Dear Family,
I thought I would write some of my thoughts, feelings and the experiences we had on this bike ride. Corina and I went as volunteers while Greg and Carson rode. Jacob didn't participate due to a visit with his best friend down in Houston.
This ride is significantly smaller than Houston's ride. We had just shy of 300 riders which makes for a very nice and doable ride. However, the ride wasn't free of accidents: broken bones, horrible road rash, cramping, breakdowns, etc. Greg and Carson experienced some of these.
Day One was 75 miles from Midland to Big Spring, Texas. Greg and Carson started out together and doing well until Carson's spoke broke. As they were on the side of the road, a truck came and rescued Carson and took him to the next rest stop, which happened to be at the 30 mile point. Hess sponsored the rest stop. I was able to be with a very discouraged Carson while we waited for Greg to come. While we waited, Greg really pushed himself to get to the rest stop which ended up being his demise later in the race. Fortunately, the repair truck came after 10 minutes and was able to fix Carson's bike. They headed off and Corina and I finished at the rest stop, cleaned and packed everything up and drove to the first day finish line. However, I just felt like we needed to try to find Greg and Carson and see how they were doing. We tracked them down at mile 65 and Greg wasn't doing well. He pulled up and could barely get off the bike and staggered to a chair. Needless to say, I was a little concerned. After fueling and cooling in a trailer with cool air they were ready to continue. Corina and I continued to the finish line and waited.
Carson was amazing and looked good when he arrived. However, Greg did not. He sat in the shade to recover. An hour passed and he had stopped sweating, was nauseous, cramping, etc. While I was helping Carson get lunch, Greg mumbled something to Corina that she couldn't understand and walked out.
I searched for 20 minutes trying to locate Greg and finally found him down at the end of a building under a tree, sitting in the shade. I knew something was wrong and asked if he needed medical help and surprisingly Greg said yes. I called for help and a group of women, one of which is a nurse, started working on him. After 20 minutes of working on him with ice cold wraps, he finally started shivering but still wasn't sweating. The ambulance arrived and they took over. They worked on getting his blood pressure back up and getting him hydrated (just drinking - no IV). An hour later they released him and told him he could ride in the morning.
After a night stay at a hotel and lots of sleep, Greg and Carson were ready for another day - another 75 miles due north to Post, Texas. We woke up to a flat tire but that was no deal. Corina and I drove up to Post to help set up the finish line (1.75 hour drive) where we helped create a green and white helium balloon arch and helped line the street with flags. We cheered the riders as they came in starting at 10:00 am until about 1:00 pm. We anxiously waited for Greg and Carson. The ambulance arrived with lights flashing and my heart sunk. I prayed that it wasn't Greg. A little while later Greg arrived in a support vehicle with three other riders who weren't able to finish. (He passed Carson en route - Carson had pushed out on his own after about the 30 mile mark because Greg was taking extra time at the rest stops after yesterday). Greg made it to 62 miles today after taking a long stop at 50 miles. However, his body gave out at rest stop 6. Blood pressure was good but he was dehydrated with severe muscle fatigue. He received oxygen due to low levels and the medic told him that he was done.
There is a hill at the end of the ride that isn't particularly steep but is like climbing a butte, one long gradual climb. Carson had to walk his bike up some sections until it level out and then he would ride some more. Someone stopped and offered to take him but he declined. He was our last Hess rider to come in (other riders from other teams would follow). I could see him, by himself, getting ready to cross the highway into the park and the emotion was incredible. He pedaled in with lots and lots of cheers, not just Hess volunteers. We were all there. He struggled to get off his bike and fell into Greg's arms. His head was down as he rode in which I know was due to emotions. With tears streaming down his face he stood and hugged Greg. The emotions are still very raw as I write this as I remember my sweet boy finishing 150 miles, on his own, solo. Incredible.
The nurse that worked on Greg has MS and was the guest speaker on Saturday evening. She made a beeline to us to check on Greg and to make sure Carson got in. She knelt down and told Carson how much he was directly impacting her and how grateful she was for his individual effort. She then hugged me and told me what an incredible family I have and how grateful she was for us.
This wasn't just about raising money for MS but it put a face on MS - the "clients" of MS who suffer so much with this disease, those who work so hard to organize these types of events, the volunteers and riders, and those who donate for the cause. None of us will ever be the same for having participated in this intimate race.
Thanks for helping us with this effort. I'm sure we will be doing it again next year. Who knows....maybe more of us will ride!!!
Love to all.
Raena
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