Monday, October 8, 2018

MS Ride 2018


Day before

Wendy and I arrived at Silver Mountain Resort, got checked in to our room, and hauled luggage up. I then went down and checked in for the MS Ride. After getting settled we decided to go ahead and take a short little ride on the trail. Rode four miles towards Osburn and stopped at a grocery store to pick up a bottle of orange juice on the way back. We ate dinner in the room and relaxed a bit before going to bed.

Day one – 107 miles – 5:53 ride time

Got up and had scrambled eggs and toast. Went down to get the bike out of the storage area and hit the trail at a quarter to 8. Had a little bit of a head wind on the way to Cataldo and the wind was a lot stronger when I got to the lake at Harrison. Saw quite a few ducks in different place and about 20 herons in a field between Medimont and Harrison. I had never seen that many herons in one place.

Pickle Juice in a Box

Pickle Juice in a Box is a thing and they had it at some of the rest areas for the ride.
    
Stopped in Harrison for lunch. Rode from Harrison to Cataldo with two other riders,  Chris from Spokane whose mom was diagnosed with MS 15 years ago and Scott from Silverdale who was diagnosed with MS several years ago. Both of these guys were moving pretty quickly and we averaged close to 20mph in that section of the trail. Chris decided to get to Kellogg quicker after the stop at Cataldo since he was wearing out. Scott and I rode at a slower pace and had a really good conversation.

Texted Wendy when I got back to the resort to see if she wanted to go for a short ride before dinner. She came down and we went about 2 miles towards Osburn and then back to Kellogg.

We ate dinner with the other riders and volunteers that evening and then went up to the hot tub on the roof of the building we were staying in to relax for a while before going back to the room.

Day two – 40 miles – 2:30 ride time

STRIKE!
Rained during the night and it was raining a little bit when I went to get breakfast with the other riders and volunteers. Rain stopped before setting out on the trail to Mullan. I decided to skip the Burke turnoff in Wallace since we needed to check out before noon. Rode all the way through Mullan past the Lucky Friday Mine on Friday Avenue towards Shoshone Park. Saw a lot of signs for a strike at the Lucky Friday Mine. Turned around at the first fork in the road and headed back to the rest stop. Got a few snacks and headed back down towards Wallace and Kellogg.

Thanks

I want to really thank all of the people that donated to the MS Society. Your donations will go a long way in helping those affected by MS.