Adventures on a Bike » MS Bike Tour

Join the fight agains MS

Arlyn — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:12:53 +0000

For the third year in a row, I’ll be riding the 150-mile MS Bike Tour next month to raise money in the fight against multiple sclerosis, and do you know why?

I ride for my friend Blake’s dad who has struggled with this debilitating disease for the last 17 years. It may have taken away his ability to walk or eat on his own, but his spirit is still strong and he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren. I ride for my friend Mark’s mom who is in a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis. And I ride for the 400,000+ Americans stricken with MS who need help fighting this disease today.

Help me fight MS with a donation to the National MS Society right now. Any size donation fights this terrible disease.
http://biketofinishms.com/arlynasch

Thanks,
Arlyn

Someday never happens

Arlyn — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 03:43:24 +0000

In 2008, I learned a little secret about life. ‘Someday’ never happens. As in, “Someday I’d like to cyclotour the Tour de France.” Or, “Someday I want to win a bike race.”

Your someday’s always stay in the future, safe and secure where they can’t bother anyone. The dirty secret is that we know they will never happen which make it a little disingenuous to say, “Someday I want …”

If you really wanted it to happen, you’d do it, right?

I used to think that someday I’d like to be able to ride a century and contribute to a charitable cause. In 2007, I committed to riding my first century and raising $400 for the National MS Society. I had never ridden more than 30 miles before and was plumb tuckered out at mile 30 so this was a huge goal. I had also never asked anyone for a donation before. Double huge goal.

I was surprised by what happened. I trained and trained and was soon strong enough for the ride. And I talked about how important it was to support the fight against MS and soon had raised $3,790. I realized that by committing myself, I put myself on the path to achieving it. I had turned my someday into a reality.

Our families gave us a ton of support to ride the MS Bike Tour

In 2008, I converted another someday. I used to watch coverage of the Tour de France and thought someday it’d be really cool to watch the Tour in person and cycle the famous roads they raced. I converted that someday into reality by signing up for a cyclotour to follow the 2008 Tour de France from Alpe d’Huez to Paris. The trip I chose included a couple of century days, some with over 10,000 feet of climbing. I was going to climb the famous French Alpine cols I had only seen on TV.

I had no reason to believe that I could withstand the kind of cycling this trip would offer. I was terrified that I would get to France without the right fitness and have to “get in the van” or skip riding opportunities. This fear of failure drove me to train like I have never trained.

But again, by committing, I was on the path to achieving. Within a couple of weeks of signing up I bumped into a friendly English chap on the 56 bike trail who seemed very strong. He invited me to ride with him and his friends. I was initially scared to ride with them, but accepted anyways. That became my first ride with the Descenders. On that first ride, Voris invited me to join their annual Monster Climbs trip. 22,000 feet of climbing on 4 Sierra Nevada Mountains in 140 miles jammed into just 3 days. It was terrifying and also the perfect training for France. Monster Climbs was where I gained the confidence to climb for hours and trust in my ability to recover.

Horseshoe Meadow Road looms in the distance as the Descenders prepare for a 10,000+ foot day.

By early summer, I was taking on all sorts of endurance challenges. I could ride a century every week. My epic rides to Julian for pie gave me confidence in my ability to suffer and endure.

My training paid off and, faster than I could imagine, I was pedaling up Alpe d’Huez, with the Col du Galibier, Col du Telegraph and Col de la Croix de Fer on the next day’s agenda. It was a spectacular week of cycling, truly a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

That’s me on the Col du Galibier.

What’s for 2009? Well, the broad strokes are to keep the adventures alive by swinging for the fences. I’ve registered for my first USCF road race – and I’m scared out of my gourd that I’ll get dropped early. I can barely say, “I will win a bike race.” So I’m training intensely. I know I will love racing and I hope my fitness gets to where I can enjoy it from the pack at least.

I’ve also registered for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race in August and I’m confident that the stars will align and I’ll get accepted. I’ve registered for the Triple Bypass in July to get some high altitude training. And of course, there is Monster Climbs III in June with the Descenders.

I’m going to keep swinging for the fences. Somehow, it all works itself out.

Completely out of control

Arlyn — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:45:22 +0000

I started Team Climb On! almost two years ago and now it’s completely out of control. But in a really good way.

In 2007, we were just 7 guys committed to making a difference in the fight against multiple sclerocis. We blew away our own expectations by raising over $22k for the National MS Society.

This year, we decided to do every charity ride in San Diego. We raised money for the American Diabetes Association, the Livestrong Foundation, Challenged Athletes Foundation, San Diego Rady Children’s Hospital, the Red Cross and of course, the National MS Society. And the team grew and changed. At our signature event, the MS Bike Tour, we had 17 team members who raised over $31,000 in the fight against multiple sclerosis!

Sitting on the lawn in Mission Bay Park enjoying the sunshine I realize that I’m meeting some TCO team members for the first time. People are talking about what we’re going to do in 2009. Plans are being made to “go big”. Wow. A representative of the National MS Society wants our contact info to do a story. Yep, things are completely out of control. Team Climb On! has a life of it’s own now.

It feels so good. Congrats Team Climb On! Can’t wait to see what happens next year.

Ajay the Destroyer

Arlyn — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:15:29 +0000

My friend Ajay is currently the fifth most successful fundraiser for the upcomming MS Bike Tour, having raised $4,832 so far in the fight against MS!

Ajay is a founding member of Team Climb On! and was our leading fundraiser in our innaugural appearance at the MS Bike Tour last year. He’s the guy in the middle of this photo.

Last year, Ajay signed up for the MS Bike Tour just after being cured of cancer. Training to ride the century was his comeback training! As a cancer survivor, he has pledged to donate 50% of whatever he raises in the MS Bike Tour to the Livestrong foundation. So if you sponsor Ajay, you’re really donating to two really great charities! Nice work Ajay – I hope you stay a top-5 fundraiser!

Would you like to support Team Climb On! in the fight agains MS?

Join the fight against MS

Arlyn — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:30:20 +0000

One of my first adventures after getting back on a road bike was riding last year’s MS Bike Tour. It was my first century ride ever and my first exposure to charity bike rides.

With just a month to go before this year’s MS Bike Tour kicks off, I have to thank everyone who has so generously contributed to my fundraising campaign to fight MS! Together we’ve raised $1,215 so far! Both I and the National MS Society thank you.

Can you believe that my team (Team Climb On!) has raised $13,584 among just 16 cyclists?! Everyone is doing a lot of riding to get in shape for the 150-mile course next month. While I’m pretty confident about my ability to do the ride, I am still a bit short of my fundraising goal of $5,000.

So, if you would like to contribute there is still time. Making a tax-deductable donation takes just 5 minutes. Just click here to join the fight against MS.

http://www.biketofinishms.com/arlynasch

Donations of any size are greatly appreciated!

Making a difference

Arlyn — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:53:11 +0000

Last year, my friend Andrew invited me to ride the 2007 MS Bike Tour with him. It’s a 150-mile event over two days that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Wow – 150 miles! The longest I had ever cycled in a day was maybe 40 miles – could I ride a full century followed by another 50-mile day? I love a good challenge so I accepted and we started training in earnest.

I told another friend, Dave about it and he immediately signed up. Then his friend Firger, who’s Mom struggles with MS signed up. Firger actually signed up without owning a bicycle. Next thing I know, we’ve got 7 people on the team. We’re started calling ourselves “Team Climb On!“.

When you sign up, you commit to raising at least $400 for the National MS Society. I was pretty nervous about being able to raise that much so I procrastinated asking for donations. I had no real connection to the MS community and was happier focusing on the cycling challenge. In the back of my mind, I pondered whether I would just pony up the $400 myself rather than ask for donations.

Then one day, it occurred to me that one of my best friend’s dad has multiple sclerosis. His name is John. John used to have a really active life, he was an avid skier, cyclist, hiker and tennis player. After his diagnosis in 1992 he had to use a cane to walk, then a walker, and now a wheelchair. He’s unable to move on his own or even feed himself. John considers himself very lucky that even though he has lesions on his brain typical of MS, they have not progressed and he maintains full mental capabilities.

All of a sudden, what really mattered to me was how we could help people like John live with MS. I told this story and asked for donations and people gave far more generously than I could have predicted. I was inspired by their contributions. As the summer progressed, Team Climb On! worked harder and harder to make a significant difference in the MS community. We were all getting stoked by people’s commitment to do something good. It drove us to go farther.

By the time the actual event rolled around in October, we had raised $22,047.01 to fight MS. Each member of Team Climb On! was awarded Top Fundraiser and 4 of us were among the top 150 fundraisers, which is a special honor. We were presented with a team award and I even won “Rookie Team Captain of the Year” at an awards banquet in January.

Oh, and I did the cycling. It was a great ride, in fact. But do you know what was so inspiring and what got me really passionate? It was the difference we made in the MS community. It was all the lives we touched. From the riders on our team who were getting into cycling just for the event, to the people we inspired by our example, to all the people who would benefit from the money we raised. I had no idea that contributing like that could be so rewarding, so fulfilling. I really got that life is the most rewarding when you are being a contribution.

This year we’re going even bigger. We’ve already doubled the size of Team Climb On!, which was pretty easy – people want to be a part of making a difference. We’ve also increased our fundraising goal to $50,000 which I think is actually pretty doable – with a bit of help I’m not worried about the training anymore and there are 30-mile and 100-mile course alternatives for people who are more focused on the contribution aspects than the cycling.

I can’t wait to see how much we can accomplish this year. Visit my donations page, make a contribution and be a part of it.

ps: Would you like to be a part of Team Climb On? Visit our team web site to see what we’re up to and drop me a line at arlynasch at gmail dot com if you’re interested in joining. We’re always looking for people who want to make a difference.