Friends,   

Last week was a busy week and an emotional week for me.  My emotions were all over the map as people were wishing us well wishes, blessings and words of encouragement for the MS Bike ride. 

My heart was really touched when Cathy visited us without Bill and told us Bill has moved to an assisted living place.  For Bill, this may be a good thing because we know how much he likes to be around people and keep busy.  It sounds like they’ll also be taking him out fishing and doing other things he loves.  We need to keep looking for the bright side of it.  For Cathy, this is extremely hard to accept.  Who wants to let the love of their life go live somewhere else because of the challenges of MS?  Let’s keep Bill and Cathy in our prayers during this new transition in life. 

It’s heart breaking stories like this that really motivate me to keep doing what we’re doing for people with MS.  It’s also why we do fund raising for the National MS Society to fund the much-needed research as we know Bill and Kathy would much rather be together.  Unfortunately for all of us living with MS and MS being so different and unpredictable for each of us; we know that our lives as we know it could change any day.

On Saturday morning as we were getting ready to ride the MS Bike ride, Lisa’s husband Joe came up to me as he was barely able to get words out of his mouth.  He did finally get it out and told me that Lisa needed to move into assisted living on Thursday.  My heart just sank.  I wanted give him a big hug but I was holding onto my bike and we were both very emotional.  I had Bill and Cathy and Joe and Lisa along with their families on my mind and heavy on my heart all weekend.  I told Joe that this is why we are riding this weekend.  Let’s keep Joe and Lisa in our prayers as well.  MS is challenging…we all know that.

On the bright side, we had an amazing weekend this weekend on the MS Bike ride.  I don’t even know how to start writing about it.  It was so powerful to witness the power of love being shared by so many and with so many people all weekend long.  It was amazing to see so many people actually accomplish things they thought were no longer possible with the help of friends.  I wish I had time to write about each person and their experience.  Be sure to come to the gym this week to hear some of the stories and see some pictures.  Our 115 friends without MS that rode with us have as many powerful stories to share as our 21 friends with MS that rode on our team.  Yes, we had 136 people on our team riding and raising money to beat this thing.

What an amazing Peppy Pedalers team!  I’m sorry but a few people got cut off on the left side.  At this point, this is the best picture I have of this shot.  Perhaps someone else will have a picture with everyone in it.

The memories from this weekends ride will last a lifetime.  Many friendships that were built will also last a lifetime.  Inspirational moments happened all weekend long.  We all had a lot of fun and we all rode for a world free of MS.  So, what’s next?  We start training for next year’s ride. 

Let’s ride again Friday morning @ 7:00am.  I personally will not be there this Friday morning but that shouldn’t stop you from riding.  We meet at Nettesheim Park on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street in Pewaukee.  If you would like to ride a tandem or a trike, please let me know ahead of time so we bring one for you.  I hope you’ll join us!  We will not ride if it’s raining.

We all need to “Just Keep Moving”!  It doesn’t matter where we start.  We can start with laughing which is great exercise in itself.  Other than that, we start with the body parts that will move and keep moving them as much as we can.  Let them rest and then move them again.

I know there are still many of us going through other life challenges in addition to our challenges with MS.  Let’s stick together, keep our chins up and keep sharing our journey.  Better days are ahead.  For those of you who haven’t been able to make it by us on Wednesdays and Fridays lately, please know you are missed and in my thoughts and prayers.  I hope you’re able to make it back soon!

I hope you’ll join us both Wednesday and Friday again this week.   Remember…consistency is key.  With MS, it takes a lot of consistent effort every day to make small improvements.  Yes, it’s frustrating so be patient and consistent and you’ll be amazed how your quality of life will continue to improve.  It’s been about 17 years of exercising just about every day for me and I’m still making improvements (encouragement, love, support, nutrition and proper rest help immensely too).  It takes time so please be patient.  It sure is better than MS getting worse.  I really don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t do this (nor do I want to find out).  I’m so thankful you are all joining me on this journey of making progress with our MS and quality of life…THANK YOU!  We’ll continue to learn together…there’s so much power in the love and support we all share with each other.

In the past, I’ve been telling you to bring a friend.  Unfortunately, we’re going to need to start a waiting list for new people.  Please feel free to continue to share your experience and what we’re doing together.  Let me know of anyone who would like to join us.  I’ll communicate with these people through e-mail or phone and help them any way I can.  When we have room for them to join us, I’ll encourage them to do that.  If you’ve joined us in the past, please continue to join us.

We are here to help you and anyone with MS…no strings attached (well maybe an occasional story about the progress you’re making, smile, high five or a hug).  I remember how challenging life used to be when my MS was bad.  I get great joy sharing what I’ve learned and feel blessed with the progress I’ve made.  I hope you make progress in some way too!

Place:  W228N791 Westmound Dr.
Waukesha, WI

When:  Wednesday morning from 9:30am – 12:30pm (open gym concept, come for all or part of it)
Friday morning from 9:30 – 12:30pm  (open gym concept, come for all or part of it)

Dan Erschen

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