Support My Trek to Find a Cause, Treatment and Cure for MS

If you've been following my training progress, you know that I'm not just doing this for me. I'm training this hard and riding in the Bike MS to support the research efforts to find the cause, a treatment, and ultimately a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.

Please support me and this cause by making a donation. No matter how small, every little bit will help. If your employer matches, I'd be happy to take care of the matching paperwork for you too.

You can donate online or mail a check to:
Bike MS: Valero Bike to the Beach
National MS Society
P.O. Box 4125
Houston, TX 77210
To ensure proper credit to my fundraising, please be sure to print my name on your check.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I can't wait to share the success of this year's ride!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Shiny New Blue Road Bike

Pete and I headed to Bike World after work today to get my shiny, new, blue, road bike! I was running late, so Pete and Tom were already deep in conversation by the time I arrived. There on the rack was my new bike waiting with me and reserved with my (well, okay, Pete's) name on it! Tom grabbed the bike and we headed back to the trainer for the fitting.

I did a quick change to my bike pants and bike shoes while Tom put my pedals on the bike and switched the stem from a 60 to a 90 cm stem. He took off all of the tags and we were ready for a fitting. I climbed up and he determined, rather quickly that the seat needed to come up a bit. Then he checks the alignment of my knee caps over the pedals. It's amazing to me what goes in to getting a comfortable fit on a bike.
I pedal for a bit on the trainer and learn the shifters. These are different from the gear shifters I have on the blue Schwinn "comfort" bike, yet not quite the same as the ones on the demo bike I rode last week. Then the bike is off to the mechanics for a quick once over inspection. Pete gives them the sensors and part to the Garmin for install. I pick out some simple silver water bottle cages and hand those over to the mechanics. The three of us then head over the the bag section of the store where I pick out a simple "Bento Box" for my cross tube. This will allow me to keep my cell phone, Gu, and electrolyte beans within reach for while I'm pedaling. A must on the longer rides!

While that was all getting installed on my bike, I sent Tom to get me a box of the Jelly Belly electrolyte beans. I've decided these are the best electrolyte replacements for me. I headed over to the clothing section and picked up another pair of gloves. I haven't used my original gloves in some time and last weekend I discovered it was because they are the wrong size for me. So, I'm giving Erica my original gloves and I needed a second pair. I've decided two pairs of everything is a minimum so I don't have to do bike clothing laundry every day!

The bike was given a clean bill of health, we paid the bill and Tom loaded the bike into the back of my car! I'm now the proud owner of a shiny, new, blue, road bike.

Goals
Today's Miles: 0
Total Miles Achieved: 429.9
Financial Investment: $1781.14
Total Weight Loss: +2.4
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