Sunday - second day of the ride - Rash of the Road

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

We did not have to get up as early since we were going to eat at Camp Pinewood. Deb, Steve, and Bill had to redo the Superman logos on their calves since the logos got washed off the previous evening. The breakfast was pretty good and it gave the riders the energy they would need for the first part of the day. After eating, Deb, Steve, and Bill got their bikes and headed to the start line.

We followed the first part of the route from the day before until we got to the turn at Spring Mountain Ranch. Steve and Bill rode out in front of everyone and made the turn to go up Bethel Hill. As we headed down the backside of the hill, Steve rode out ahead of us. Another rider caught Bill and passed us at the second turn. Bill stayed on his rear wheel until we caught Steve at the second hill. Steve slowed down to go up and Bill passed the other rider and Steve. About two miles down the road Steve caught Bill and they rode on to the first rest stop of the day.

Just a flesh wound.

Steve and Bill rested for a little bit and then they headed towards Roseberry. Steve started cruising along and Bill had a hard time keeping up. After Bill took the turn at Roseberry to head to Donnelly we finally caught up with Steve. He had slowed down to chat with Gordy (has MS and rides a hand crank bike) and Michelle (has MS and was riding a cruiser bike). As Bill came up behind them he got his camera out of his pocket and turned it on. He had placed both hands back on the handlebar but had slowed down too much at this point. That and the fact that the bike had drifted too far to the right of the road into some gravel made him over-correct to get back on the road. A very slow motion crash ensued that caused major scrapes on several different areas of Bill’s body. One of the support trucks was right there and the support people asked if he was okay. He said that he was fine and that he could make it the rest of the way. A waiver had to be signed before he was able to continue riding. Bill got back on the bike and cruised on towards the next rest stop in Donnelly. When he got there he did some cleanup on the scrapes, waited for Steve, and got some snacks.

After Bill got cleaned up and ate, we headed towards the third rest stop at Tamarack Resort. Steve and Bill got into a pace line with another group of riders. Everyone was taking turns at the front of the pace. When Bill got to the front, the leader of the other group of riders started to drop back. All of the other riders including Steve slowed down to stay with the dropped rider. Bill kept going and Steve finally caught and passed him. Bill finally arrived at the rest stop. He had some peanut butter sandwiches and cleaned up his knee a couple more times. Steve and Bill got back on the bikes and headed towards Donnelly again. On the way there they saw a helicopter coming in for a landing near a spot that had a big pool of water for loading the bucket that it was carrying. Bill stopped and watched it land. After it landed he caught back up to Steve. They both rode into Donnelly and Bill stopped to clean up while Steve kept going.

Bill got back on the bike and after making the turn at Roseberry he caught up with Gordy and Michelle, again. He ended up riding with them to the place that they were getting picked up near the Finn Church. He then stopped at the last rest stop and headed on towards McCall. We were sure glad that we finally made it to Camp Pinewood after this road rash adventure.

Megan Nettleton told Bill that when he had wrecked the support crew had told them that rider #8 had crashed. She looked at her list and saw that it was him. She told everyone that he would be alright since he had done 100 miles the day before. Bill was glad that she had confidence in him that he would finish the ride. It was another successful MS Ride.

Bill would like to thank all those that supported him in his efforts to raise money and awareness for MS. Every little bit helps and that is why he is so passionate about this cause.

Saturday - first day of the ride - Long ride

Saturday, August 18th, 2012

The overhead light flashed on early. Bill’s dad was looking for the cats in the dark. I think it was the outside light that was supposed to turn on, but it ended up being the living room lights.  No cats wanted to come in so it was off to making breakfast. Nothing like sourdough pancakes before a long bike ride. After breakfast, Pam started putting the Superman logo on Deb, Steve, and Bill’s calves. Steve had made some pretty cool templates which made the job of putting the logo on really easy using body paint. The logos looked pretty sweet and turned out very nice. Bill taped me to the front of his bike to give me a front row seat on the ride. Superman ended up being zip tied to Bill’s helmet in a flying position. We headed over to Camp Pinewood a little before 7:30 to get ready for the ride. While we waited for the ride to start, Deb, Steve, and Bill got pictures taken of them all decked out in the logos, spandex, and mascots. 

Riding on the front of the bike

After the usual announcements and pre-ride safety talk, we embarked. The path was very familiar to us since we have ridden it for several years. We rode past the airport and saw one of the heavy-lifting helicopters waiting for any signs of fire in the area. After crossing the highway to head towards Spring Mountain Ranch subdivision we saw a dead fox in the road. We were not even out of the limits of McCall and we had already seen roadkill. The ride through the subdivision was very nice and at a pretty even pace. Everyone was trying to get warmed up as it was just a little nippy out, and riding on the front of the bike was even colder for me. As we turned onto Lick Creek Road the pace picked up a bit and we made it to the turnaround at Tamarack Condominiums in no time. Bill was out ahead of Deb and Steve all the way to the turn around and back into McCall. We stopped at the first rest area at Gravity Sports and waited for Deb and Steve to show up. The rest stops are a great place since some of the volunteers have MS and they appreciate all of the riders for their commitment to riding for this cause. Some have had the disease for over twenty years. 
Deb, Steve, and Bill headed towards downtown after fueling up and saw Pam, Victoria, and Bill’s mom and dad by Legacy Park. We headed through town and on towards Warren Wagon Road to begin the assault of Sesesh Summit. The lake was pretty calm and there was not much activity going on. Deb fell behind as we got near North Beach and Steve and Bill kept up a pretty good pace. As we got closer to the second rest stop Steve decided to sprint out ahead to beat us. Pam and Victoria were already there taking pictures of all of the riders that stopped or passed by the rest stop. Steve and Bill waited for Deb to arrive. 

After refueling, we were ready for the assault of the summit. Deb, Steve, and Bill headed out at the same time. Once we got to the climb Deb fell back. Bill stuck with Steve and then passed him. A few more riders became easy targets for Bill as we climbed. The chip seal and the gravel on the sides of the road made it a little tough going. With the top of the summit and the third rest area in sight Bill had renewed strength to do a little sprint. Pam and Victoria were waiting and taking more pictures. Peanut butter sandwiches were on the table just waiting for Bill to attack and he did so with great enthusiasm. While we waited for Deb and Steve to arrive, Bill took the bike and me over to get a picture at the summit sign. After Steve and Deb arrived we all got our picture taken at the sign. Bill got some more food for the road and Deb headed out ahead of Steve and Bill. They caught up and rode with her for a little while before cruising out ahead towards the Burgdorf “Y”.

Steve and Bill waited at the “Y” for Deb to show up. After she arrived they allowed her to rest a bit before all of them headed back to the summit. They all rode together for a little while before Steve and Bill rode out ahead. They finally made it to the summit and stopped at the rest stop to wait for Deb. The pit crew from Performance Bikes got in their van to go see how far Deb was from the rest stop. They came back soon after leaving and let us know that she was not far down the road. As soon as Deb was in sight we started cheering her on. 

We let her rest up before we headed towards McCall. We rode down the hill at our own speed with Steve in front, Bill in the middle and Deb playing caboose. Bill finally caught up with Steve near the bottom as Steve had stopped to help out another rider on the side of the road who was having problems with sore feet. She finally got back on her bike and headed towards the summit while we resumed our ride towards McCall. We finally made it to the next rest stop and waited for Deb. After she arrived we rode together most of the way to McCall. We arrived at Camp Pinewood where the day’s adventure had begun. Deb and Steve decided to go to the McCall Brewing Company to have the after ride meal while Bill and I headed off to get 100 miles in for the day. We started off by riding out to the Tamarack Bay Condominiums, back through town, and out to North Beach. We ended up riding a total of 103 miles in a little over 6 hours.

Riding for MS and motivation

Motivation is what I need to write this. I am motivated to ride the bike for this great cause but writing to me is a strain. Writing was not one of my best subjects in high school or college and it pains me sometimes to come up with the right ways of expressing the details of the ride. I guess Joe will start with the cast of characters and I do mean characters:

Bill – The crazy bike rider
Victoria – his daughter
Joe Vandal – Faithful mascot of the University of Idaho, kind of likes to ride a bike with Bill
Deb – Bill’s youngest sister, semi-crazy bike rider
Steve – Bill’s brother-in-law, married to Deb, another crazy bike rider
Pam – Bill’s sister, the middle one, photographer of all things MS
Chris Nettleton – MS Champion that Bill signed up to ride for at this year’s MS Ride. Each champion had a logo and Chris’ was the Superman logo.
Megan Nettleton – Chris’ wife, MS Coordinator for the ride
Superman – Helmet riding super-hero, rode along in support of Chris

Tuesday, August 14th, before the ride - On the Road

Victoria, Superman, Bill, and I drove from Moscow to the gas station outside of Winchester. Bill got on the bike and rode about 39 miles to the Grangeville side of Whitebird Hill. Victoria, Superman, and I drove to there to wait for him. He said that the ride was very nice. He had thoughts of riding up to the top of Whitebird Hill and then down the other side. The thoughts subsided really quickly once he got the bike loaded onto the car. We stopped at Hoots Cafe to have some ice cream and French fries. Bill said that it sure did taste good after all of the miles on the bike. We loaded back in the car and made our way towards McCall. It was pretty warm all the way along the Salmon River.

Wednesday, August 15th, before the ride - Relaxation

Bill had a very nice ride in McCall before we all traveled down to Boise to go shopping and then dinner at Deb and Steve’s with Pam. Steve made a very good meal of tacos for everyone. We hung out at their house for a while and then headed out to the house in Nampa. It was time to get a good sleep, for Thursday was going to be a busy day of riding for Bill and Steve.

Thursday, August 16th, before the ride - Dump and Time

Dump Loop - The Wall

This was the morning of a dump loop for Steve and Bill. After Steve finished some work, they loaded up all the bike stuff and headed out to suffer. The climbs on this route are pretty hard and Bill wanted to pace himself to keep from bonking like the year before. The new bike rode very well and he was able to go up the inclines fairly quickly. He was able to even pass and stay out ahead of Steve on several of the climbs. On the descents he was no match for Steve’s speed but was able to keep a pretty good pace with him on the flat stretches. After making it to the car they went to the bike store to do some shopping. They even made a quick dash through the McDonalds drive thru to get lunch and then headed back to Deb and Steve’s to rest up for the Time Trial that evening.

Deb arrived home and we had a little snack before we loaded up and headed to the Time Trial course. Bill’s goal was to get below 26 minutes for the 9.7 mile course. He was pretty excited and felt really good since he had put quite a few miles on the new bike. After going out for a quick warm up ride he got into his spot at the start/finish line. Each rider would go out at 1 minute intervals to allow for good spacing on the course. The starter has an assistant that holds the seat to allow the rider to have both feet on the pedals to have a good start. Bill felt like he was going to fall over the whole time that the assistant was holding onto the seat. He was sure glad when the starter told him to go. Once he was out on the course he rattled through the gears and built up speed. It felt like he was riding at a pretty good pace. As he got near the turnaround, he noticed a car turning onto the course and made a decision that he was going to get in front of the car before it actually got onto the course. The course is not closed to cars so he was glad that the driver took some time turning as he was able to get going back down the course to the start/finish line. He finished up with a time of 26 minutes and 5 seconds, the same amount of time that he had got almost 4 weeks earlier.

Friday, August 17th, before the ride - North to McCall

We drove back to McCall in the morning and hung out at the house. Bill rode a little during the day. Deb, Steve, and Pam arrived in the afternoon and that evening we all went over to Camp Pinewood to get signed in for the ride. While we were there we got to meet Chris Nettleton, the MS Champion that Steve and Bill had signed up to ride for. Chris works for KBOI TV in Boise and is the sports anchor. He was out at the playground watching his son play on the slide. Bill had brought along a Superman figure to show Chris. Chris was really happy that Steve and Bill were riding for him during the weekend. After getting checked in, we all went back to the house and spent a relaxing evening before going to bed.