MS150 - 2 Day Bike Ride to Benefit Multiple Sclerosis Society
My husband and I at the ride start, day 1 of the MS150 ride.
MS150 Road Bike Ride
The MS150 is a two day, 150 mile road bike ride that benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In 2008, 100 MS rides took place across 40 states. My husband and I participated in our first MS150 this past spring. On May 3rd & 4th, 2008 we participated in the MS150 ride that started from Coral Gables, Florida. The Coral Gables MS150 ride was limited to 2,700 riders. On May 5th, I posted the details about the Coral Gables ride on my Bike Diva site: I Rode 150 Miles Over the Weekend.
Various Ride Options
The Coral Gables ride, like all of the MS rides, has multiple ride options. Participants can choose from a one day 50 or 75 mile ride option on Saturday, or they can ride 75 miles on Saturday and 35 miles on Sunday, for a total of 110 miles. The final option is to do the full MS150 ride, ride 75 miles on both Saturday and Sunday, for a total of 150 miles. Actual ride options may vary, visit the MS150 website and enter your zip code, to find out about rides taking place near you.
Join a Team
We were part of the 90 member Office Depot Foundation team. Neither my husband or I work for Office Depot. The husband of one of my biking friends was a corporate lawyer for Office Depot. My friend said anyone could join the team. Riding with a large team seemed like it would be pretty cool, and the fact that we would get cool Office Depot team jersey’s sealed the deal.
The Office Depot Foundation team was only the third largest team participating in the Coral Gables MS150. Team Storm Riders and the Z-Motion Team were larger. The main sponsor of the Coral Gables MS150 is Zimmerman Advertising. Their team Z-Motion had over 300 cyclists participating in the 2008 ride.
Everyone that signs up for the MS150, whether as an individual, or as part of a team, pledges to raise a minimum of $300 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Registration for the MS150 costs between $20 and $50, the earlier you sign up to do the ride, the cheaper the registration fee. The Office Depot Foundation pays the registration fees for each team member. Once you register for the ride, the Multiple Sclerosis Society gives each participant a website to help them with their fundraising efforts.
Coming down Card Sound bridge, day 1 of the MS150 ride.
Too Many Rest Stops
The MS150 ride was the only road bike ride I’ve participated in that had too many rest stops. Rest stops were located along the course every 4 to 10 miles. Each rest stop was run by a local organization, such as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts or Fire Department. Each organization tried to outdo the next with a well stocked rest stop. We had to decide which rest stops to stop at, as we only wanted to stop every 20 miles or so. And there was too much food at the rest stops. I like to fill up my water bottle, maybe grab a piece of fruit and/or a pack of Fig Newton’s, then head back on the road.
One of the rest stops was the official lunch stop, there were pasta salad’s, sub sandwiches, potato salad, chips, rolls, desserts. Most bike riders I know can’t ride after eating real food, gives us a stomachache. The ride ended on the first day at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. There was tons of food available at the park. We feasted on burgers, grilled chicken, salads, cold sodas and popsicles before taking the shuttle bus to our hotel room. It was a very well organized ride.
Well Organized Ride
The ride start for day 2 was back at John Pennekamp Park. My husband and I got up at 5:00 in the morning so we would have time to get ready, check out of our hotel and ride the shuttle bus back to the park. Once we arrived at the park, we checked our luggage back in. There were 2 large UPS 18-wheelers, not your regular UPS delivery trucks, that took the riders luggage back to the University of Miami in Coral Gables. Then we picked our bikes up and headed over to the breakfast tents. Again, too much food. Pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, cereals, oatmeal, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, etc… I had a bit of scrambled eggs and part of a banana, it was just too early to eat. Then we headed to the drink tents to clean out our water bottles and fill them up with cold gatorade.
It was a lot easier riding 75 miles on the first day of the ride. My entire body was still a bit sore and stiff from the first day, so the second day wasn’t as much fun. 75 miles wasn’t the longest I’ve ever ridden in one day, that honor goes to the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson ride we did on November 17th, 2007. But I’ve never done 2 long rides back to back. I would normally take a few days to 1 week off, before getting back on the bike. I’m 44, and my husband is 51, it takes us a bit longer to recover from long, intense bike rides, than it used to.
2009 MS150
A couple of days ago I got an email from the Office Depot Foundation team captain. We can start registering for the 2009 MS150 which takes place on May 2nd & 3rd. His goal is to have over 125 members join the team for 2009. Our team captain used to be an employee for Office Depot. He recently switched jobs, but the Office Depot Foundation thought he did such a great job of being a captain, that they asked him to continue on as captain.
Check out the MS150 website to find out about the MS bike rides in your area, and help raise funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Crossing the finish line, day 2 of the MS150 ride.
Photos of MS150
My Bike Diva site has lots of pictures taken from the 2008 Coral Gables MS150 ride, in case you are curious:
MS150 Pictures
More MS150 Pictures
And Still More Pictures
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Bike Diva
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