Friends,   

This week I’d like to share a personal experience about getting beyond the fear of trying something not knowing what the outcome will be.  As many of you know, this pandemic has personally taken a pretty good toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally.  I’m still pretty strong spiritually because I trust we’re in good hands.  This has not been a real MS friendly pandemic.  Stress is by far my biggest trigger for my MS symptoms and it’s been stressful in so many ways.

So, each year for the past several years, there’s a group of us that do a long bike ride to a destination.  The destination is purposely picked to be quite a ways out of our comfort zone and we usually get lost somewhere along the way.  We rode from here to the Mississippi River in one day a couple of times.  Last year, we rode from Crivitz, WI to the UP in Michigan.  This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we postponed our plan but we still wanted to do something.

So, what did we do?  We planned a Sunrise to Sunset bike ride locally.  That means we come up with a ride that starts at sunrise (6:00am) and ends at sunset (8:00pm).  Sounds like a fun ride…right?  Now keep in mind that Todd usually does this ride with us on a handcycle.  My hat’s off to you Todd!

Now keep in mind that we’re all really close friends and we accept each other for who we are just the way we are.  I got busy at developing a route that would be safe from traffic, challenging with hills but not too challenging for the group.  I came up with a 122-mile route that looked pretty good on Friday night.  In my mind, I was ready to ride on Sunday.

My son Jacob came over Friday night and I was telling him about the route.  He thought that sounded like a pretty good route and suggested we ride it tomorrow to make sure it’s ok for the group.  My mind went to going for a nice motorcycle ride.  He said he’d either ride motorcycle or bicycle.  That’s when a little fear set in.  He was gently asking me to ride the 122-mile route a day ahead of time on a bicycle.  He kept saying “You’ll be fine”.  I wonder where he gets that from.

I thought hmmm…I don’t really want to be tired for the Sunday ride.  I didn’t know how my body would respond to two consecutive long rides knowing that this pandemic has been hard on me and I’m not in the shape I should be in.  My MS has not been behaving due to the stress in my life lately.  I was coming up with all kinds of reasons in my mind that this wasn’t a good idea.

Jacob was ready to go home for the night and I told him I’d text him in the morning whether we would ride motorcycles or bicycles.  I don’t really sleep that well at night due to my bladder and MS symptoms but I got up in the morning and decided to ride the route on the bicycle; hoping it would all work out and I wouldn’t be too tired for the Sunday ride with the friends I have it planned with.  I really didn’t want to let them down but I don’t get too many opportunities to ride 122 miles with Jacob.  I guess this is where I put faith over fear and decided to go for it.

As it worked out, Jacob and I had an awesome ride together on Saturday.  Some of the roads were very rough so I knew I needed to change them up for the Sunday route.  We kept rolling and finished the 122-mile route feeling pretty tired but good about the accomplishment.  I was glad we chose bicycles.

When I got home, I changed the route up a bit for smoother roads.  I even shortened it a few miles to 117 miles.  Sunday morning came pretty quickly.  Just as planned, we all showed up to ride our Sunrise to Sunset ride.  

We had an awesome day of riding, joking around and laughing together.  Believe it or not, we finished our 117-mile ride right at sunset.  It was a real bummer when the Wholly Cow ice cream stand in Delafield was closed when we went by it.  We were looking forward to more ice cream.  It ended up being an awesome ride and weekend!

You’re probably wondering where me and Todd are in this picture.  I was taking the picture and Todd broke a brake line at about mile 90 and had to stop.  Can you imagine, riding a hand cycle for 90 miles?  Todd’s amazing!  Way to go Todd!

The reason I wanted to share this story is to show people with MS how important it is to exercise daily.  Many people living with MS are afraid to do too much; thinking their MS will get worse.  I’m so happy that Dr Ng, The National MS Society, Can-Do-MS, etc. have scientifically proven studies showing that we can’t make our MS work with too much exercise.  In fact, it helps in so many ways.  We need to listen to our bodies and stop when we’re fatigued but too much exercise will not hurt our MS.  In my personal experience, it’s only helped in so many ways…especially mentally.  Personally, I don’t know what my life with MS would look like without exercise and I don’t want to find out.

The best type of exercise I found for my MS is aerobic exercise where I get my heart rate up and hold it there for a while.  It can be done in so many ways.  I suggest doing something you like with a friend or a group of friends to keep it consistent and fun.  For me, in the summertime, I like biking.  Biking has been very MS friendly for me.  Many of our friends with MS have experienced the same thing.

Do you want to ride bike with us?  Please join us at 7:00am Friday morning at Nettesheim Park on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street in Pewaukee.  We’ll ride together on Friday mornings until it gets too cold this fall.  If you need me to bring a trike or two, please let me know. 

Let’s keep riding! 😊

Our prayer group on Wednesday mornings are a great place to get together virtually, catch up a bit and give thanks.  Even though we can’t get together physically, it’s so nice to see all that joins us virtually and learn how you’re doing and how this pandemic is affecting you.  I really like the good things coming out of this pandemic that are discussed…seeing God’s work as blessings.  It’s awesome seeing so many of you there laughing, listening, sharing, giving thanks and praying!   We have a lot to give thanks for, don’t we?

We’re going to be doing it again tomorrow (Wednesday) @ 11:30am.  We’ll get together either via phone or computer (your choice) and share, talk, listen, give thanks, and pray in however God leads us.  It’s a way for all of us to get together virtually to catch up and be there for each other and with each other.  I hope you’ll join us!

Here’s a link to our Zoom Meeting that Ashley provided for us.  Thanks Ashley!  Just click or call @ 11:30am Wednesday and you’ll be connected.  I hope to “see” you there!  😊

Topic: MS-Just Keep Moving Prayer Group

Time: This is a recurring meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/786859505

Meeting ID: 786 859 505

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Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acej2eGAIM

I hope you’ll join us on Zoom!

My heart goes out to all the people and families of the people that have been affected by COVID-19.  This is really getting serious and close to home.  Whether actually having it, being exposed to it, being affected by businesses being shut down, losing your job, working on the front line, etc.  These are tough times and we really need to take it seriously and do our part of practicing social distancing and all other recommendations.  I hope you and your family are safe.  Let’s keep everyone affected in our prayers and pray we all get through this as safely as we can.

As we all go through this pandemic together, I encourage you to share a smile with someone.  Perhaps you could give someone a call that you haven’t talked with for a while just to see how they’re doing.  This pandemic is tough in many ways.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement during these times.

Let’s be thankful for all the doctors, nurses and everyone in the health care that are putting themselves at risk every day and every night as they serve those with the Coronavirus.  These are amazing, selfless, courageous people!  Let’s also give thanks to all the people in the world that are working diligently to develop testing equipment and ways to treat this Coronavirus.  Let’s also give thanks for all the people that are working diligently to produce protective gear, respirators, and any other medical equipment to help us get through this pandemic. 

We may be inconvenienced in many ways but others have it much worse.  Let’s be thankful we have each other.  I know I’m thankful for you! 

We will not be getting back together at the gym yet.  We’re going to get through this COVID-19 pandemic before we do.  I love you too much to put you at risk. 

I hope you’re doing your part to “keep moving” and stay healthy during these unprecedented times we’re going through.  I’m hoping and praying that none of us get this virus and have to deal with it.

Let’s stay calm, focused, healthy, flexible, have faith and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day and make good choices.  Hopefully we’ll be back at the gym together soon.

I love and miss you all!

Dan

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P.S.  Please share how you’re doing and what you’re doing to keep moving…pictures and smiles please 😊