STOLEN

STOLEN, originally uploaded by Blacknell.

why do people feel the need to steal? Keep an eye out for this bike...

Thanksgiving Morning Hike

I got out on Thanksgiving morning for a hike around the mountain at Wintergreen Resort. I was dropped off at the bottom of one side and made my way back to the house up and over the mountain. It was a nice hike, perfect weather, challenging enough to work up a sweat and a big appetite. This time of year there isn't a lot to photograph, but here is a small photo essay of my trip through the woods...

The trail was either leaves or rocks!!

Veterans Day

How do you really pay tribute to those who put their lives on the line, some who pay the ultimate price so I can sit in my living room and write this blog, with the freedom to say what I want. This is just one small example of a freedom we take for granted living in the United States of America. People are still fighting today all over the world and I get the day off. I'm not complaining, I'll take it. But, I'm a little humbled.

This past week, a member of Kathleen's family passed away. John Ripley was a great American Hero. He fought for his country. He fought for what he believed. He fought for his family. He truely believed in the freedoms for which he fought. You can read a little of his story here.

We attended his funeral at the Naval Academy in Annapolis on Friday. It was a powerful tribute to an incredible man. He was gracious, funny, soft spoken, friendly, and very humble. Col. Ripley would want us to remember ALL who have served and are serving our country today. So I say, no matter what you may do today, take a minute and remember why you get to do what you are doing. If you are a member of one of our great services, serving our country, Thank YOU!

if the fight against cancer matters to you...

since the election is a week away, why not read more about our canidates and what they plan to do....

http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/b.4486705/

Crewing at the 3Day

Kathleen has a great write up here about our weekend at the 3day. Personally, I'm having a very hard time coming up with the words to describe how I was affected by this weekend.

I met a woman, I don't know her name. She has survived breast cancer... she was walking the event... she now is on her last chemo treatment for lung cancer and was out walking as far as she could for a cause, not for herself, but for others who are suffering from what she has herself suffered. When I met her, she smiled and thanked ME? Thanked ME? yes, i'll say it again, Thanked me for doing a little manual labor. I was so humbled by this moment, it really left me speachless....

3:45 AM

That's what time I got out of bed on Saturday morning so I could meet up with Cat and Brian to head to Dover, DE for the start of the MS150. Loaded up and on the road, we were riding through rain, rain and more rain. Not just a little shower, but hard driving rain that made it hard to see to drive. As we got closer to Dover, the rain started to get lighter. Some of the roads were even dry and we started to get excited about better weather. After some rushing around, meeting people, registration and some eating, it was time to start. As we were getting our bikes ready we heard them sending off the first riders. Around 8:30 we started to ride.

I could talk so much about the ride itself... 76 miles on day 1 and 78 miles on day 2, the beautiful countryside, the many many other cyclists enjoying the day, the wet roads and occasional rain, the awesome pit stops full of food and encouraging words, the awesome feeling of completing 75ish miles of riding at the beach and jumping in the ocean. I could talk about all those things, but....

There's the guy who is the top fundraiser year after year... oh yeah, he's blind and rides the whole ride on the back of a tandem.

The guy who drives the shuttle all over Rehoboth and Dewey because he "loves to see so many people come together for a cause". He's a 4 year veteran.

The other shuttle driver who is 28 and has driven for the event for 8 years.

The little girl I saw cheering from the side of the road standing in a full body brace, I can only assume she has MS.

It's very humbling to think about the effort put forth to put an event like this together, each person has a major part in making it all come together and I for one was very impressed with it all.

We enjoyed coming into the finish line to the huge cheers, we enjoyed pizza served by a local pizza place, then we enjoyed a huge dinner served with many smiles and many a "thank you for riding". After which we enjoyed a few beers and some sleep so we could ride back the next day.

It's an interesting feeling to be 75 miles away from your car. We took our time Sunday morning getting ready, eating breakfast at the hotel and catching a cab back to the start line to pick up our bikes and start the ride. We arrived back at 8:30 and much to our suprise found out we were one of the last groups to leave on the day. We headed out to the first rest stop where we could fill up on water and more good food. At this point we met two other riders who also had started late. The 5 of us set up a pace line and spent the rest of the day riding in order, sharing the load evenly. We ended up getting off course at one point which added 6 miles to our ride, no problem though, we really were enjoying the day. We finished to more cheers, more food and feeling pretty good about the whole experience.

MS150 - Bike to the Bay

This weekend I'm embarking on a journey from Dover to Rehoboth by bicycle for the MS150 - Bike to the Bay. The goal is to ride 150 miles in two days. 75 there and then 75 back. When I consider what Multiple Sclerosis does to people, I will spend both days being thankful that I have the ability to ride my bike at all, much less ride this far. I've been doing a lot of riding lately since I started commuting and over the past couple of days I've been wondering how I'm going to make it. I know it's all relative, but I quickly started to feel bad about thinking how I am going to suffer. I'm blessed with good health and have decided I will not complain once this weekend!