Bike MS

This year's MS-150 was a blast!

Temperatures dropped just enough last weekend to make the climbs fairly pleasant. Light rain on Sunday and a light tail wind both days made the miles roll by gently.

I didn't have much internet access in June, so I scheduled all my blog posts for the entire month (except for Ride the Rockies trip reports) and half of this month back in May. I like what I have scheduled for this week and next, and I don't want to wait three weeks to share the weekend's adventures. So I thought I'd do a bonus post today.


The first year I participated in the MS-150, the team I rode with was not a major sponsor, so I didn't get to be at the front of the chutes to start after the national anthem. The next 10 years or so, I rode with the team of the title sponsor, and for three of those years, I was the first person to leave.


It felt very odd this year having to wait until all the top sponsor teams left. It felt even odder to see my former teammates in the jersey I used to wear.

The team lives on, even though the corporate sponsorship has ended. Even though the team welcomed me to keep riding with them, I decided back in November it wouldn't be fair of me to draw upon the limited team resources this year because I am not an employee.

Powerhouse teams Coneheads and Raw Hinies graciously invited my former team members and The Lizard and me to join their teams. All three teams trained together all spring.

It was very tempting to join the Raw Hinies. They consistently raise a tremendous amount of money every year, and the closeness of their team members is something all teams should have.


The Raw Hinies invited my former team mates (and us) to join them in their team tent at the end of Day 1 because my former team has no team tent now. This invitation also was tempting, but The Lizard and I usually are ready for our hotel room by the time I finish, so we wasted no time boarding the bus to south Fort Collins.

Nevertheless, it was so awesome to be invited and to be made to feel we are part of the "family" even though the structure of my former team has changed and even though I do not know any of the Coneheads or Raw Hinies. I appreciate their generosity, and if the offers are still open next year, I may just have to say yes.


After three-digit highs last week in the metro area while I served as director for girls camp in the mountains, Saturday was about 20 degrees more comfortable for MS-150 riders.


Our Snowcatcher team jerseys did not arrive in time, so we winged it with regular favorite jerseys. Mrs. Micawber found a substitute team. She found a rider with a matching jersey.


This year's High Roller jersey, which I missed out on by a whopping five dollars, really drew my eye.




Costumes cracked me up.








The treats at the rest stops were out of this world.


Saturday's lunch by the Sugar Bees team was awesome as always.




A motor vehicle accident near Horsetooth Reservoir resulted in riders being released in waves for a good part of the afternoon. The century route cut-off had to be extended. Mrs. Micawber and I missed the cut-off by eight minutes.

Oh, darn. (We had NO intentions whatsoever, but The Lizard happily completed his first century of the year, with a couple more to come in a couple of weeks.)




Some of the host towns from Ride the Rockies have banned plastic bags. Fort Collins gave riders plastic bags to protect their bike seats from the overnight storm, then recycled the bags when riders were done with them.


Mrs. Micawber and I spent our downtime creatively.






Day 2 began with a misty rain, a fabulous sunrise and a full rainbow.


Followed by four more rainbows.


And then a flat tire.




And help from an unexpected source.


Some unusual breakfast treats awaited at Sunday's first rest stop.




Some unusual bikes could be found.




At one rest stop, a rider wearing a "I Ride with MS" jersey approached me, pointed to my High Roller jersey and said, "Thank you."

That's why I ride.

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