Inspirational.

As I was riding along on the second day of the MS ride, a guy came up alongside me and said, "Craig, right?" I said, yes...thought for a second, and told him, "Hey, I remember you from last year--but I don't recall your name." He told me "Glen." Then I was reminded that Glen was the guy who read my letter last year about why I ride--the one that was sent out to all the people on the SoCal MS Chapter's mailing list--and the one that inspired him to ride. I snapped this picture at the final rest stop on day two, right after we realized they were cutting the ride short for safety's sake, on account of the high winds and fires in the area. I was happy to see Glen had gone for two straight years, and that he was planning to do it again next year.

Keep up the good work, Glen...and may you be someone else's inspiration next year!

My Big Little Girl

I had a nice voicemail waiting for me when I finished the century ride on Saturday. My daughter left the following for "Daddy":

"Hi Dad. We love you a lot. We really miss you. Congratulations on your bike ride. We miss you lots. We wish you were here with us. We're watching Hannah Montana. We wish you were here to enjoy it. It's not the same without you. Bye from all of us. We miss you. Bye!"

I was thinking of you, too, sweetie.

Thanks: Ready-to-Wear

Everyone who rides the MS ride gets a number known as a "bib". In this year's ride, I was assigned orange bib number "44". According to the results from last year's ride, my supporters pledged enough support to make me the #44 top fundraiser in the ride for 2006. Altogether, you--my friends and family--and I pledged exactly $1500 to help fight MS. For that, I want to thank you forty-four times.

This year, you came through again. As of today, we're over $1200. If you're interested in pledging more or pledging for the first time, click HERE.

...and THANK YOU again!!!

Three of my Favorite People

For those of you who've heard me talk about how great the Rockin Jalapenos team is, here are some of the reasons right in this picture.

The guy on the left is Arvin, our team captain. I had a chance to talk to him this weekend and realized just how committed he is to this cause--and to making it easy for others to be committed as well. He's an inspiration to me, and truly lives the mantra that you hear when you call his voicemail: "Remember, do good things!"

In the middle, a bit back, is his wife Joannie. I always say that behind every good man is an even better woman. Well, she's behind Arvin in this shot, but not in commitment and just interior goodness. I love them both.

On the right, the woman with the irrepressible smile (seriously, it's always emblazoned across her face), is Jennica. I met Jennica last year on this ride. Her story is that of a thriver, not just a survivor. She's kicking MS's butt daily. She rode the century this year (and kicked my butt, too) and just inspires me to make something out of this. I have what I call "a MOM-ent" each year I ride, where I think about my Mom and what she goes through, along with the thousands of others who have MS. This year, my "MOM-ent" was punctuated by the knowledge that I simply don't know what those who have MS go through, and, God willing, will never know firsthand--but I respect them, love them, and am inspired by their fights every day of my life. Jennica is nothing short of a poster child for making lemonade (with super sweet sugar and a strawberry garnish!) with the lemons of life.

Life's pretty good anyway. Knowing these three people is just gravy.

Santa Barbara at about 8 a.m.

I took this shot as we were getting geared up for day two of the MS ride last weekend in Santa Barbara. This is Leadbetter Beach at about 8:00 a.m. The setting is idyllic to say the least. This is day two, prior to the fires really taking over in Southern California, so what looked like it was going to be a wonderful day actually became a bit of a nightmare for many. What was to be 75 miles morphed into 30; and what was a slight ocean breeze became Santa Ana winds clocking in around 45 mph. They canceled the ride after 30 miles--and I started crying. I asked myself later why, and I think it had more to do with letting down my sponsors by not being able to ride the full distance than anything else. My Mom came through with the right comment at the right time on Monday night, though, as she said: "The fact that you're doing all of this is what matters" not the miles.

My First YouTube Upload...

I made this little video for my bike friends in California. They're doing a pre-MS 150 Ride get-together tonight in Los Angeles which I cannot physically attend. So I did this:

Start to Finish MS

Due to some creative computing (read: a hard drive crash!) since my last MS ride, I have been nothing short of a schmuck in sending personal thank yous to all who donated to the cause last year. Seriously--the first year I planned to do something really unique and special--and wait until after the ride to thank anyone "personally"...my hard drive crashes. No files salvageable. No backups. No files available on the MS site to rebuild my donor list. I couldn't even image the hard drive to recreate anything. Now I know how Mom's synapses feel. We just couldn't do what we wanted to do--no matter how much we wanted to do it.

So here I am getting a late start on this year's MS ride support drive. My personal page link is here. Please log on and donate whatever you can. Just click on the green "donate to Craig" button and follow the easy steps. We ride in October--so time is of the essence. Thanks in advance for your help!

I did a little calculation. Last year, you helped me raise $1500. This year, I'd like to reach out to one hundred people and get each to donate $30. That will double last year's total. If you'd like to donate more than $3o, please do, as not all will be able to give $30. I'm going to get it started with the first $100.

Will you donate to help me beat Multiple Sclerosis?