On Friday before the MS Ride, Pam arrived at the house and I got all of my stuff loaded into her rig. The first destination of the day would be Plummer, where I would get on the bike and ride to Kellogg on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.
It felt great to get on the bike and head down the trail on a very nice end of summer day. Joe didn’t get on the bike for this trip since I wanted to make sure that he was all rested for Saturday and Sunday. About 5 miles out of Plummer a whitetail deer went bounding across the trail and headed up the hill. Seeing the deer made me think of all the other wildlife that I could see along the trail. I expected to see a moose or heron as I made my way towards Harrison, but I only saw a small turtle right in the middle of the trail. I stopped and got it to move off to the side of the trail so that it did not get run over by others riding on the trail. I stopped at the bike shop in Harrison to get my tires pumped up and then got back on the trail.
The rest of the way to Kellogg was free of any life form other than the occasional biker or walker. All I needed was some food and sleep to get ready for the first day of the MS Ride.
Saturday, September 14th, 2013
Pam and I got ready to go and Joe was placed on the handle bar of the bike. We got to Mullan with plenty of time to get signed in and find out where we needed to be. Pam checked in with the person that was in charge of the volunteers to let them know that she was ready to take pictures of the event. We hung out in the parking lot and got to know a lot of the other riders. The weather was going to be nice for the ride. At 9:45 we were set free to ride on the trail.
Pam was at the first rest stop. I stopped and chatted with the volunteers, got some water, stocked up on food, and headed down the trail. This routine would be repeated several times along the trail as the rest stops were spaced out at about 15 mile intervals. It was fun to be able to relax a bit and chat with everyone before getting back on the bike. I did not bring my Camelback backpack this year, so filling up water bottles at the rest areas was important.
Lunch was served in Cataldo. Pam and I sat down for a nice little meal and some good conversation. After lunch it was refill bottles and get on the bike time. Trip to Harrison and up to Plummer was very nice and I saw a Woolly Bear caterpillar and a blue heron along the way. Others reported seeing moose and coyote in several places. I must have been the only one to not see any, even though I was looking all over place for them.
I took a shower when I got to the school in Plummer and then cheered on the rest of the riders as they came in. After everyone arrived we headed to the casino for the banquet. The food was very good and the people that talked during the presentations did a very good job. The presentations really drove home why I ride for the MS Society. The talks of how MS affects people differently but how those people are committed to not letting the disease get them down reminded me of all of the people with MS that I ride for: Susie Kaus, Michelle Jacobi, Samantha Martin, Mike Moe, Chris Nettleton, and Brandt Elwell. Their drive and determination lead me on even though I want to stop riding my bike because my hind end is sore.
After the banquet was done, Pam and I went back to the school to get some sleep since Sunday was going to be arriving and we needed some rest.
Sunday, September 15th, 2013
Pam, one of the other cyclists, and I got up and made our way from the school to the casino for breakfast. I ate a light meal since I did not want to get too much grease in the system and get a stomach ache.
After breakfast it was back to the school to get ready for the ride back to Mullan. We needed to get Pam’s rig all packed up with all of our stuff. After getting done with the packing it was time to get the bike and head out on the trail. Quite a few riders had already started out earlier and by the time I got to Harrison I had passed most of them. I was setting a pretty good pace and Joe’s beard was pretty messed up from the wind. I did make sure to stop at the rest stops and fill my water bottles since it was a warm day out.
Still no signs of moose along the trail, but I did see a few more Woolly Bear caterpillars along the way out of Harrison. The trees were starting to show signs of fall coming on. The colors and the leaves on the trail made it so marvelous to ride. The sound of crunching under the tires was music to my ears as I rode along.
Made it to Mullan ahead of everyone and called Pam to let her know that I had made it. I then started out for the trip back to Cataldo. I waved at all the other MS riders as they came towards Mullan.
In Cataldo I sat down on one of the metal benches to wait for Pam to arrive. As I waited there another biker who I knew stopped to chat with me. After talking for a few minutes a moose finally decided to appear in the trees about 100 feet away. We wanted to get a picture so we moved along the trail and all of the sudden the moose got spooked and came right towards us. We made a bee-line to the bench to use it as protection. We did not have to worry too much since the moose decided to head away from us into the trees by the road. Pam arrived not long after the moose and I got the bike on the back of her rig and we headed down the road.
All in all this was a very good MS Ride.
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