by Arthur Hernandez
While most of you were eating your fiftieth hot dog as if you are (were) competing in the qualifying rounds of the National Hot Dog Eating Contest or downing your 19th beer during the Fourth of July Day weekend, I was beginning my Olympic-like training for this year’s MS 150 (actually it’s more like 164 miles) mile bike ride on September 20 & 21, 2003.
Several years ago, while stuffing my face at a neighborhood picnic, I overheard some women talk about their training schedules for some “bike ride.” I thought to myself, “What’s the big deal? I have a beach cruiser. I can ride!” Maybe I was inspired by the alcohol or made delusional by the afternoon sun, but these women of a fancy-gated community challenged me to ride in the MS 150. With my manhood on the line, I immediately accepted. Rob Devine would have been proud of me!
I was invited to train with my friend Dr. Antonio, (not his real name) and his well-organized hospital team. Dr. Antonio and his teammates all look like movie stars or cover models for the Tour de France. They are all your typical strong looking bike riders – tall and lean with legs that pump like pistons. They have “abs of steel that you could bounce a quarter off!” When I told my wife, she quickly said I look like a TV star... “Homer Simpson” and that “I can hide a roll of quarters in my abs.” I was not intimidated nor amused.
I dusted off my beach cruiser and took off my training wheels. I arrived early Saturday morning at a local bike shop on Hendricks Ave. to attempt a 30-mile ride. All of the other bike riders had special bike equipment like aerodynamic helmets, racing goggles and gloves, tight bike jerseys, spandex shorts and funny-looking shoes. My doctor friend (yes, I do have some that I don’t have to subpoena or pay a witness fee) took one look at me and politely recommended that I get “some clips.” I told them that I had left my clips on the potato chip bag at home and that I wasn’t particularly hungry. He also suggested that I get rid of the black dress socks. I was told that “Image is everything!!”
We promptly left the bike shop at 7:30 a.m. There were about 75 riders in a rainbow of colors traveling in a blur south on Hendricks Ave. I was only able to keep up with them for a few miles (okay, a few feet) because they decided to “crank it up.” I knew the training course path and continued to ride with my team of “me, myself and I.” I figured these conditions would be similar on September 20 and 21, so I’d better get used to it. About an hour later and five miles into my ride, I saw all of the riders heading north. I figured I didn’t have to ride all the way to the half-way point just to rest and turn around. I was much smarter than that. I could just turn around then.
As I turned north, I immediately realized that I didn’t have the previous luxury, as now I was riding into a slight head wind which decreased my speed. I almost caught up to the old lady with the walker by San Jose Country Club. My voice was beginning to change, and I sounded like Michael Jackson. I also felt like I was undergoing some sort of weird prostate exam with a telephone pole. By the time I made it back to the bike shop, I called Dr. Antonio, who was on the back nine of some golf course at the beach. He encouraged me to continue to train as “We were riding for those who can’t.”
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable and often disabling disease that attacks the nervous system. Symptoms may be as mild as numbness of the limbs or as severe as paralysis or loss of vision. Most people diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 20 to 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional side effects can be lifelong. The progression, severity and specific symptoms of MS cannot be predicted. A person with MS does not know when it will strike, what symptoms they will have, when it will become worse or better, or if they will be permanently disabled.
Any slight discomfort that I felt or will feel from these rides pales in comparison to this disease. As I’ve done the past five years, I again call upon members of the legal community to ride for this team or any other team of your choice in support of this cause. Past riders have included Chris Hazelip, A. Wellington Barlow, Jeff Morrow, Tom Beverly, Joel Toomey, Susan Haag, Stephanie Hartley, Harry Shorstein, Mark Eckels, Woody Wilner, Judge Emmet Ferguson and many others. If you cannot ride, you should volunteer and support those riders who are. If you cannot ride or volunteer, please make a financial contribution to the National MS Society on behalf of our team or The Jacksonville Bar Association.
— If you have any questions or need more information,
please call me at 358-1182
or send me an e-mail at [email protected]. I’ll keep you updated on my bike trials.