The Ride to Defeat ALS

As I wrote earlier this year, my Uncle Dick passed away this June from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. This disease doesn't get a lot of press (or research money), though at any one time as many as 40,000 Americans have the disease.

This ride was special for me on many levels. It was an opportunity for closure -- to say goodbye to Dick. It was an opportunity to think about my own family (both my family and my parents) and how the passing of the first of my dad's siblings affected me. It was also a chance to do what I hope is a great deal of good.

I was the third largest individual fundraiser for the event, raising $6,644 towards a search for a cure. I'm proud of the fact that I was the largest fundraiser who was not the head of a team.

The ride took place in Napa on September 24th, just a week after I basically bonked on the EBI. The weather itself was spectacular, and the course was quite flat.

I spent half the ride alone, just thinking about Dick and about my family. The second half of the ride, I hooked up with some guys wearing Olympic Club kit and finally fell into a paceline groove.

I was feeling much stronger this week, and we averaged somewhere north of 20mph for the second half of the ride (my Cyclocomputer's battery was dead, so I was riding blind w/r/t technology).

Elise and Juliana were back at the hotel, so I extended my metric century another 8 miles or so to ride back to the hotel and meet them. It was great having my family there for the weekend, even if they didn't make the ride.

I'll be back next year, and I'll be working hard to exceed my fundraising from this year. It felt good to be a contributor.