I took the MS150 Challenge

I took the MS 150 Challenge this year with my buddy, Robert. The MS 150 is a bike ride from Houston to Austin. The goal is to raise money to cure M.S. Over 17,000 riders participated in the ride and raised close to $19M dollars.

This year's ride was considered the most grueling to recent date because of a strong headwind.

I took the challenge because it wasn't going to be easy...I had no idea it would exceed my expectations.

At the end of the day…I rode for a gentleman I've never met named Gordy. He is the brother of one of my counterparts. He was recently diagnosed with M.S. Though I endured a tremendous amount of pain and discomfort it pales in comparison to M.S. My prayers are with him.

At the end of the race, Robert and I went to pick up our certificates of completion. We were taken aback by the fact that only a few volunteers were handwriting the riders' names on each certificate. Our technical minds went into overdrive. "There has to be an easier way." HP Printers…database lookup, etc.

When I got to the front of the line. I gave the woman(Joyce) my name and she filled it in and then she wrote a "Thank you" note to me. Joyce has had M.S. for 18 years. She was so grateful of our effort that she was willing to handwrite each certificate.

That made the ride worth every mile.