This is a recap of the ride that Megan Lehnhoff did for her donors - this is a great idea to make the folks who donated money to you become part of the ride!
The moment you’ve all been waiting for…You’ll notice that there were no run-ins with dogs, nor did I break any bones. I started writing this last night but had to finish today over lunch. It just kept getting longer!
I don’t even know where to start. The 2007 Valero MS 150 Bike to the Beach experience was far beyond what I expected. There is just something very special and unforgettable about rallying with 3,500 fellow riders and countless volunteers and spectators to help raise money to research the cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Even as I type this, the lump in my throat that was there throughout a large portion of the ride returns. First of all, I sincerely want to thank each of you for the good wishes, thoughts, prayers, support, phone calls, and emails. Every time my body wanted to shut down from pain or fatigue (which yes, happened several times), I just thought of my supporters and instantly felt inspired to continue. Also, I want to thank you for your donations – I have raised $2,177 and still counting. Our fundraising does not close out until Nov 20, so I will push forward until then. Since there is still time, I want to make one last effort to reach $2,500.
Saturday morning began cool and crisp. My husband Scott helped me load my car and we were on the road to the AT&T Center by 5:30am. Once there, I put air in my bike tires, put my two backpacks on the Valero luggage truck, and met up with fellow Velo Valero team members. Excitement and team spirit was thick in the air. Immediately I got in on the Velo Valero temporary tattoo action with some of my teammates and put several on both legs! Once we were all “tatted up,” we headed off to the starting line. On the way, I witness the first mini-crash of the day and the race hadn’t even started! Ack! That didn’t exactly help calm my nerves.
Because Valero is the title sponsor of the event, our team gets to start first so we were up at the front of the line. There were several speeches, including our CEO Bill Klesse who is the event’s top fundraiser for the second year in a row. Then one of the Velo Valero riders, Alisa Lomas, sang the National Anthem. It was perfect. Being on team Velo Valero is kind of like being on The Woodlands Swim Team (for those of you who know what I’m talking about) or what I imagine being on the UT or A&M football teams must feel like. The team spirit is incredible. It is powerful and overwhelming. There is true pride to wear that jersey. And from just being there you feel it.
There was a small group of war veterans riding who got a head start. Waiting for the countdown for us to roll out after them, I was so nervous that I was physically shaking all over. After several minutes, team Velo Valero led the event and off we went. Soon I began to catch up with some of the war vets and I was overwhelmed with inspiration. I saw men with no legs pedaling themselves with their arms in recumbent bikes. I saw people with just one leg, also courageously riding along. There were so many photos that I wanted to take while riding to share with you, but it would have been a safety hazard for me to do so. I encourage you to look in the papers and on the news to see some of these tremendous folks riding. You can’t help but feel completely and totally amazed.
After several minutes, I heard the familiar voice of Lisa who is a trainer in our fitness center! We had planned to ride together but couldn’t find each other in the chaos of the starting line. Amber, another member of the fitness staff was with her as well as their friend Will who also works at Valero. The four of us did Day #1 together. We planned which rest areas we wanted to stop at and if we got separated while riding, we always just regrouped where we had planned. 20 miles into the ride at our first rest stop, I witnessed, no wait, experienced, the second mini-crash of the day. I had a guy on both my right and left as we turned into the rest stop. The guy on my right fell over directly to his left where I was riding. Knocking into me, I was the domino who then fell into the guy on my left. Fortunately, the guy on my left caught my body, but my bike went down while my feet were still clipped in. I think this incident was where the mysterious bump on my ankle came from the next day.
Seemingly unscathed and back on the road again later, I couldn’t figure out why I was going to slow. Our group had separated but we were all meeting up at lunch in a couple of miles. I felt like I was pedaling so hard, but going nowhere! Even though I was on flat terrain at the time, I kept shifting to an easier gear and then finally realized that I was in my “Granny Gear” and couldn’t shift to an easier gear anymore! I seriously started to question if I was going to be able to finish if this was how hard it was at only mile 50. People were FLYING by me like I was standing still. Once I got to lunch and we all found each other, ate, and got ready to get back on the road, I realized that my rear brake was touching the tire. When I fell, my wheel became bent, and for about 60% or so of each revolution, the brake was on! No wonder! I immediately went to the bike shop tent and they fixed it within minutes!
While the weather was fantastic – clear but not too hot, after lunch I really started to notice how bad the head wind was. Later as one of my teammates at dinner said, “You know it’s windy when you have to pedal downhill.” At one point, I was in my biggest, strongest gear, pedaling as fast as I could downhill and I was only going 19 mph. As a reference, I can usually get close to 30 mph just coasting down hills of similar grades. The pavement was also becoming an issue. The rough asphalt was so jarring that I felt like my teeth were going to rattle out of my mouth. It was exhausting. Every now and then I might get lucky to find a smooth patch and I instantly felt 100 pounds lighter until the rough gravel pavement came back again. I saw people dangerously close to the edge of the road because there would be a 3 inch strip of smoother pavement about 2 inches from the edge and you just knew they were trying to take advantage of it despite the risks. Besides the wind and pavement conditions, there was also what seemed to be an endless series of hills. While they were not too steep, they were looooooong. Once you got to the top, you saw another one in the distance. There were times when I struggled to maintain 8 mph.
At one point while riding by myself, I started to keep my mind busy by counting how many trees shaded the road. Then I tried counting speed limit signs. Then I played the “See-How-Fast-You-Can-Spot-The-Road-Kill-You-Just-Smelled” game. However, the easiest way to pass the time was to meet new people. Often times the conversation would start like, “Hang tough, Valero!” as someone rode by me and we’d chat about the race, the conditions, the amazing war vets... It was fun to encourage others and it was helpful to hear encouragement from others when I needed it too. I started to realize that not only am I proud to be a member of Velo Valero, but I’m proud to be a part of this event with riders with all different colored jerseys coming together to support each other for one cause.
Words cannot describe the pain and suffering that last quarter of the ride on Saturday afternoon. The ride only goes 94 miles with an option to do a Century Ride (to hit 100 miles even). All along I planned on doing it, but by mile 80, I said, “Scrap that!” Everyone in my group agreed. When we got to our last rest stop and we knew that there was probably only 10 miles or so left, we ran into Mr. Klesse. I asked him if he was going to do the Century Ride and he very enthusiastically said, “Of course!!!” So Lisa and I felt inspired to do it too. I must admit, it was hard to pass the turn-off to camp, to inflict another few miles of torture, but in the end it was worth it and I’m glad we did it. Besides, it was just a small loop and we had the wind in our favor on the way back. By the way, I more than doubled my miles per hour with the wind at my back! They took our photos as we rode in and it’s rumored that you get a patch for completing the Century Ride. I probably almost entered delirium by the time that I finished, and so I’m not sure how long we were on the road that day in total. If I had to guess though, it was somewhere between 9.5 – 10 hours.
Upon finishing there was no time to celebrate. I needed a shower – STAT! And food. And new legs. And Aloe Vera. Walking slower than a one-legged turtle, I found my husband, my stuff, took a shower (a one hour wait in line!), ate dinner, got a massage, and finally went to bed exhausted. It was the best night of sleep I have ever had in a tent in my entire life! Scott and I brought an air mattress and shared the team tent with a couple dozen other Valero folks. Before bed, though, the Valero hospitality tent had a surprise visit from Elvis who put on quite a show during dinner!
Sunday morning began early for me. Scott left at 5am to make it back to work by 7:30am, and so I just got up too. I needed to pick up my bike from where they kept it overnight, put air in the tires, get dressed, apply butt butter to my shorts, put on sunscreen, pack my backpacks including the air mattress, eat breakfast, fill my water bottles, stretch, and ensure I had everything that I needed for my ride (wallet, Gu, spare tire tube, chap stick, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.). We finally headed to the start line around 7am and rolled out around 7:30am. As we got back on 181 South, I saw another photo I wish I could have taken to show you. The sun was just barely up, and there was a light misty fog covering the hills. In front on me I could see hundreds and hundreds of cyclists winding down the curved hill, headed towards Corpus Christi.
On Sunday, my friends from the day before didn’t ride. As the biggest team, while there always seems to be someone from Valero when you look around, I decided to ride Day #2 by myself. I only stopped in Sinton for lunch since we only had 60 miles total that day and I was anxious to finish. I had wakened refreshed and re-energized and was ready to ride over the Corpus Christi Bay. Despite the continued head wind, I rode much faster than Saturday, and I finished the 60 miles in about four hours. Riding over the big bridge into Corpus was amazing. It took my breath away. So did the cars on the same highway going 80 mph! J The best part of the two days was closing in on the finish line, both sides of the roads full of clapping and cheering people. The lump in your throat comes back again and you just smile… and smile some more.
Overall, the event was extremely well put on. The route signage, water, PowerAde, food, ice, volunteers, and people cheering and encouraging you along the way - it was just impressive. There was an overwhelming sense of teamwork – all fighting for one cause – old, young, and in between, in all shapes and sizes. I’m hooked. I’m addicted. This is an event in which I will participate every year. I encourage you to consider taking part in some way. Give cycling a shot or sign up as a volunteer. I promise that you will be so glad that you were a part of the movement towards a world free from MS.
This year I rode for Darlene Moos and Donna Johnson who have MS. When I got home on Sunday, I started to make each of them a scrapbook of the 2007 Valero MS 150 Bike to the Beach. It will have pictures, articles, and my accounts of the weekend. I will cover it with the orange MS bandanas that I tied to my bike in their honor and carried the entire 160 miles.
Megan Lehnhoff
Amber, Lisa, and Megan on the road