Ride to Jack and Back

This was my second year riding in the MidSouth MS Chapter's localized MS150, Ride to Jack and Back. Last year was a poor point of perspective... I was just coming off an (another...) overuse injury to my hamstring/knee, and was slightly under the weather that day, so I didn't ride well, in spite of riding only the short route.

My ride this year, though, was amazinggruelingfuninterestingfulloflearning. That's all one word.

Now that I'm sitting here on my sofa with a glass of wine, a full day later, I'm ruminating on the excitement of the weekend. It was perfect. The perfect culmination of a year of riding. I couldn't have asked for better conditions to have some of my fastest rides to date, with people who challenge me and teach me every time I ride with them.

On the first day, at one of the food stops, a woman walked up to me and a few of the folks with whom I was riding to talk to us. She clearly wasn't a rider, and I wondered what she was going to say. Her words struck me hard, as she told us she was grateful for our efforts at fundraising and riding, and how we were helping pay for her astronomically expensive medication which she could never afford on her own.

This passing conversation shed a new light on what we're doing at this ride every year. While I always felt the contribution my donors and I made were worthwhile, I had only ever met one other person who benefited from the work the MS Society does in communities just like mine and yours. There are plenty of other rides that benefit other amazing organizations (JDRF, etc.), and the issue is the same across the board. Even our small rider contributions, made possible through big personal contributions by our donors, make a difference in the life of someone else. Those are pedal strokes I can feel good about.