MS150 Day 2

Hello again.

I know that you were all waiting with baited breath for the update about the second day of the MS 150. My apologies for the delay.

Day 2 started quietly. We had a nice tailwind as we left the University of Dayton. That was definitely good since we had an incredible headwind going the opposite direction. For the remainder of the day, such tailwind/headwind swaps would not be present. Just my luck.

The first main challenge was my chain. It popped about three times before I could get it fixed. It happened so often that I learned how to replace the chain without getting off the bike. As long as we were going downhill I could position the chain on the ring and start pedalling. Within a few strokes the chain would be back in place. Once we got to the lunch stop we had the mechanic look at it and after he made some adjustments I had no problems with it for the rest of the day.

The hill that gave us that quick 37mph pace yesterday had to be tackled in the reverse direction. Needless to say no one scaled the beast anywhere near that downhill pace. But, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. There is something about going uphill that I really enjoy more than riding on flat ground. I think that my riding position is actually poor when going on flat surfaces. This really keeps me from getting the maximum power from my stroke. However, it would seem that once I stand up or shift to the back of the seat for a climb, my position is such that I get all the power out of each stroke. I guess I'll have to work on that.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Just about 5 hours from door-to-door both days. The weather could not have been better. There were some changes that I would have made to the course. For instance, riding through a gravel pit was probably not the best for 800 people with road tires on their bikes. But, that's just my opinion.

All told I was able to raise $425 for the National MS Society. Pledges are still welcome for those of you who are interested. The direct link to donate can be found here. Thanks to everyone who donated to support me. The people at the NMSS are wonderful and it is definitely a great cause.