Keep Going

E.L. Calvin 1998

This was my first year riding the MS 150 from Houston to Austin. To say that I was nervous was an understatement. I ride all the time, but at that time I trained, rode, and suffered alone. I am from the small East Texas town of Crockett and there just aren't any cyclist here. So imagine my fear when I pulled into the stadium and saw all these other riders.

My fears quickly subsided when the helpfulness and hospitality of everyone I came in contact with made me realize that this was going to be something special. Remember, I was used to beer cans flying past my head, shouts of "get off the road" and those impatient log trucks passing inches from me.

But I kept going...

The weather was horrible. It was cold, rainy, and just downright miserable. I rode for about an hour before I realized that this is not what I had in mind when I signed up to do this ride. I was struggling just to keep any form of a cadence. That is when I saw this guy who was suffering worse than me. To my amazement, I offered him a few words of encouragement. When this didn't help, I slowed to help him out. When this didn't help, I decided to ride with him. I figured suffering with someone was better than doing it alone.

So we kept going...

As the weather got worse, we continued on. Even though the conditions were less than ideal, we started to enjoy each other's company. After explaining where Crockett is, I was asked why I was doing the ride. Surely I knew someone with MS.
I explained that my mother had died from breast cancer only 2 months ago. Even though cancer is not MS, it is a disease just the same. I wanted to do something to help anyone suffering from anything.

So we kept going...

To make a long story short, we kept going until we reached the lunch area. The temptation to catch a bus into La Grange was real. However, we decided we would continue on until the next rest stop at least. If you were there, you know how the weather changed right after the lunch stop. You know that the sun came and made this one of the best MS 150's ever. All you had to do was to keep going.

Since that ride, I haven't missed any MS 150 to Austin except one. I missed 2001 to take part in a wedding. I was the best man. The groom was my 1998 "Partner in suffering" Schroeder Allen. Every year after 1998 I struggled to finish. But each time my partner said something to me which caused me to hang on.

"Keep going"

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