I Can Make a Difference (and I'm 36% of the way there)

To provide some background context for this blog, for those of you who missed it, this will be my fourth year riding my bike to raise money for the MS Society.

I'm kicking it up, and am going to be doing a MS trifecta this summer: a 150-mile bike ride from Duluth to Minneapolis in June; a 250-mile-ish bike ride from International Falls on the Canadian border to Duluth in July (this is the new addition this year); and then a 10k obstacle course in the mud in August called Muckfest. (I did a 5k last year; photo of Stacy and me is below.)

I must admit, I'm tempted to figure out a ride from Minneapolis to Iowa to cover all the bases/the entire state.

I'm going to focus my fundraising goals on the MS150. If I don't get the minimum in contributions needed to participate in the TRAM, I will make donations to cover the gaps.

I am 40 now and decided that, since I raised close to $4,000 for the MS 150 last year, in honor of being 40, my fundraising goal for the MS150 this year should be $4,000. They were pretty good years, and worth 100 bucks each, I think. As of tonight, I'm 36% of the way there! Thank you!

I have added some posts to this blog about maps and routes. I am the "route captain" for my MS150 team, meaning that I send out a training schedule, give people some good routes for riding their bikes safely in the metro area, and lead the team on group rides.

It is extremely rewarding to do the MS150. I saw a video from the MS Society on YouTube, which does a good job of capturing the experience. I can't watch it without getting a flutter of excitement in my stomach and a little choked up when thinking about how it feels to finish. It is a physically draining event (especially last year - ouch!), people are cheering and waving signs. My first year, a woman held a sign at the finish line that I found very moving. It said, "You made a difference." That's the goal!

I hope you'll watch it to get a sense for why I sign up to do this each year.

For info about how to join my team(s), or to make contributions, here are my fundraising pages:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyMS150 - my main focus/goal

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMahoneyTRAM

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMuckhoney2013

My photos from the last two rides are on Facebook, if you'd like to see them.

I appreciate any support you can offer - whether you make a contribution, pass my info along to someone else, or just ask me how I'm doing with the training. I feel more committed than ever to this cause, due to meeting more people in recent months who are affected by MS.

Thank you for helping me in my fight.