Biking it to Austin!

This past weekend, I rode my bicycle over 150 miles to Austin. Well, I wasn't alone. 12,999 cyclists went with me! I did the MS150 bike tour.

It took 2 days and was my fourth time to ride my bike to Austin. I had an incredible time. Especially, the last day, after lunch, when I and 9 others steamed into Austin in a draft line.

But there is so much to the bike ride than actually riding your bike. As a matter of fact, I wrote the following in an email to some fellow riders, who had not ridden it before, where one was talking about the more hard-core cyclists:

Yes, some people do the whole bike ride in one day (and are in Austin by
3:00). It's amazing. I'm not in that category... but then again, the
journey is fun, but you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it as you
ride (and not get caught up in finishing fast). There are amazing views,
and amazing people along the path. Truly, in the 3 times I've done it,
that's what I remember most (not what time I get to where).

I re-read that now that I've finished the ride and couldn't agree more. In fact, before we got on our bikes the first day, we specifically prayed for safety, fun, strength, and divine appointments. And God met us there! I thank Him for providing all of that and more. And I can tell you specifically about all four:

Safety
Personally, I had one or two close calls - where my breath was taken away when I got too close to a wheel in front of me - but I am so thankful for arriving safely to Austin. I'm sure there were more, but I know of just one person (so sorry Marie) who was injured on the ride. The good news is that I do believe Marie was able to finish the ride.

Fun
Yes! The fun started when we got to our off-site starting location at 6:00. The fog had rolled in pretty heavily that morning so we were delayed a bit. But it surely was nice to start away from the crowds and to have a bathroom at the ready! Thanks Scott!! (And speaking of being thankful, I am also so thankful to Tarek for the EARLY MORNING drop off, Stacy for the showers in Austin, and Melissa for the roundtrip pickup in Austin!)

There were a lot of fun things along the way. I saw a bicycle built for 3!!! A unicyclist (whom I think made it all the way to Austin). I saw plenty of fun things attached to bicycle helmets and innovative bicycles. The funniest "flick flub" I saw was the huge MS150 welcome banner in Fayetteville. It said "MS150 welcomes you to Fayettville". If I had been faster with the camera, I would have gotten it on film!

Now, the bicyclist's banter was a lot of fun too. Mostly inside jokes, but lots going around. It made the miles go by very quickly. For instance, if I said bananas and sunblock to you, you probably might raise an eyebrow in question. But it would cause some of my fellow riders to snicker!

Strength
As some of you know, I have a fairly bad knee resulting from knee surgery 20 years ago. Basically, the maniscus was removed and my knee is now "bone on bone" and, resulting, I have a large bone spur. So, long story short, it's painful. However, the Lord was so merciful. I am so thankful that I was able to "ride the park" - which is the most challenging portion of the bike ride. But I have a more touching memory of strength. And it involves a bit of a confession. Although we were not allowed to listen to ipods while on our bikes, I confess, I did listen, but only the last 5 miles coming into La Grange. But it was worth it! I had downloaded Lincoln Brewster's version of "Everlasting God" right before leaving for the trip and synched it to my ipod without listening to it. So, the first time I heard the song was the last few miles coming into La Grange. The song is great; I love it. But it was this version that got me. At the very end, there was a small child reciting scripture. Man, it brings tears to my eyes just as I type this. The child was reciting Isaiah 40:31:

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

I wasn't expecting that! But it surely came at the right time. Praise Him!

Divine Appointments
This is a wonderful story that happened to one of my fellow riders. It was his first MS ride and, initially, he was mostly doing it for the goal of riding to Austin. However, God had another idea. It was the last lunch of the last day that he happened to meet a woman who had MS. Her story was amazing and he was able to put a face to this tragic disease. As he told me the story of meeting this woman, tears welled up in his eyes and I just knew the Lord had met them there also. He was even able to pray with her. Praise Him ever more!!


Well, that's a quick story of the MS. So much more than a simple bike ride.

photos left.

All for now,
Lisa