Unfortunately no showers tonight. The scenery today was beautiful with lakes to look at and trees and beautiful mountain sides. Also there are small towns and things that we go by. We are no longer in the desert!! Tomorrow we have about a 5 mile climb and then descend down to almost sea level. That’s a lot of descending. I am sure it will be very gradual though. However, it will be fun because it is what we have worked all day for!! I will be in San Francisco before I know it!!
Terrain: 27: Flat with two small gradual inclines 28: Climbing last big climb of the trip
Temperature: 90ish degrees
Woke up at the hotel and it didn’t take long to get everything ready to go due to staying at the motel. Had myself a bagel buffet for breakfast on the fold out couch at the motel. Hopped on the bike and then rode down the street to a breakfast place that many others were eating at and just had coffee. It was a fairly easy day and mostly flat, winds were not bad as well. Rode the first 30ish miles filled up on water had a snack and moved on. It was a different day because one of the route leaders who always drives the mini van got to ride with us. Came upon the second water stop 20 miles later and decided to quickly move on as we had googled a Dairy Queen and there was one coming into Carson City. So we decided we could go another 10 miles to the DQ where I enjoyed a large Georgia Mud Fudge with peanut butter. I am hooked on these!! You all must try one they are heavenly!! Sat and chilled as more than half of our group stopped at the DQ. We got to the DQ at 2:00 pm. We joke around that 2 is milkshake/ice cream time every day…lol. We finally decided to head out about 3:30ish because we were told to be at camp by 4 due to a news paper reporter being there. We also have a rider with MS that is joining us for the California portion of the trip so he was at camp as well. Got to the Camp-N-Town which was a pretty nice campground with really nice grass to set up our tents on and really nice restrooms and showers very close to the camping area. They also had laundry right there as well so we did one more load which will hopefully hold us out for the rest of the trip. Some of the riders then decided to go to the theater across the street and watch Pirates of the Caribbean, however, this didn’t interest me so I decided to go to dinner with some of the others and then to the Nugget, a casino in town. I played a dollar in one of the slots and then 5 dollars on black jack and went up about 15 then down and got a black jack one hand so won an extra 2.50. So I stopped before I went in the hole and then played another dollar on a slot. So all in all I came out 50 cents ahead. I know big spender….lol. One of the other guys with us however decided to start with 200 dollars on the black jack table and was doing really well. He was up 250 dollars when he decided to cash out. Once he cashed out he asked what time is it? It was like 9:30 or something and he contemplated going back to the table to try to win more. I was like NO, don’t do it, stop while your ahead, if you go back you will lose money. So we left and went back to camp.
Woke up this morning and got everything put away etc. and then went to breakfast in town. Got on the road at about 9 am and the first 25 miles were fairly flat to the border of Nevada and California. Wow am I excited to be out of Nevada. It is a very boring state, not a lot to look at or do there. California is gorgeous and kind of reminds me of Colorado. After the border crossing we started climbing. It was the last big climb of the trip. We went up to about 8,500 feet and went up about 3,500 feet today. The road went up and down so we really did more climbing than that. We had about 25 miles of climbing and then a 10 mile descent to camp. 5 miles from camp we stopped at a restaurant and ate and then went to the campground set up my tent and am now hiding out from the mosquitos. Unfortunately no showers tonight. The scenery today was beautiful with lakes to look at and trees and beautiful mountain sides. Also there are small towns and things that we go by. We are no longer in the desert!! Tomorrow we have about a 5 mile climb and then descend down to almost sea level. That’s a lot of descending. I am sure it will be very gradual though. However, it will be fun because it is what we have worked all day for!! I will be in San Francisco before I know it!!
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