Bike MS 2012

[AMFADVENTURES]

2012 Ms 150

The single most outstanding feature of this years MS 150 was the sheer number of MSers wearing the “I Ride with MS” jersey. There must have been at least 50, maybe triple the number I saw last year. What’s more was the surprising strength every one of them showed.

There were 8 or 10 MSers who just blew by me, strong, solid riders. One girl, who I think I saw struggling a little a couple of years ago, was pulling a draft line along at a good clip … into a head wind! But perhaps the most impressive MSers were the ones plugging along at a slow and steady pace, a couple of them apparently on their own. That kind of determination I find incredibly inspirational.

The force among MS riders was palpable this year. It’s no wonder the neuros in this area have jumped on the Exercise for MS bandwagon, it would be a serious form of denial if they didn’t. And I don’t doubt some of the new treatment approaches are working better too. The R&D is, and has been, paying dividends lately.

My buddy, a Hot Blond Chick (her words), and I tore up the first days 68 miles in 4:07 at an average speed of 16.7 MPH. Better than ever for me. But of course we didn’t have the Horse Tooth hills to contend with this year because of the rerouting due to the recent wild fires.

We took it a little easier on the second days 64 miles and still did it in 4:02 with an average speed of 15.8. I suppose you could make an argument for the free beer as the cause of the second days slightly slower pace, but personally I think it had more to do with the 102 degree heat. In fact, I think I’ll start referring to the last 15 miles on the second day ride as the “Hotter Than Hell 15” because it was undoubtedly hotter than 102 degrees when you take into account the heat radiating off that pavement.

It was another great ride.

Got 203 miles in 13 hours with 5,700 feet of ascent for the week and I’ve passed the 2,000 mile mark for the year.

Larry

[pawpaw]

Good luck, Larry!

I am sure you will do great on the ride. I hope they have successfully rerouted the ride to avoid the fire and smoke. You are doing incredibly well this year.

Pell

[Stella]

Hi Larry,

thanks for the update on the fires. That is so sad. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone. I was touched by your last post. So well put. Hang in there.

Stella

[AMFADVENTURES]

The Challenge

I love a good challenge. And judging by a number of posts I’ve read on this site, so do many other Active MSers. Yeah sure we might have to modify our definition of “Meeting the Challenge” a little or a lot to fit our MS but still, we’re out there trying, and we’re doing it in addition to the challenge of living with MS. Active MSers are cool.

I’ve trained hard this year, really hard, and the MS 150 coming up this weekend was going to be the first test of how well that training has paid off. I’m confident I can ride the second day century and I’m sure I can climb four or five thousand feet doing it. Let the wind blow, I love the wind. Rain, hail, no problem, bring it on. They can even throw heat at me, I have some new weapons and I’ve learned a few new things, I’m confident I can handle it all.

But smoke? Smoke from forest fires raging all up and down the front range, up to a dozen separate fires at one time throughout the state, wild fires which have caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, destroyed more than a hundred thousand acres of land and caused as yet untold personal loss? No. No. No. That was never part of the plan.

But, there it is. Consequently, this years MS 150 will be a little different. The first and second day routs have been modified to give wide berth to activity surrounding the fires along the way and they have been slightly shortened. The second day century has been cancelled. Ride organizers are being particularly conscientious about minimizing the impact the ride could have on communities affected by these fires and on fire fighting activity to control them. As of now though, the ride will go on. The air may not be quite as clear and I imagine the mood will be more somber this year, but after all, MS is its own form of disaster and also needs to be fought.

AMF
The attached picture is of the Flatirons Fire above Boulder Colorado.

[AMFADVENTURES]

The heat is on

There are numerous forest fires burning in Colorado right now, the worst one is just west of Ft. Collins where the first day of the MS 150 is scheduled to finish in less than a week. Organizers have already cancelled the 2nd day century option due to the fire and are monitoring air quality for safety of the riders over the rest of the course. Whether or not the ride takes place at all could literally come down to which way the wind blows. Not helping matters is a heat wave with temperatures in the low 100’s accompanied by high winds of up to 50mph.

I know there are several Active MSers living in that area, I hope and pray they are fairing well.

Total for the week was 11.8 hours, 137 miles, and 11,270 feet of ascent. I finally got a 6,500 ft. ascent in on one ride. I should be riding today but it's only mid morning and already 97 degrees out. Even with a cooling shirt on, riding a bike in that kind of heat is very difficult. In fact, just staying hydrated can be a problem.

AMF

[Stella]

Pell,
Well I guess it's good news that being on the Gilenya isn't directly responsible for the exercise induced hypertension and at least hypertension is a condition modern medicine has a pretty good handle on. Hope that all works out for you, I don't want to loose a cycling buddy.

You mentioned ice cream, I'm sure you're an ice cream in moderation type of girl but if by chance you're not, I can tell you that the one time I seriously overindulged in ice cream for a week, I could barely bike at all. I love ice cream but it might be the worst food I've found for biking.

Did a little over 6 hrs. at a very easy pace with almost no climbing last week. Then went out and did a 3100 ft. 14 mi. climb in serious heat, like upper 90's. At the top, my bike buddy actually had to help me off my bike and over to some shade. A couple bottles of cool water and 30 minutes later, got up walked to the bike and mounted up for the trip back down all with no problem. There are so many things about this MS stuff that I just can't make any sense out of.

AMF

Hi Pell,

I wish you lots of luck. I agree with Larry in regard to the ice cream. Everything in moderation. I love ice cream but I am afraid it affects me as well so I need to stay away from it as much as I love it. I am lactose intolerant so whenever I have ice cream, I dearly pay for it the next day.

Stella

[AMFADVENTURES]

Pell,
Well I guess it's good news that being on the Gilenya isn't directly responsible for the exercise induced hypertension and at least hypertension is a condition modern medicine has a pretty good handle on. Hope that all works out for you, I don't want to loose a cycling buddy.

You mentioned ice cream, I'm sure you're an ice cream in moderation type of girl but if by chance you're not, I can tell you that the one time I seriously overindulged in ice cream for a week, I could barely bike at all. I love ice cream but it might be the worst food I've found for biking.

Did a little over 6 hrs. at a very easy pace with almost no climbing last week. Then went out and did a 3100 ft. 14 mi. climb in serious heat, like upper 90's. At the top, my bike buddy actually had to help me off my bike and over to some shade. A couple bottles of cool water and 30 minutes later, got up walked to the bike and mounted up for the trip back down all with no problem. There are so many things about this MS stuff that I just can't make any sense out of.

AMF

[pawpaw]

Arghh

So, I still have exercise induced hypertension off Gilenya. Resting BP- 108/66, after 5 minutes on the bike at HR 150, BP 196/60. The exercise physiologist who did the test did observe that I have gained 12# since the prior vo2max. Weight gain makes vo2max drop, so she feels some of the decrease is due to weight. She also did pulmonary function tests and tried an albuterol inhaler. Didn't tell me if it helped,but I felt that I could breathe better for several hours.

Seeing the neuro tomorrow and I suspect he will recommend staying on the Gilenya. Seeing the IM doc Thursday and I suspect he will want to start Lisinopril. I am hoping he gives me an inhaler and maybe Singulair. If I can breathe better, I can train harder.
I am trying to cycle, walk or hit the gym everyday and avoid the ice cream.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

So report off Gilenya for over a month and only riding about once a week.
We rode today on our single bikes- just 10 miles over to a local restaurant and 7 miles back. Should have been easy, but I am clearly way out of shape. Average HR 135 and max of 160- haven't seen that number in over a year. Clearly I need many more hours on the bike.
Thursday is my exercise tolerance test on a bike. I don't know what to expect. If I don't have exercise induced hypertension off Gilenya, do I go back on Gilenya and take meds for hypertension? This will be a difficult call.
Pell

So, what happened?
Larry

[pawpaw]

Great job everyone

Marina,
You have to do what you are comfortable with. You will get over the balance thing and figure out how to start and stop on the bike. Everytime I start and stop, I wonder if I am going to fall. That tandem makes that much easier.
Larry- You are really, really fit. I am very impressed.

So report off Gilenya for over a month and only riding about once a week.
We rode today on our single bikes- just 10 miles over to a local restaurant and 7 miles back. Should have been easy, but I am clearly way out of shape. Average HR 135 and max of 160- haven't seen that number in over a year. Clearly I need many more hours on the bike.
Thursday is my exercise tolerance test on a bike. I don't know what to expect. If I don't have exercise induced hypertension off Gilenya, do I go back on Gilenya and take meds for hypertension? This will be a difficult call.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

6/11/2012

Got 5 days, 11.8 hrs., 169 miles and 10,550 ft. of ascent last week and I’m really beat. Think this week will be an easy week.

Finally went on a ride with the MS team and our team trainers. I love these guys. This ride was billed as climbing practice and it was. Not hard climbing but just generally how to get up and down a hill. Basic stuff like spin up the hill, don’t grind, keep your cadence up, stay relaxed on the handle bars and on the descent, stay inside on the curves, get in the drops, butt back, brake before the curve not in it, keep your outside pedal down and your inside pedal up. Lots of things to practice there. Also had the flat tire changing drill, don’t forget to run your fingers around the inside of the tire to try to find whatever punctured your tube or you might find yourself changing it again sooner than you wish. And always some nutrition, hydration and fueling tips. These guys have so much knowledge, they really are pro's.

Our team comprises all level of riders but if you see a group of us going down the road you will see a group of riders who are well organized, communicative, courteous, aware and obviously well trained regardless of the level of rider. And this is only one of the things this team does so well.

Proud to be a Raw Hinie,

AMF

Ps: the ride is in 3 weeks
pps: did I mention that I'm beginning to see a hint of my missing right hip flexor?

[AMFADVENTURES]

Marina,
I just saw your post and wanted to wish you good luck whatever you end up doing there. I don't think you're being negative, on the contrary, I think you've made the best out of the situation and that's all any of us can ask of ourselves. So good luck Marina, missed you,

Larry

ps:gotta run right now but we can discuss pedals later. Hope to hear how your experience was.

[Marinadca]

My bike MS Ride is this weekend.

I struggled with whether to post or not, as this is such a positive place and I didn't want to add negativity.

Essentially I will be "riding" on Saturday, but I am going to be in a trainer at the finish line, rather than actually biking...you know on the roads

It started when I decided I wanted to switch from MTB shoes to road shoes and LOOK pedals. I did not take well too it, couldn't balance 1 legged on the shoes in order to get on the bike and start/stop. Slow motion falling over ensued until I decided to just go back to my MTB shoes.

Things were going well, and then I stopped at a stop sign and tipped over - one leg balance issue.

So now, I either have one leg balance issues, or I have mentally worked myself up into believing I do. Either way, I am now scared to *start* riding the bike.

While working on that over the past 3 weeks or so, I then needed to have dental implant surgery. I had this last Thursday and I am still not feeling great each day. So, I went to a friend who works for bike MS and dumped the whole mess on her. She suggested this option.

So, thats why at the finish line there will be a random person biking in a trainer I am trying not to have a poor attitude about it...trying being the key word.

So there it is

[AMFADVENTURES]

6/5/2012

Well, I got over 8,000 ft. of ascent last week, including one day close to 5,000 ft., still a long way to go. Entering the last two training periods so exercise is getting quite intense. It’ll be interesting to see what the effect on the MS will be, it is usually quite positive.

Larry

[AMFADVENTURES]

Finally manged to get in a 5,000 ft ascent, still a long way to go but guess I'll just concentrate on the progress. Yesterday I did 46 miles in 4.5 hours saddle time for somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 ft of ascent. (It's true Pell, the altimeters on those bike computers are not terribly accurate.) It was really hard.

Have fun in SC. We should all be doing more leisurely rides, after all, this is supposed to be fun right?.

Larry