The first was at 3:07 AM. We were supposed to be at Mission Bay at 4 to check in for the bus ride to Huntington Beach. I'd asked Ron to call me on my cell in the morning, just in case. I slept in the guest room because I didn't want to disturb anyone in the morning, and Jackie (Meredith's Mom) was sleeping with Meredith to help her get out of bed and into the bathroom. The alarm clock worked fine, I'd hit the snooze button and a few minutes later Ron called. Thanks buddy. On Saturday night I stayed at the Motel 6. They don't have clocks in the room, you have to ask for a wake up call. It's all computerized, so you wake up with a recording of Tom Bodet on the other end of the line. Those 2 wake up calls got me up and into action. Hopefully the other wake up call will have the same result.

Ron had shared with me that he had some guilt about the MS-150 because he enjoyed the actual bike ride so much, that he sometimes loses sight of the real reason for having the ride, to raise money in the fight against Multiple Sclerosis. I thought about that most of the ride, then the same "phone was ringing" in the VIP tent at dinner. The captain of the team Ron, Shawn, A.J. & I joined this year was mentioned during the program. The first year he rode in the MS-150 he did it because it is such a well organized and scenic bike ride, but during the festivities that first night he was so moved by the speakers that he wrote a personal check to add to the minimum pledge he'd come with to put him into the top fundraiser level. Two years later and he has personally raised over $11,000 and organized a team of almost 40 people, raising almost $60,000!

During the second day's ride, I was talking with another rider who has a wife with MS. She had met him at the overnight stay in Carlsbad for all the festivities. He was telling me about how she'd been diagnosed (like Meredith), that they have a young son (like us) and some of the ways MS has affected their lives. It made me a little jealous, but more than that, it made me sad. I couldn't help but think how depressed we used to get around people bad off with MS when we were doing well. I'm sure he realizes what the future may hold for his family, but I sure didn't want to remind him about it.

I had to get away from him before he thought to ask how my wife was, and how my son was dealing with a Mom with MS. That was the first time in 13 years of riding the MS-150 that I rode with tears.

So what was the third wake up call? It was that I haven't done enough to raise money in the fight against MS. The other end of the phone was Ron, who had 128 people pledge him this year, and put him over the $3,000 mark. It was my team captain Dan who raised so much money and has become so involved with the ride. I was the other guy riding for his beautiful wife with MS. They were all telling me to wake up and raise more money.

So here goes. Send money.

thank you.