This past weekend, April 16th and 17th I rode in my third MS150. Once again I rode with Team Honeywell.

The weather was wonderful. The newscast Friday night called for winds from the south with a high in the low eighties. That was good news to me, a tail wind really helps. I was a little worried about the high temperatures but I would rather be hot than cold. Saturday and Sunday mornings were cool but not so cold that I needed a jacket. My brother Jeff did wear his high tech cold weather gear (more on this later).

The Wednesday before the ride I woke up with a crick in my neck. My neck was stiff and hurt when I tried to turn it to either side. I think I must have actually pulled a muscle or got west nile. I treated myself with naproxen, aspercreme and a hot pad on high until Friday night. When I woke up Saturday morning my neck was back to normal, thank God.

Once again this year we started at Schmalz Elementary School which is near the official MS150 bike route. We posed for our team photo and then hit the road about 7:00 AM. It was a bit crowded but we had good riding until we hit the road that merged both offical starting points, Tully and Rhodes stadiums. After that it was slow going. If you rode to far to the right you had to slow way down. If you rode to far to the left you had to watch out for the hard core speed riders. I tried to stay in the middle, moving to the left to pass and to the right to rest. Jeff and I started out riding together but we got split up well before lunch. I thought that I has in front of him but as it turns out he was way out in front of me. When I finally made it into La Grange I found that the entire team made it before me. I was the last one to show up. The bad thing about being last is that all the beer was gone. Lucky for me, the guy who cooks us all dinner had a couple of brews stashed away and felt sorry for me so I got a frosty beverage with my burger.

Once I was finished with my dinner I headed out to get cleaned up. As usual there were a few shower trucks on the campgounds but the lines are so long I got in the line for the buses that shuttle people to the local high school. When I got to the school there were so many men that they let us use one of the ladies locker rooms. Let me tell you that the ladies have it much better than the guys. I would have showered more in high school after gym class if we had showers like the women. But I digress. Once cleaned up I headed back to the team tent, taking a few photos along the way (see below).

Saturday night in LaGrange Phil and Bob handed out some awards to deserving riders. I don't recall all of the awards but the ones I do remember made me laugh. They gave ribbons to the newest riders saying "I can ride my bike". Phil and Tiina's oldest daughter got an award for designing the team jerseys (see below for a jersey photo link). My favorite award was the Jeff Gillis award. It was given to a young man doing his first ride this year. He received the "special" Jeff Gillis cold weather gear, that's right, a plaid flannel shirt just like the one Jeff wears on cold mornings. We all got a big laugh from this award and the best part was that I saw the kid in the pancake line Sunday morning and he was wearing the "shirt".

Sunday, Jeff and I lined up what we thought was fairly early but there were still several thousand people in front of us. I decided to skip the park this year so I could see the honeywell rest stop. The actual plan was to skip the cutoff that goes to the park, visit the Honeywell rest stop and then cut over to the park on a road that was not on the offical route. Thank God I could not find (did not really look for) this road. While my neck was not causing me any problems my back spasms started hitting me hard. Once again I lost Jeff after a few miles and just put my head down and pedaled. I caught up to Jeff at Lunch. There were some dark clouds so we spent some extra time eating and resting until the sprinkling stopped. While we were eating a guy sits downs and asks about our jersey design and asked to take a picture of Jeffs jersey. The design is so cool I had people complimenting me all during the ride. After lunch the only person I remember seeing is Team member Susan at the very last rest stop. I thought that I was in some pain with my back spasms but once I saw Susan, I could tell she was hurting a lot worse than me. Her posture was the closest thing to the letter 'S' that I have ever seen in a person. Once I crossed the finish line I found that I was next to last of all my team members (I beat Susan, I hope). See below for a photo of me crossing the finish line with my pedal partner bandana in hand.

This is the first year where I had to walk up a hill. I could have made it but fell down when my chain came off as I was switching gears. I had to walk about 50 yards to the top of the hill. The only thing hurt was my ego.

I did come up on a few wrecks this year. The first one was a rider down and in neck brace and strapped to a back board going in an ambulance. It is always scary when you see something like this. Next, I came across a crowd of people standing around a young woman that was cradling her broken arm, crying and in obvious pain. I heard the sirens after I passed by so I am sure she was also transported to the hospital.

I heard that our team member Phil had a close call. I am a little sketchy on the details but it seems that an ice truck was coming over one side of a hill and a car coming up the other side. The truck swerved trying to miss the car and headed straight for a group of riders. The driver apparently seeing this swerves the other way and went off of the road and flipped over. This is what you call a butt clencher.

This year the MS Society put a cap on the number of riders to 13,000. They did this to make sure that they could provide support for everyone. On February 9th 2005 more than 10,000 people had already registered. Seven day later, on February 16, 2005 registration closed at 13,000. Without the cap I think more than 15,000 would have registered. I am glad that they capped the number of riders at 13,000 because it seemed pretty crowded most of the time. Crowds are good and bad. Good because if the wind is in your face the people in front of you shield you and make it easier to ride. The downside is that there is always someone slower in front of you. I have found that when I am going up a hill I have a certain pace and getting stuck in a slow pack is tough. When going down the hills I like to go fast to help me up the next hill, but some riders are more cautious than I am and used their brakes on the way down. I hate when that happens

I didn't see any rollerbladers or unicycles this year. Some of the other team members did see some rollerbladers.
I read that country star Clay Walker rode.

Notable observations:
Hulk action figure glued on a helmet.
A guy pulling a german shepard in a little bicycle trailer. I think the dog barked the entire way.

For those interested in my riding statistics, here they are.
Day one
Avg Speed - 14.3
Top Speed - 30.3
odo - 1616
Miles - 92.00
Time - 6:28:15


Day Two
Avg Speed - 13.5
Top Speed - 35.2
odo - 1689
Miles - 71.72
Time - 5:18:07

Jersey Photo

Picture - Jersey Front.
Picture - Jersey Back.

Finish Line

Picture - Me at the finish line.

Pictures Day 1

Picture - Jeff and me just before we started the ride.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop - someone bumped into me.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Lunch Rest stop.
Picture - Lunch Rest stop.
Picture - Lunch Rest stop.
Movie - LaGrange - Lunch - 4.3 Meg
Picture - Rest stop - Up the long hill.
Picture - Rest stop - Up the long hill.
Picture - Rest stop - Up the long hill.
Picture - Wild flowers on the side of the road.
Picture - Wild flowers on the side of the road.
Picture - Wild flowers on the side of the road.
Movie - Wild flowers on the side of the road - 6.7 Meg
Movie - Rest stop about 20 miles from LaGrange - 6.5 Meg
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - LaGrange - People taking hose showers.
I am not sure why anyone would want to do this. Jeff and I got on a bus that took us to the High School and got a hot shower there in about 45 minutes.
Picture - LaGrange - The (fake)Blues Brothers entertain the crowd.
Picture - LaGrange - Some team tent. I liked the way the bikes were all lined up.
Picture - LaGrange - It looks like all everything is to the left.
Picture - LaGrange - Bike corral.
Picture - LaGrange - Bike corral.
Picture - LaGrange - Bike corral.

Pictures Day 2
Picture - LaGrange - Lining up for the start.
Picture - LaGrange - Lining up for the start.
Picture - Honeywell Sponsored rest stop.
Picture - Honeywell Sponsored rest stop.
Picture - Honeywell Sponsored rest stop.
Picture - Honeywell Sponsored rest stop.
Picture - Honeywell Sponsored rest stop - Phil and Tiina.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop with the goats.
Picture - Rest stop with the goats.
Picture - Rest stop with the goats.
Picture - Rest stop.
Picture - Rest stop.

I rode in my first orgainzied ride this year, the Bluebonnet Express. This year there were three routes, 25 miles, 45 miles and 65 miles. Last year when I did this ride I chose the longest route. This year, since I have not done as much training I decided to take it a little easy and chose the 45 mile route.

The orgainzers changed the start from the county fair grounds to Texas A&M University, probably hoping that they would not have the same problems with traffic that they had last year. It was a nice try. I had already picked up my ride packet on Friday but I decided to arrive a little early just in case there was traffic. Boy, was there traffic. I was about an hour early and there was a mile of traffic waiting to exit off of the freeway.

It was cool and windy, I finished my cup of coffee and then waited in the extremely long line for the port-o-potty. It seems the organizers must have underestimeted the number of people that were riding or were trying to save money. I heard a number of people say that there were about 3000 riders this year. When that many people drive an hour or more drinking coffee, you had better have enough port-o-johns waiting. Enough said.

Next, I grabbed my bike and headed over to the maintenance tent to air up my tires. I pumped up my tires and then while removing the pump valve I tore the innertube. After changing the flat I headed to the starting line where I heard the announcement that the start of the ride was to be delayed due to the large number of riders still trying to get off of the freeway. By the time we finally started I needed to find another port-o-john.

As I said it was windy and hard going. I ran into my brother Jeff at the first rest stop. It's funny that we always run into each other on these rides. Jeff has done more riding this year and said he was going to do the 65 miles route, so I figured that I wouldn't see him again after the turn off where my route heads back toward the start but about a mile or so from the finish I caught up to him. He said that he changed his mind about the longer route when he realized that most of it would be against the wind. I lost him as I was pedaling to the finish against the wind and up hill. They should really try to plan the routes so that you always finish downhill with the wind at your back.

Hello all,

On Saturday and Sunday, April 16 - 17, 2005, I will be joining 13,000 other cyclists riding 180 miles from Houston to Austin in the annual BP MS 150 Bike Tour. The tour is a charity fundraising event supporting the National MS Society's fight against multiple sclerosis.

As many of you already know my wife Linda has MS so this cause is near and dear to me. I am calling on you and all of my friends, family and co-workers and neighbors to contribute on my behalf to the National MS Society. By making a pledge, you are supporting MS research, programs and education. You are also helping me achieve my fundraising goal of at least $2500.00 this year!

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 organization and your donation is tax-deductible. Instead of going to the trouble of mailing a check, you can use the following link to donate online in my name. Clicking on the link below will take you to the BP MS 150 site, where donating is fast, easy and secure. At the website you will be able to choose an amount to donate and make the donation immediately with a credit card. I will be notified via email as soon as you make your pledge.

http://ms150.org/edon.cfm?id=172540

If you prefer to write a check please make it out to "National MS Society" and mail them to me at
6818 Peace River
Spring, TX 77379
Feel free to email me at with any questions.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Greg Gillis

About multiple sclerosis:
MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. The symptoms include blurred or double vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and can become as severe as paralysis and total loss of vision. Diagnosis usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can be life-long. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are giving hope to those affected by the disease. I appreciate your support of the National MS Society and the BP MS 150 Bike Tour. The funds raised on the BP MS 150 Bike Tour provide equipment, financial assistance, self-help groups, counseling, information and resources, as well as education for people with MS and their families. Your support truly makes a difference in the lives of people with multiple sclerosis.