From Tony Marchionne Oct 4, 2010:
Everyone,
Well, a little over a week has passed since this year’s MS 150 City to Shore wrapped up in Cherry Hill. And what a weekend it was!! I cracked the frame on my trusted 11 year old Serotta bike a few weeks ago. So while I’m waiting to get it back from Serotta (they are fixing it for free), I decided it was time for a new bike. This was my first long weekend on my new Trek Madone, and what a sweet ride it was. This was the best I’ve felt at the end of the MS in years, and I’m sure the bike had a lot to do with it!
Saturday started with the forecast of perfect temperatures but the prospects of some head winds. Fortunately, they weren’t quite as bad as forecasted, so the ride went pretty well. The team kept a pretty reasonable pace at the beginning, so I hung with them for the better part of 40 miles. However, when they picked the pace up, I decided to back off and save my legs for the last 37 miles (yes, the course was actually 77 miles this year!). However, I don’t think some of my teammates wanted that, so two of them dropped back and pulled me back up to the group. One of them actually joked “Johan sent us back to pull you up”;
“Johan” is the Director of the Radio Shack cycling team and the man who helped lead Lance Armstrong to 7 Tour de France victories. It was pretty ironic that the weakest guy in the bunch got treated like the leader and pulled up to the rest of the team!!
When we rejoined the group, the guys doing the 77 mile route had already pulled away, while the guys doing the 100 mile route waited. Since I was doing the shorter route (not enough miles in the legs this year), I figured I would have to ride the last 35 miles solo. So I pulled away and started riding alone. This may be the eeriest part of a C2S that I have ever done. For the next 10 miles I didn’t see another rider, not one!! I guess because we left so early (we were part of the first group to leave at 6:30 AM) and we kept such a good pace that not many people were on the course at that time. However, when I pulled into the next rest stop, I met up with my other teammates doing the shorter route. They waited for me to get a bite to eat and refill my bottles, and then we rode to Ocean City together, arriving around 11:15.
On Sunday, a lot of the guys felt the effect of their ride yesterday, so the pace was pretty mellow. I figured this might be the first year in a while that I actually finished with the team. Of course, that didn’t happen! About 20 miles from the finish, we mixed in with another large group of riders. I guess some of our guys didn’t want to ride with such a large group, so the pace picked up. You could almost smell the testosterone in the air! I hung on for a while, but then I decided my legs didn’t have it to go that pace for another 50 minutes, so I backed off. The last 10-15 miles got a little painful, as both my feet started hurting (first time that ever happened to me). I finished about 10 minutes after the team, coming in around 12:10. My son, knowing that I was on my way in, requested that the DJ played “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, and it started playing just as I got off my bike. That song always makes me smile, no matter what is going on!!
Now for the thank you’s. First, and obviously foremost, my wife Lisa and my kids Nina and Adam are always there for me. They made it to the finish line in OC in time to see me cross this year and were among the loudest voices there. On Sunday morning, they raced home to get Nina to CCD class by 9:00 (she is teaching this to fulfill her service requirement for high school), then Lisa and Adam rushed to the Cherry Hill finish line. Lisa was the solo voice at the finish line, as Adam and a friend volunteered at the finish line to fulfill their requirements for Confirmation and National Honor Society. I don’t know what genius put two 13-year old boys in charge of handing out ice cream, but I think Turkey Hill may have lost some money on that deal! Again, without all of their dedication and support, none of this could happen.
This year’s schedule finally fit well with my Champion Denise Savarese’s schedule, so we were able to hook up at the finish line in Cherry Hill. Denise looked great this year, as the warm summer was actually a positive thing for her. I’m always amazed at the strength the average (or above-average!) MS client has, and Denise is a shining example. She teaches CCD, leads MS Support Groups, watches her grand children – I think she might be more active than I am!! She’s talking about going to OC next year to be at the Saturday finish line – jeez, if I get emotional now when I see her in Cherry Hill, how will I be when I see her twice next year!! By the way, you may have seen our picture on the Channel 10 News last Tuesday, as one of my friends (and contributors) is the producer of the Your News segment and featured a story on the C2S and Denise and me. Our 15 minutes of fame!!
As has been the case for the last several years, Lisa’s cousins Tony and Barb Prestianne put us up in their beautiful house in Ocean City and prepared their usually fabulous pasta dinner for us. The worst part of the weekend was that I had to leave at 6:30 Sunday morning and couldn’t spend more time talking with Tony, Barb, Tony’s sister Madeleine (probably spelled that wrong!!) and her husband Bob. Nicer people you will never meet! We always look forward to our time with the four of them.
Last, and certainly not least, thanks to all of you. I heard from many people that this was a very challenging year for fundraising, so I was a little nervous as to how I would do. But as usual, you came through in amazing fashion. Thanks to the generosity of my family, friends, colleagues and business associates I raised just a hair under $3,500. While we’re not quite there yet, we should come very close to reaching our goal of $5 Million this year. In the 30 year history of the City to Shore, we have raised $30 MILLION!!! I and the 400,000 MS Clients in the United States thank you for your continued support of our Mission: to end the devastating effects of Multiple Sclerosis.
Until next year, here are some pictures from this year’s ride.
