Reflections on The Ride Across Minnesota 2013

Travis and Maggie at the finish in Duluth

I spent the weekend recuperating from my 285-mile ride last week from International Falls to Duluth. I'm really glad I did the ride. It was hot and muggy and there were some hills, but all the big thunderstorms courteously held off until either the late afternoon (Orr, Biwabik) or overnight hours (Biwabik, Two Harbors).

This ride had a totally different vibe than the MS 150. The way we were describing it as being different made people who haven't done the MS 150 think that the MS 150 must really stink. It's just different. The MS 150 is a fun ride because it's two long days and, because there are 3,800-4,000 riders, there's a lot of energy packed in to those two days and a lot of money is raised ($3M+).

The TRAM had 753 riders this year, who raised over $800,000. What I enjoyed about it is that there isn't the same sort of corporate sponsorship presence, you see the same volunteers for five days straight (some of whom also volunteer for the MS 150), the MS Society has contests for the teams, and the towns are really engaged in wanting you to have a positive experience (bands and food in the parks, maps of local places to visit). But really, what I liked most are the riders. The riders tend to be older (a number of retirees, who can easily devote a whole week to riding their bikes) and have ridden the TRAM for many, many years. A number of the riders have mobility issues and have modified bikes, or support for when they get off their bikes. There are some younger riders, and some kids.

In Biwabik

Regardless of their age or ability, most of the riders aren't racing to finish and are enjoying each other's company at each of the rest stops or when passing each other on the route. I passed a woman on a hill and she shouted, "You go girl!" I told someone that story at a rest stop, and when I passed her later, she yelled, "You go girl!" What a nice environment for riding... When finishing the last day, Travis and I passed an elderly gentleman, who I think was Roy. Roy is 89 years old and this was his 22nd year doing this ride. This man/Roy cautioned us to save some of our energy for the hill at the end, because it was a doozy.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing when I'm 89. Hopefully there won't be a need for the MS TRAM by then - - - hopefully MS will be a thing of the past. Regardless, I hope that I'll be able to be active and to enjoy doing things like this for many, many years. We are undergoing some negotiations at our house, and with Stacy and Travis, to decide who exactly is going to do the TRAM next year (Travis and Dan? Travis, Dan, and Maggie?) and who will provide support (Stacy? Maggie?). Regardless, it's safe to say that at least two people from our team will be doing this ride again (and two riders we met - Matt and Ron - might join our team), regardless of where it is located within MN next  year. (Although hopefully not 5 days of riding through cornfields...)

The route is shown below. To see an interactive map and to get more details about the route, including information about the elevation, click on this link to my Map My Ride page and then, just to the right of the map, click "View Route Full Screen."

MS TRAM 2013

Here's a map of Minnesota to give those of you who aren't from the area some perspective. The MS150 ride in June went from Duluth to White Bear Lake.

Minnesota (in case that wasn't obvious)

I am emailing people a link to my photo album. If you didn't get an email and want the link, let me know. (I didn't want to make it accessible directly from the blog, which is directly accessible from Facebook. I don't know if it matters, but I figure it might be good for privacy reasons not to have that directly linked through Facebook.) I took the time to add captions to each photo. The photos are not entirely in order, but it's pretty close. I dated them to help you follow along. I think it is likely I will be getting a few more photos of the finish from Stacy and adding them to this album, and I haven't looked at all of the professional event photographer's photos yet, so there might be some I will get and add, too, like this one. It actually is decent! (That's the lake by Buhl early on day 3).

Thank you for all of your wishes of good luck, the good luck charms, the favors, and support. Thank you, too, for your donations to the MS Society. I'm super proud of the fact that we together raised $5,034 for the MS Society between these two rides. Thank you! I've got a few other donations for the MS mud run that I'm doing in three weeks, but I mostly just signed up for that because it is fun.