Mental health and COVID

 

Bike MS 150. The good news and the bad

Soooo....I have good news and I have bad news.

The GOOD NEWS! (because everyone likes good news) You can still DONATE TO MY RIDE!! (click here)


And the Bad news. Hurricane Dorian


Unfortunately, it looks like we will not actually be riding this year. There is just something about floodwaters and tropical storm-force winds that makes for less than optimal conditions for a large group bike ride. Go figure. We have not yet received confirmation from the ride organizers, but our hotel has cancelled all reservations to make room for first responders (thank you!!).


But please do not let this dampen (haha) your enthusiasm for supporting this worthy cause. Now, more than ever, people with MS and their families need your support. Your donation can help ensure that people with MS have the support they need for their daily lives and during times of crisis (like natural disasters).


Your donation WILL make a difference.


Please donate to my (virtual) ride. Today. 
Thank you.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Rebeccas_donation-link

Did you know? Donations are like butterflies...

Did you know that this is a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly?

And this is a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly?

And so is this?

And that they are all the same species because the female is dimorphic?

I bet you didn't know that.


Ok, smartypants, maybe you did know that.

But I bet you didn't know that your donation to my MS 150 bike ride can help researchers find a cure for multiple sclerosis and provide support to more than 400,000 people living with MS and their families?

Truth.


Also, did you know that if you don't donate I will set my aggressive dimorphic eastern tiger swallowtail on you?


Ok, so that's a dragonfly, which is neither aggressive nor dimorphic.


But you should still donate. Use this link.
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Rebeccas_donation-link




PS - Thanks.


PPS - All photos were taken in my parents' garden in NC


PPPS - did you donate yet?
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Rebeccas_donation-link

An uninspired plea

O...M...G!! I have FIVE weeks and $1500 to raise before this year's MS 150 bike ride in New Bern NC (which, fortunately, is no longer under water because my underwater biking skills are terrible).

Please help me raise this amount (or more!!) by DONATING NOW!!

PLEASE!...

Please?

Pretty please?

Here's some info to help sway you to DONATE NOW!

It feels like every day we are inundated with the bad: climate change, economic sanctions, the possibility that a bagel with lox and cream cheese might cause cancer (nooooo!).

This is your chance to focus on the good. The good you can do and the positive impact you can have on people with multiple sclerosis and their families.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. The disease is progressively and increasingly debilitating. In the U.S. there are about 400,000 people living with MS, and 2.1 million people with MS worldwide, so it is likely that you have a friend or relative who is living with MS.

The MS 150 bike ride is sponsored by the National MS Society and is a 2 day fundraising event held on the coast of North Carolina. My father and I will be participating for the 7th time together this year and plan to ride 150(ish) miles (either individually or collectively...time will tell).

The money raised helps the National MS Society support research and education, as well as provide support for individuals and their families. More than 2000 cyclists of all levels and backgrounds come together with the shared goal of raising awareness and funds to help people with MS and their families live longer, healthier lives.

Please help me raise more money than I have in years past (and more than my dad so I get bragging rights until next year).

Thank you!


https://secure.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?fr_id=30221&pg=personal&px=5431795

Will you donate Wednesday

Ok folks, it's Will you donate Wednesday!
(bet you didn't even know that was a thing)

17 days until I start my 150 mile MS ride

donate here

$500

Amount of money I still need to raise before my ride

yes, you. donate here!

~400,000 

Number of people your donation will help  (it's time to donate)

$0.01 - infinity

Amount you can donate that will help find a cure
doooooonate!

>$1200

Amount of money I'd like to raise to help people with MS and their families

1

Number of solar eclipses I watched this week

(except we were in the 97% path so it didn't really look like this at all)

Well? Why haven't you donated yet?!


Please help support my ride and donate today!
Thank you

Why I ride MS...and why you should care (and donate)

I am back to beg for your generosity. In the next 39 days I need YOUR help to raise more than $1,200 to support the National MS Society.

What follows is a story about how a mitsva became personal, and a long-winded appeal to your emotions that you will be swayed to part with your hard earned cash to support a good cause.

 

If you are already convinced or just don't feel like reading the rest of my story (I'm not offended!), and are ready to do your good deed for the day/week/year, get your wallet out and:

Donate to Rebecca's Ride for MS

 

Ah, it looks like you are still here.

Ok, here is why I ride the MS150 and why finding a cure for MS is important to me.

 

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. The disease is progressive and increasingly debilitating. In the U.S. there are about 400,000 people living with MS and 2.1 million worldwide. So, it is likely that you have a friend or relative who is living with MS.

 

However, prior to last year, I did not have a personal connection to MS. I love to ride my bike, and being able to combine an activity I love with a good cause is reason enough to fundraise. So, for the last 6 years I have raised money to champion research into finding a cure for MS, education about MS, and support for people with MS and their families. Add to this, I get to do the ride with my dad every year (and my brother for the first time this year) and I can find no arguments against spending one weekend in September each year riding 150 miles in large circles to nowhere with about 2,000 of my closest riding buds in New Bern, NC in a joint effort to promote longer, healthier lives for people with MS and support their families.

 

But last year it became a personal quest. All because my dad left the key for the cable lock that secured our bikes to the car in Chapel Hill - about 3+ hours from New Bern. Oops. It is, as we quickly discovered, much more difficult to steal a bike off a cable-locked Yakima hitch rack than bike thieves would make you believe. Or maybe my dad and I would just be hopeless bike thieves (quite possible). Regardless we had bikes, we were in the right place, but we were going to go nowhere quickly without some help.



avoid these bike shop employees

If there is one thing I have learned in my many years of being a cyclist: people who work in bike shops are resourceful - and in legal possession of sharp tools. So we made our way over to the expo area and I randomly picked a mechanic who didn't look like an axe murdering psycho and explained that my dad and I are idiots and our bikes were going to be permanently locked to our car without the help of a nice man with access to sharp tools. (Note, just to be safe I left out the "legal" part.)

 

And this lovely person that I selected said something to the effect of "Sweet! I love destroying stuff!" And with that, he instructed us to pull our car around to his tent, Cycling Spoken Here (visit them in Cary, NC!!), and he pulled out a nice, big pair of cable cutters, and voila! our bikes were free.



This is Steve



Meet Steve. He IS Cycling Spoken Here. And he is an all-around mensch. He and his shop have been supporting the MS 150 New Bern ride for may years.

Another thing I have learned in my many years of riding a bike, it's that saying "thank you", especially to any bike shop employee who frees your bike from your own stupidity, is essential. And what says 'thank you' better than a six-pack of craft beer? Mmmm. Beer.

Except this particular non-axe murdering, not-psycho and very lovely bike shop owner does not drink beer. Oops. Our bad...again. (Proving once again that you really can't save us from our own stupidity.)

 

beer...for lunch

On the other hand, starting with a mistakenly forgotten set of keys, we met a very nice new friend who saved the beer we bought for him and gave it back to us at the lunch stop on day 1.

And, more importantly, he made my MS ride a personal cause. Finding a cure for MS is near and dear to Steve's heart because he, too, wants to pay it forward. Steve's mom, Rena, had MS. She passed away in 2016. Steve has generously allowed me to champion his personal cause.

 

So, last year, this year and for however many more years I end up doing this ride, I ride in honor of the memory of Rena.

Riding for Rena

When you donate:

• 60% of your donation will be used for programs, services and advocacy related to MS in the southeastern U.S.;

• The remaining 40% of your donation will be used at the national level to support research efforts to stop disease progression, restore function, and end MS forever.

 

0% of your donation will go to line someone's pocket.

Please donate now. With YOUR help WE can prevent MS.

 

Thank you.

 

MS 150 ride report - in rhyme (of course)

Because you haven't suffered through enough of my bad poetry over the last month, here is my entire MS 150 ride report in rhyme...


Day 1 - Sept. 10, 2016 - goal: 75 miles

Day 1 is done.
We had some fun.

The headwinds blew.

Alas, tailwinds...few.

Road kill ahead.

Are all possums dead??

Forecast is hot!

Salt stick, Gu shot.

Pbj for lunch.

Ooh! A beer! Thanks a bunch!

25 miles left to go,

Think we'll take this part slow.

This is a ride, not a race.

We set a leisurely pace.

75 miles. Well, a bit more.

Man! my tush sure is sore!

50 more miles to go,

But we'll leave that till tomorrow.

Day 2 - Sept. 11, 2016 - goal: 50 miles

Day 2 is now in the books.

Hot and windy. I am cooked!

Moment of silence to start the day.

National anthem, and bikes away!

Wait a second, let us pause

To remember the MS cause

Your support has helped a ton,

but the drive is not yet done.

Go here, friends, and donate now.

If you've done so, to you I bow.


Lots of sun. Clear blue skies.
The road is straight, not a single rise.

Wildflowers and dragonflies abound.

Butterflies, all around.

50 miles, now we're through.
Pretty sure my butt's black and blue!!

Let's get inside. AC! A fan!

OMG! Now, that's a bike tan!

125 miles we did endure.
To raise awareness for a cure.


Until next year, this job is done.
Thanks to all of you. You're #1!

And for those who prefer a more traditional thank you...

Dear all,

I have just returned from our MS 150 adventure and I want to say thank you to each an every one of you for your support, donations, thoughts, and positive messages. My dad and I had two fantastic rides, covering 125 miles, to raise awareness of MS and the need for research, advocacy and support for people with MS and their families.


Almost 2000 people participated this year and more than $1.3M was raised. With your donations, I was able to personally raise almost $1250, which may be an all-time record for me. ALL of this money will go to improve the lives of those supporting and those living with MS.


As promised in my many poems leading up to the event, you can read my ride report (also in rhyme) here: http://rtsfabblog.blogspot.com/ [don't click. you're already there. ;-)]


Thank you again!
rebecca

Will the rhymes never end???





Donate to my MS 150 ride!

the time has come
for me to go
to ride, and ride, and ride some mo'.

thank you much...
for your support
and in return, a ride report


with all your help
we can secure
the funds we need to find a cure


it's not too late
to donate now
can't think of more, so here's a cow

9/5/2016
Haiku about why I should not rely on my wrenching skills


MS150.
Bottom bracket creeks loudly
Will fix it myself.


Ineptitude proven...
Bike wrenching skills are rusty.
Sudden failure looms.

Please donate to this
worthy philanthropic cause.
Broken bones heal*.




*no bones were actually broken in either the writing of this poem or the riding of the bike I wrenched.

But wait! There's more bad poetry to be had...

Luna: "Do you want to
 share my baby squirrel?"

Generosity is so nice.

Maybe you should donate twice?

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

 

More terrible rhymes: Old McDonald had MS

Old McDonald had MS

   EIEIO

But if you donate to my ride

  We can find a cure

With a dollar here

And 2 dollars there

Here a buck, there a buck,

Everybody give some bucks


got chocolate milk? my dad did.





Old McDonald had MS

   EIEIO

Your donation will support

   Research and programs

Money will also go to services

   For those with MS



With a dollar here

And 2 dollars there

Here a buck, there a buck

Everybody give some bucks

You only have 9 more days

   To support my ride.

Please consider giving today

   Thank you in advance

With a dollar here

And 2 dollars there

Here a buck, there a buck

Everybody give some bucks

Old McDonald had MS

   With your help there's a cure

The final stretch - Time for terrible poetry

In an effort to raise the final $400 to make my MS150 fundraising goal, I will be sending out a poem each day until I either reach my goal or get on my bike.


08/29/16
Heading out to ride.
MS150 looms large.
Did you donate yet??


08/30/16
$400
My goal seems so elusive
Please donate today.


If you want to make this poetry terrorism stop, please donate today!!


thank you.

Princess Zwilda will send you money in exchange for generosity

shockingly, Princess Zwilda bears striking
resemblance to Brenna

My name is Princess Zweilia and I am sad to informing you that your long-lost Siberian uncle twice removed has departed this earthly sphereacle.

However, he left me his will which ensures that if you are donating now to my MS 150 ride you will received $3,040,710.23 deposited automatically into a bank account which is of ultimate secrecy. 

No. Really. This is truth.

The good news is that this is bank account is so secret that you will never have to be reporting this income.  

Princess Zwilda lives here -
but only in the
Zika off-season

But you must to donate my MS 150 ride immediately as there are only 18 days left before we mount our carbon steeds and ride off into the sunset. Actually, the sunrise, but whose paying attention to that?

Please to go herein to donate: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/RebeccasDonationPage

Also, bad news that I must share. Sadfully, this account is so secretive that the riches of your long-lost Siberian uncle must to remain lost.

So you must console yourself that you did a good deed and donated to a worthy and honorable cause.

Many thank yous for your generosity.

Her royal highness Princess Zwilda

aka rebecca - who is not a princess, does not know your long-lost Siberan uncle twice removed, and has far better grammar than this note

Training for the MS150...the WRONG way

So this past weekend I decided that it would behoove me to do a long ride in preparation for the MS150 - which is LESS THAN 1 MONTH AWAY (did you donate yet??)

 

I opted for a 70-ish mile loop - never mind that the longest ride I've done this year is 45 miles. If I can ride 45 miles, I can certainly ride 70. Because, of course.

 

The temperature was forecast to be in the mid-90s so I got out early to beat the heat, right?

 

Um. No.

 

I planned to get out early. But, as the literati say the best laid plans oft go awry (or something like that).

 

No, first my Garmin refused to recognized that I am a living being - even after I stripped one of the miniature screws on the back of the sensor in the process of changing the battery to remind it that I am actually sentient.

 

A lengthy cursing session followed until we realized that the HR reader was turned off (as was the cadence - which would probably explain why I was pedaling in squares rather than circles...or not.) Everything turned back on and, voila!, ready to go, right?

 

Um. No.

 

Of course I didn't charge my Garmin the night before...because I am blind and thought that the charge was 100% when it actually said 10%. (Why do they make those numbers so frigging small? Do they not understand that people over 40 ride bikes...without their readers??? sheesh!)

 

So I plugged it in, had a 3rd cup of coffee and waited until the charge was up to 25%. (which lasted me exactly 50 min and then my Garmin shut down. sigh)

 

Finally, at the crack of 10:30am I left the house. Ambient temp: a balmy 83 deg. Humidity: 87%

 

The first 1/2 of my ride was awesome. I felt great. I hit my store stop just before noon-30 and noticed that I had barely consumed 1 bottle of liquids. Uh oh.

 

I went in and bought the obligatory Coke, some chocolate covered pretzels and a bottle of water to replace what little I'd consumed. Usually this is also an opportunity for an indoor "natural break" but, go figure, I didn't need to pee.

 

I drank about 1/2 of the 20oz Coke I bought (why does the 8 oz cost more than the 20??? Who needs that much Coke?). Replenished my salt and chocolate with the pretzels, refilled my bottles (20 oz water did the trick) and headed off.

 

Oh, did I mention I pretty much skipped breakfast? Ate a banana on my way out of the house and a gel about an hour into the ride. What's that, maybe 160 calories?

 

Very quickly the calorie and hydration deficit began to set in. Then someone turned the heat on. Suddenly 93 deg feel more like 193 deg and with the heat reflecting off the road I felt distinctly like the Wicked Witch of the West after being doused with a bucket of water...

 

 

 or Dali's melting clocks...

 

 

or this giraffe...

 

Around mile 45 I shifted from melting and began to feel like I was cooking.

 

This is me...on my bike...dehydrated...in the million degree heat

By mile 55 I was no longer sweating, my head hurt and I was nauseous.

I began thinking that death would be merciful.

 

I stopped around mile 57 (Stone Mtn Village) and stood in the shade for 10 min.

 

It didn't help.

 

I poured some of my water over my head.

It was hot.

 

I was hot.

 

But, I reminded myself, it's only another 13 miles home. Only. 13. Miles.

 

3 miles from home I was done. I sat on the sidewalk and contemplated my options.

1. I could sit where I was until the mosquitos sucked me dry (which they probably couldn't do because my blood had the consistency of dirty motor oil)
2. I could sit until I felt better (not likely).
3. I could walk home (good times in Sidis)
4. I could make an SOS call home for a ride.

While option 1 was appealing, I decided that option 4 was probably less painful.

 

I dialed. It rang once. And.....my phone died.

oh.

 

Just as I resigned myself to option 5: the longest 3 mile ride home....ever....A truck rolled past, stopped, down went the passenger window and a voice said "Rebecca! Do you want a ride?"

 

Seriously?!

 

Am I hallucinating?

 

No. It was my friends Kerry & Brint, on their way home from a mtb ride and there save my sorry overheated, under-hydrated a$$.

 

So now I am definitely trained and ready to do the MS 150. 

Once I drink about 400 gallons of water and eat an entire salt lick.

mmmm....salty!

 

 

 

 



Hey buddy, can you spare a dime? It's time to pay it forward.

Got spare change in hand? Skip my plea and donate now: click here: National MS Society 

Search by my name: Rebecca Leeb and help support my ride.

Ok, for those of you who are still with me: Get your wallet out! It's time for all of us to pay it forward!!

It feels like everyday we are inundated with the bad: Mass shootings. Politics. The Donald's hair. International espionage. Hillary's latest shapeless suit. More politics.

This is your chance to focus on the good. The good you can do and the positive impact you will have on people with Multiple Sclerosis and their families. be a mensch!

After an 18 month hiatus, my father and I are once again registered to ride the MS150, a two-day fundraising event held on the coast of North Carolina for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Each fall, more than 2000 cyclists of all levels and backgrounds come together with the shared goal of raising awareness and funds to help people with MS and their families live longer, healthier lives.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. The disease is progressive and increasingly debilitating. In the U.S. there are about 400,000 people living with MS and 2.1 million worldwide. So, it is likely that you have a friend or relative who is living with MS. The MS Society supports research, education and provides support for individuals and families.

This will be the 4th time in the past 5 years that my dad and I have undertaken this mitzvah together, but I can't do it without your help. donate here! Two years ago I raised over $1000 for this amazing cause, and I hope to match, or better yet, exceed this amount this year. help please!

You want reassurance that you that you are donating to a worthy cause? How's this:

• 60% of your donation will be used for programs, services and advocacy related to MS in the southeastern US.
• The remaining 40% of your donation will be used at the national level to support research efforts to stop disease progression, restore function, and end MS forever.

donate now!

But time is short! We roll out from the start line in Historic New Bern, NC the weekend of Sept. 10-11, 2016. That's just 7 short weeks from now. 

To donate go to: 

National MS Society

Search by my name: Rebecca Leeb

and help support my ride.

Please donate now and help me reach my $1000+ goal. Together we can make a difference in the lives of people living with MS!

Thank you.