How to Ride a Trike 62 Miles

Step 1, attend a conference in Minneapolis, MN where 225 of the most special people in the world, all living with or affected by myotonic dystrophy have gathered. That's what Spencer and I did August 13-15. Step 2, the next chance you get (which for us was the next weekend, August 20-23) get on your trike/bike, try not to think how far it is, and start riding until you've racked up 62 miles. Because of the first, we were able to do the second. There's a direct cause and effect relationship. Here's why.

Perhaps you needed to be in the room there in Minneapolis at the "Empower 2010 Myotonic Dystrophy Family Conference" to fully understand this, but I think the message was pretty clear: this thing called myotonic dystrophy has met its match. A bunch of determined, organized, and energetic people have found each other and won't stop working until there's a cure for myotonic dystrophy and the cure will be ASAP.

You could see it in the dedication of the great group of organizers who put the conference together and in the research docs and specialists who reported on their critical work. You could feel it in talking to the attendees, kids and adults and everyone in between, who are determined not to let myotonic dystrophy get in the way of their goals and dreams. But, perhaps most meaningfully of all, you could see it in the everyone's eyes. I talked to many, many people living with MMD at the conference. Every time, I saw determination and a commitment to do whatever is necessary to stop myotonic dystrophy in its tracks.

One of the most things most necessary right now is building on the research that has been done so far -- research that has tracked down the cause for MMD and is closing in on therapies.

Step 2, the 62 mile step, means so much more when you know you are in it with so many others who so determined. Step 3 comes in October in the Sea Gull Century. We will get there.

54 Miles and a Horse

We took Red and Spencer's road bike (I have named it Madonna) down to Charles County, MD on Saturday, 7/30 to see if we could crack the 50 miles marker in our training. Through Charles and St. Mary's beautiful countryside, we meandered up a down some rolling roads to and from Hughesville, MD and we did it -- 54 miles to be exact. I am still hungry.

Highlights of this wonderful ride include things you only see from the vantage point of a bike or a trike, including:

• Snakes -- I don't mind them, but some might coil up a bit at the sight of a 3 foot black snake of some sort enjoying a warm stroll across the road in front on me on Trinity Church Road in Charles County. Looked as if he was going from the corn field on the right side of the road to the corn field on the left. Probably going to visit a friend.
• Groundhogs -- Spencer, who travels ahead of me to the next turn on the cue sheet, met a friend of Phil's along the way. Friend-of-Phil was all decked out in a top hat and ready to hit the road himself. (That's not true -- really, the groundhog was wearing a brown leisure suit.)
• Amish Gentlemen, Horses/Buggies -- They all pulled out from a side road onto Budds Creek Road from the left and came up beside me. We smiled (the man and me, I'm not sure about the horse, although he looked quite amiable, too). Understand, please, that on Red-the-Trike, I am very low to the ground and, shall we say "laid back" a bit - so I am looking up from the under side of this horse at the man driving the buggy. I asked if I could ride ahead of him and his horse and the gentlemen, of course, understood why and smiled, wishing me a safe ride.
• Tasty Butterflies - A particularly beautiful one bounced of my glasses and then in and out of my mouth. Ahhhh buttterfly dust and a shot of Gatorade -- rocket fuel!
• Bonus Miles - Somehow, we managed to miss cues on the cue sheet and/or the cue sheet had a mistake in it -- a metaphor for life or what!? Whatever, in figuring things out, we managed to get in 2 bonus miles and my butt doesn't feel too much the worse for it.

The tales of the road, big happenings and small wonderments, and the time to think about them, are among the greatest gifts that come from riding a bike. Do you agree?