Dallas MS 150 (Friday)

We made the drive north to Dallas on Friday. Pete was riding for the Feisty Devils team as the ride goes from Frisco (just north of Dallas) to Ft. Worth, with an overnight at the Texas Motor Speedway. We made our way to the expo. For those that don't know, the expo is the final packet pick-up location, bike inspection, bike compound for Friday night, a mini party, and a spot to purchase those forgotten or last-minute items from the sponsoring bike shops. We got Pete's packet, t-shirt and goodie bag.


The Feisty Devils team is the third largest team of the Dallas MS 150 and the largest friends and family team (the other two are corporate, Sam's Club and Richardson Bike Mart.) As a large team, they organize a team pasta dinner on Friday night. We claimed our table space and started taking photos of the cyclists, friends, and family all enjoying the event. The team had a great presentation of various awards, a summary of their growth over the last eight years, and some reminders of why we ride in the MS Society rides. It's an amazing way to kick-off the weekend and really get you fired up for the ride.

We came out of dinner and bumped into some friends that work in the MS Society office in San Antonio. In our conversation, I learned that the event photographer had canceled at the last minute, so they had a staff member taking some photos. As I stood there with my gear on my back, I asked what I could do to help! I was there, was going to be shooting the event anyway, tell me what you need and I'll capture it as best as I can. A couple phone calls later, I have a needed photo list in hand, have captured shots of the expo, and was hired as the photographer.

Now I had to rethink my plans for the weekend, review maps, pack gear differently, and determine my attack plan. Pete helped me to talk through some of it on the drive to the hotel. Then he put an offer on the table. He was willing to not ride and assist me in shooting the ride. That would be a big help having a second photographer, but he's a rider, planned to ride, packed to ride, ate dinner for the ride, and I don't want to take that away from him, especially when I know he enjoys riding with the Feisty Devils.

I kept running through a list of shot opportunities in my head. Kept in mind my limitations of driving myself around, my inability to be in multiple locations at once, my lack of knowledge of the route and key people for the Dallas ride. I talked Pete through his reasons for making the offer and what he might miss by not riding. His ultimate comment was that the chapter would benefit more from his photography assistance and wouldn't miss one rider on the road.

We decided to photograph the event as a team. Pete could drive the truck and I could shoot the ride. He could be in those other locations I couldn't get to without missing shots at the first location. We re-evaluated camera and lens assignments, re-packed the gear, and tried to get some sleep. I was a bit nervous and excited about the assignment so even though I was tired and knew it would be an early alarm, falling asleep was a challenge!