Seagull Century 2009
Team MPS Ride celebrated
their 5th annual Seagull Century Ride for the Christian Lon
Foundation on Oct 10th, 2009 in Salisbury, MD. This was our fastest
ride ever for the Team MPS; the completed the 100 miles under 6 hours. Every
year, this team gets better and better at this 100 mile course. Chris, a
speed demon himself, was thrilled with the pace.
The 2009 team included Ton Lon, Chris Taffo, Mike Collins, Dave Wilhem, and Beth Walton. Team MPS added one new member this year, Mike Malasky, an accomplished and a former competitive mountain biker.
The 2009 Seagull Century Ride was not without its strange occurrences. Tony Lon had 3 flat tires along the 100 mile route. The first flat tire occurred just feet away from the start line. Little did Tony know this would be the beginning of a several mechanical setbacks that he would face during the day. At mile 53, Tony suffered his 2nd flat tire and then he suffered a third flat at mile 54. It appeared that Tony was done for the day, without another spare tire, he had no other choice but to wait for the support wagon. Tony assumed that the support van would take him to the Assateague Island rest stop at mile 60. However, disabled riders were dropping out the event like flies; overworked and overwhelmed Seagull Century support vans were only taking disabled riders to the finished line. The rest stops were simply located too far away. Tony pleaded with the driver that he had to “finish this ride”, because he was “…doing this for his son”, but the driver reiterated that he was taking all the riders back to the finish line. Then something happened…. The driver was transformed by Christian’s story and he agreed to take Tony to the rest stop at mile 83. The people in the van rallied behind Tony and offered him prayers of support and encouragement to finish the ride for Christian!
Weather is always a concern for Team MPS during the Seagull Century Ride, but no year could compare to the year we had in 2005, in which the team endured torrential down pours for most of the 100 mile course. The team would learn later that their accomplishment in 2005 made Seagull Century history, for very few riders completed the entire route under such harsh weather conditions. The 2009 Seagull Century Ride was the 2nd worse year in terms of weather for the team. The day started out warm, bright and sunny with temperatures in the mid 70’s. By mid-afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse. The temperatures dropped nearly 15 degrees, the skies grew dark and a strong head wind blew cyclists wayward along the course. The unrelenting headwind was particularly vicious during miles 73 through 83. It was during this stretch that Beth Walton suffered a knee injury. In a demonstration of team spirit, Dave Wilhelm placed himself in the lead position allowing Beth to “draft” behind him for more than 10 miles. At the rest stop, Mike Collins, a physical therapist by profession, tried several creative measures to treat Beth’s knee with limited medical supplies. Ultimately, Beth had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the event after 83 miles. It is the first year she did not complete the course, but she would say later “There was no shame in not finishing this ride… my teammates did everything possible to help me continue… it is such a privilege to ride with this team and for this cause each year”
Team MPS is still riding strong for the Christian Lon Foundation. We are hoping you could “ride” with us and support our cause. We appreciate your donations. Thank you for helping us to continue our quest to raise awareness for kids with Mucopolysaccharidosis II (MPS). If you would like to join Team MPS in next year’s Century ride, please contact christian.lon@hotmail.com.
Donation Link:
http://www.christianlon.org/donation.html
Thank you from the bottom of our
hearts,
The Lon Family