The Journey Has Begun! 1650 miles to the finish line!

This will be my final pre-ride message to you. The journey to the finish line has already begun, and now all I have to do is meet up at the Start line this coming Saturday. Last Tuesday my bike began the journey to San Antonio via FedEx Ground. Today it is in Dallas, and should be delivered Tuesday. It will be reassembled and inspected, then ready to make the last 150 mile trip toward the finish.

As it stands right now I have fundraised just over $1,400. It is a far stretch from my overall goal of $5,000 for this year. For those of you who know me, this is a tough one to accept. I am very goal oriented and MS as you know is close to my heart. Training for this years ride has been the most difficult of any so far. When you ride with a group you have pace. When you ride alone, you have to find your own drive. When you ride with a group, there are people to talk with and encourage you. When you ride alone, you speak inside your head and the only one to take you that extra mile is you. When you ride with a group, you feel the spirit of the team drive you. When you ride alone, you wish there was someone there beside you. The point being, this year’s training alone has been rough, but I refuse to give up.

In the past few weeks we have all seen tremendous human survival stories. With the odds against people faced with enormous tragedy, they have found the will to overcome and begin anew. It will take time, but the pain of these tragedy’s will go away. For those with MS, the only thing that ever goes away is another day when they can live without pain. Their life gets shorter and they lose another day to enjoy being pain free and having a normal life.

Right now My focus is to raise as much money as possible before the deadline. Let’s face it, I need your help. Whatever you can afford to donate, please do. The fight against MS is just as important as the efforts we make every day to improve the lives of anyone who faces difficulties in life. So I ask, this week, please do what you can. Every small donation becomes part of the larger effort. It hurts to lose our physical possessions, but we can get them back in one form or another and the pain subsides. When we lose our ability to live a normal pain free life, all one can do is wait for the day there is a cure. For those I ride for, for all the people who suffer from MS, and for those who tomorrow will learn that they have it, please do what you can. Thank you.

Donations can be made at the following link: http://ms150.org/b2b/donate/donate.cfm?id=170999

In the face of tragedy, how can I keep on asking?

So this is a difficult update to write. I’ve been thinking harder than any other how to say what needs to be said in a way that doesn’t diminish in any way what this country has been through and the pain and anguish still felt today.

I’m very far away from my goal of $5,000 right now. It hurts. I have to be honest about that. You know I am a goal driven person, and for me not reaching a goal is painful. But with all that’s gone on how can I continue to ask for your dollars in support.

Well, this is how I believe I can. First off, if you feel inclined to give to the Red Cross, or charity that you feel will benefit Katrina victims, then please do so. Be generous. You will see immediate results. These people need a short term fix to their situation. With that said, please save just a few dollars, say $10 or so and make a donation to a long term relief project, the battle to rind a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Katrina victims will rebound, start new lives, replace the things that are now gone from their lives. This won’t take long, a few months or a year and life will be back to normal for them. For those who have MS, life won’t be normal until either a cure or a preventative measure can be created. So we need to keep on raising funds for MS research because that is the long road ahead. We’ll always look behind over our shoulder at points in time of great suffering, Katrina, 9/11, World Wars, etc., but what we can not forget to do is continue to forge ahead down the long road life has paved out in front of us. I see it this way, recently I’ve spoken to friends who had challenges present themselves into their lives, they had options, let the challenge overcome them or overcome the challenge and plot out a promising future for themselves. Well, they blinked for a moment at the past and then stared the future in the face. Today they are living their dreams, doing what they want to do on their terms, and are happy because the past did not drag them down. The past keeps us balanced, the future keeps us challenged. All of your help and support of MS will make it easier foe those who live with it every day to meet that challenge and one day overcome the long lasting effects MS has on its victims. I don’t think I will meet my goal this year, but with your support we can get a little closer. Please make a donation. We ride out in 20 days. One mile at a time.

http://ms150.org/b2b/donate/donate.cfm?id=178965

Please don't forget we do this for them.