My sister (she’s taken, Punchy) is participating in the annual MS Escape to the Lake charity event:
I’ve registered for the Bike MS: Escape to the Lake (Erie) event because I want to do something for the people who have been diagnosed – and because I want to do everything to prevent more people from learning what it means to live with this disease.
The MS 150 is a 150 mile bike ride from Pittsburgh to Erie in an effort to raise awareness and funding for MS research and programming.
Today, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, and with diagnosis occurring most frequently between the ages of 20 and 50, many individuals face a lifetime filled with unpredictability.
If you’d like to help, that would be great! It is tax deductible and for a good cause.
Comrade Mary
I’m sponsoring my sister in an MS Walk this week, but I’ll cheer Devon on.
Ironic note: Sheldon Brown, the guru of bike-fixer-uppers, died of a heart attack two years ago, but he also suffered from MS for years.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Terrible disease. Great cause. Kudos to your sis.
geg6
Hey, I have a good friend who does this every year! It’s a wonderful cause and a great ride.
Has she ever done it before?
I have supported my friend, Amy, doing the Escape to the Lake every year for the last 4 years. My personal reason is that another good friend of mine, Jill, has been living with MS for the last 20 years. She is basically bed-ridden now. Her husband, Flip, is truly a heroic man in that he has changed careers and completely shuffled his life in order to take care of her.
So good on your sis!
Violet
Good for her! She did this last year, too, right?
I did the one in my area a few years ago. Great ride, great cause. I’ll be supporting the folks in my area who are riding it this year.
canuckistani
There might be a cure for MS on the horizon. A friend of mine is signed up for trials in the near future.
RSR
We support a couple riders in Philadelphia who do the MS150 city to shore ride each September.
Kudos to your sister for her work!
kdaug
Jesus, Cole.
You’ll post pictures of your cat, dog, sister (!), and your parent’s dogs (!!), but in the umpteenth years of reading this drivel, you’ve never once posted a picture of yourself.
What gives?
C’mon, let US see what John Cole looks like. Your students know…
LarsThorwald
While I would like to give big and pay for the entire check, as it were, I can’t really afford to do so. So just tell your sister I’ll just put the tip in.
Arclite
Very cool. I try and do the Great Aloha Run every year which is a charity run. I think it’s a great way to encourage people to donate to a cause and do an activity with like-minded people.
John Cole
Ehh, blonde hair blue eyes with graying hair a double chin and glasses. Also, I’m pretty fat these days, and my left arm is much tanner than my right arm from dangling it out the window like a hillbilly when I drive.
geg6
@John Cole:
Well, except for the blonde hair and blue eyes, you sound like you look just like me!
kdaug
Oh, whaaa.
Here’s me: http://kdaug.com/About.html
Let’s see you.
licensed to kill time
Whoa, a rare description of the elusive Cole bird!
Also, very nice of your sister to do this bike ride. My sister has MS and it’s not a very nice thing to have.
freelancer
You should see if you can teach in Australia for a few years, give the right arm some Vitamin D.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@John Cole:
You is a hillbilly, just an educated one. No shame admitting that.
JonathanW
So, Cole’s a teacher (or prof)? I just assumed he made a living selling Tunch-fur sweaters on Ebay
geg6
@JonathanW:
Prof. At Hillbilly University.
Bill In OH
Kudos to your sister! I do the Cleveland area equivalent of this ride (The Pedal to the Point) every year. It’s a great cause and a great time.
My oldest brother, who is the closest thing I’ve had to a mentor, has MS. It’s been absolutely heartbreaking to watch him go from being incredibly active and vital to being virtually bedridden. He has always lived life on his own terms and the lack of strength and mobility just infuriates him. If the money we raise helps in even a small way, it’s more than worth it.
Thanks for that link, canuckistani. The article is quite interesting. I’m going to forward it to my brother.
SGEW
Ever since John described himself as having “a face made for radio,” I’ve kind of preferred not seeing an actual photograph of him.
Besides, I just like to think of him as this John Cole. Including the guitar, naturally.
[ETA: Or, seeing as how the above linked John Cole is based in Rochester, it may be DougJ, actually.]
Punchy
Uh…lolwutz? I’m happily married. But thanks for the (non)thought. :)
Cris
How taken?
John Cole
@Punchy: I just figured you would be the perv to make a smartass remark.
Anne Laurie
@John Cole: You forgot ‘Quaker soul and Prussian temper’…
Bill In OH
I meant to add in the last post that, if she’s doing a 150 mile ride on a mountain bike, like she appears to be doing in the picture, your sister is a force to be reckoned with. I do it on a road bike and it’s no jog in the park. I can’t imagine what it would be like with the extra rolling resistance of knobby tires!
Warren Terra
20 comments before Cris makes the obvious rejoinder?
@SGEW
I like your idea that all the front pagers are (despite their pseudonyms) different people named “John Cole”. Must be tough for Anne Laurie.
Anne Laurie
@Warren Terra:
I have a fairly common last name — one of those surnames that gets used as a first name. According to How Many of Me, there are only 84 ‘Anne (Lastname)s’ in the United States… and just one ‘AnneLaurie (Lastname)’.
However, there are 3,541 John Coles!
WereBear
Google “Vandelbilt protocol” and “Wheldon protocol” for MS to see the similar regimen my husband has been using for the last three years with his auto-immune disease.
It’s been a real breakthrough for him.
jakethesnake
MS150’s Kick Ass.
RedKitten
Good for Devon!
What’s the deadline for donating? Next week, I will be getting my very first paycheque from my new job, and I think that a charitable donation to a worthy cause like that would be an EXCELLENT expenditure.
John Cole
@RedKitten: We spell it paycheck, you filthy French Canadian.
gnomedad
@Warren Terra:
Mind if we call you “Bruce” to keep it clear?
RedKitten
@John Cole:
Good for you, dear.
Cat Lady
@Anne Laurie:
Cool site. I am almost a snowflake. My only worry now is that the two others with identical names don’t pay their bills.
Elroy's Lunch
Ah, this thread explains it. I just noticed that I had received an email from her and started thinking someone was phishing me. Okay, at least my cheque won’t be going to Nigeria. Thanks Cole.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
CongratS!! And I for one like both the French and Canadians. Paycheque adds a little Dijon to this meat and tators blog.
phoebes-in-santa fe
I just donated to your sister. It’s indeed a bad disease. My son’s fiancee’s sister was just diagnosed with it. She’s 25 or so.
Good luck to your sister. She’s doing a mitzvah. (Let me know if you don’t know what that means!)
Arclite
He doesn’t want Redstaters to try and hunt him down for turning to the dark side.
Either that, or he’s a vampire whose image can’t be captured photographically…
canuckistani
@RedKitten:
“Bless your heart” is another charming euphemism for “Get bent, jerkface”.