MS Bike Tour 2008-we did it!!!

team iron myelin

this year's team was a bit small. just the andersons and the duncans. at first i was a bit bummed to have a smaller team rather than a larger team than last year, but in the end it was probably a good thing. afterall, i wasn't even sure i'd be able to ride. but {and i'm not going to feel bad about tootin' my own horn here-this is my blog-so if you don't like it, then go away!}

i rock.

here's why:

• i just had a baby via c-section five weeks ago
• i've been suffering from a minor relapse of MS
• haven wasn't the perfect baby she should have been the night before the race. i got maybe two hours of sleep
• i rode my bike forty miles (3:11 riding time) with gigantor nursers (if you know what i mean). speaking of those-a shout out to ginabina who did it in an underwire (packing stinks-you can't remember everything!).

this year the ride was actually fun. obviously it wasn't too horrible last year, because i signed up for this years ride a week after we finished last year's, but there were definitely tears and lots of cursing last year. this year was challenging enough to feel like we accomplished something noteworthy, but no so much that we couldn't have great conversation and good times. gina and i decided to do the 40-mile route, which we decided was the perfect length for us at the moment-we got to cross the finish right when we got tired and right before the sun started to really beat down.

the boys decided to be tough guys and ride the 100-miler. so gina and i had time after we finished to go shower, pick up haven from aunt vick and run her over to gigi and gpa, then back to the finish line to wait for our men. only to find out that they were completely off on their previously guesstimated ETA. so we waited. and waited... (it was more exhausting than the actual ride)...

did i mention stevie's fantastic attire? no? well-here it is. and you should see the burn he got as a result of his showing-off!

boy does he look smokin'!

two tired(?) boys after 100 miles! they finished in about 6 hours of riding time. seriously, i sort of hate them. it was like no big deal for them. for the small part of the ride when all four of us were together, brad was riding with no hands and barely pedaling . he looked so relaxed . like a leisurely ride in the park. meanwhile, gina and i were huffing and pedaling four times as fast.


gina and i are sure proud of our dudes. but more proud of ourselves! we've decided to train for a century ride this fall (yikes!). and as for next year, you can betchyur bottom that team iron myelin will be going strong. we're planning to make it a weekend event with camping and spaghetti and swimming and...the more the merrier...(hint, hint)!