Alpha Team on Hold
Sorry for the delay in posting the next blog for the Team Alpha Ride for MS.
Sunday was the start of day 20 for the team as we headed into Louisiana. Most of the climbing for the trip was complete and all that was left was less than 1000 miles of flat terrain.
We started at the cone where we finished the night before and despite the sore muscles and all the other challenges we were ready to bring it home. I mounted my bike and pedaled maybe 50 meters and that is really all I remember. I was on the shoulder of the road just starting my ride when I was hit by a pickup truck doing about 60mph. Knocked me down pretty good and I was definitely out. We were in an isolated area so the ambulance took a bit of time. The first thing I remember is being in the ambulance. My son Tommy was with me and the rest of the team were right behind.
I was admitted with a broken bone in my back and 4 broken ribs. Controlling the pain was challenging but not impossible. I was admitted to the hospital Sunday morning and released Tuesday morning. We drove back westerly to Houston to get a direct flight back home to New York. I was safely back in my bed late Tuesday night.
Obviously this was a disappointing development for the whole team. Plans had to change and lives got turned upside down. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself I was able to put the entire situation into perspective. I’ll heal and in fact I am 50 times better today than I was just a few days ago. But I can’t lose track of the cause that we were riding for. MS is a lifetime cross to bear with less than normal hope for recovery. Please be motivated by my great chance of complete recovery to donate or tell others to donate to Team Alpha’s cause.
There are few certainties in the world. I am confident, however, that Team Alpha will finish this ride sometime inside this twelve month period. We will surpass our goal of $100k raised and we will make a difference.
Thanks for the calls, emails and texts of support. Just a small setback. Don’t count us out yet.
I’ll send out a note to alert you when we start up again to finish what we started.