Victory, sweet victory

Shiloh and I rode in the MS150 bike ride. We did it, we did it! Victory, sweet victory!
Saturday morning we woke up around 4:30am, and I headed over to Shiloh's so we could ride together. Her parents came in from Nebraska this weekend to support us, and they were dedicated; they followed us to Westminster to bid us farewell at the Start Line. We were grateful for their help because we had to get our bikes off the rack, take our luggage to the truck, find our team and ensure we were ready to go. Shiloh and I left around 6:40am that morning with great weather and overcast skies. As we crossed the Start Line a women in her 40s was sitting there in a wheel chair. Unable to move or speak, she mouthed the words, "thank you" as we took off. Shiloh and I both started crying immediately and began to pray. We prayed that God would protect us on the ride and to remember why were doing this. We reminded ourselves that this was not for our glory, but for her father and my sister and our Heavenly Father. So our ride began. The picture above was at rest stop #1 that day. Unfortunately my inner right thigh was bothering me a lot and I was in quite a bit of pain right away. It's bothered me before during spin class and our other rides, but this time it hurt immediately and didn't let up the entire day. I was struggling to keep up with Shiloh most of of the day and I could tell that I was challenged during hills that normally were very doable. But we rode along and enjoyed all the rest stops and lunch. Here is a picture below of Shiloh and I at the final rest stop on Day One. We're enjoying grape slushees before our big climbs to Horsetooth!After that the sun came out and the temperature increased, which made it hot and uncomfortable. We had some really large hills to climb, especially around Horsetooth Reservoir. But we rolled into Fort Collins at 2pm with energy and strength. Shiloh's parents and brother greeted us at that finish line. My sister met up with us a few minutes later and spent the afternoon taking us back and forth from the CSU campus and our hotel room. We showered and changed and went back to campus for food. Then it was back to bed and the lights were out at 8:15 that night. Shiloh with her father and me with my sister: Our Champions who we rode for.

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 4:15am and we were downstairs waiting for the shuttle at 5am. Our bodies were a little tired and our buns were sore from the seat. We ate breakfast, loaded up our luggage on the truck, picked up our bikes and started our ride at 6:15am. Here I am at breakfast trying to gear up for 78 more miles...My first 5 miles were awful. My leg hurt again and my butt was so sore that it almost brought a tear to my eye to sit on that seat again. And I just prayed the whole way to the base of our first climb. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to do Day Two and would be in too much pain. And right as we reached the base of our first mountain to climb, the Lord gave me the energy I needed and I was fine. The adrenaline kicked in and I climbed up those hills and mountains and it was awesome. Here I am at the top of Horsetooth Resv. And the nice buns of steel picture is actually showing you my rider number and my sign so people knew who I was riding for. It says "My little sister Amanda." We pushed on and enjoyed the rest stops on the way back, and had lunch in Longmont with 35 miles to go. Those were definitely a long 35 long miles. The stretch from Longmont to Boulder was flat and hot. By the time we reached the Boulder rest stop people were throwing in the towel and loading on the SAG vehicles. But we pushed on to the next stop in Louisville. The hills were starting to get to us and the weather was hotter and hotter. But at Louisville we had 12 miles to go. I told Shiloh I had about 2 hills left in me, but little did I know that the route still had a good 6 hills on it...long hills at that. One of the steepest hills we had ever climbed had people walking their bikes up it. That wasn't an option for us, so we pushed ourselves up. Shiloh said she might have had a tear in her eye that hill.

We reached the top and still had 9 miles left to go. They were a long 9 miles with hills and heat. Finally we reached our last 0.5 mile and was told it was all downhill from there. So we made sure to ride together and entered the parking lot to cross the finish line.

I can't even tell you how amazing it was! Our parents, family, and friends were waiting for us, and cheering. To ride through that finish line with a victorious arm in the air was incredible. I've never been so proud before. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done mentally and physically. And I did it thanks to the strength from the Lord. I couldn't have done it without Him. And it was emotional to remember why we did this ride. Shiloh did it for her father who was diagnosed about 3.5 years ago and for my little sister who was diagnosed with MS 3 years ago. It was for them that we did this. If they can battle the terrible side affects of the medication and fear of the known, then we can certainly ride 150 miles. The pain we felt on the bike pales in comparison to their lifetime of worries, pain, and difficulties. We are so thankful to all those who donated to us. The money goes towards MS research for a cure, the financial and emotional support of families who battle MS, and towards helping the society operate.

I am humbled by this weekend and what it meant to me personally. Shiloh and achieved something we felt was impossible in January. Not only did we accomplish this together, but a part of our souls are forever connected because of this experience.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Phil 4:13

If you'd still like to donate please do! I am only $100 away from my goal of $2,000. You have until the end of July to donate either online or mailing in a check. Please visit the link below.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/COCBikeEvents?px=1911579&pg=personal&fr_id=9111&s_tafId=73407


You can mail all checks to:

National MS Society, Colorado Chapter
2008 Great-West BIKE MS
PO Box 172625
Denver, CO 80217-2625

Please make sure my first and last name is on the check (you can also include biker number #1199).