Makin' Room for Turkey Ride 2013

Another awesome MS Society Turkey ride has come and gone.  Every year has been different.  The first year I did it alone.  Last year I did it with my awesome friend Jen, who has MS.  She was not able to do it with me this year due to the extreme cold, but I wore my orange ribbon for her, and met up with her afterward.  But I rode with a new friend this year that I met at my run club.  The course started at a different location this year as well, but overlapped with what we have done in the past.

Just like big sis having an extremely cold day for volunteering on Sunday, I had the coldest cycling event for me ever.  The temps were around 30 when we started, with a wind chill in the low 20s.  The wind was so strong that sometimes going down a hill we were not able to coast.  Also, going fast down the hills made it that much colder.  My fingers were what bothered me the most.  I finally have gotten to where I can usually ride without my fingers getting tingly from the pressure put on the handlebars, but on Sunday they were numb and beyond tingly from the cold, even with my nice insulated biking gloves.  I was constantly moving and shaking them to keep the blood going.

What I am most proud about from this ride is how I did on the hills.  I knew it would be a hilly course, and knew some of the hills intimately from the last 2 years, and dreaded them.  Turns out they hardly bothered me.  I think it might be because of the running...even though I still don't feel a lot of improvement with my breathing when I run, it is obviously working!

The organizers of this event are awesome, with sponsors giving us pie and hot chocolate when we were done!  The hot chocolate was most welcome!  Didn't stick around a long time due to the cold.  My scatterbrained self left my helmet sitting on the table where we were eating.  I do hope someone has found it.  I am waiting for a response to an email I sent out.  So other than the helmet loss, I consider the ride very successful.  I truly hope the Tour de Toys event in December will be warmer, though!

Thanks for the support!