Katie MacDonald - Bike the US for MS
Day 1 - May 28 - Bar Harbor, ME to Belfast, ME - 66.3miIncredibly beautiful day to start the ride. The sun was shining as we packed/stuffed everything into our assigned cubbies in the trailer and headed to the water. I filled up a bottle of ocean water to keep as a souvenir before the ceremonial back tire dip in the ocean. When we get to Seattle, we'll dip our front tires on the ocean, and I'll fill a second bottle of water. The ride was pretty hilly, especially the first 3mi, but it was doable, and fun to get to know everyone on the trip. At the first rest stop I bought a delicious cinnamon bun from a local farmers market. At the second rest stop I got a slice of gas station pizza that was more bacon than it was pizza. After the second rest stop, Catherine and I checked out a really cool bridge on Verona Island, and took an elevator to the top. The view was amazing! It started spitting a little bit as we came into camp, but the campsite was incredible. Right on the water in downtown Belfast. I had a bit of difficulty setting up my tent, but Bruce, Peter, and Catherine helped me out. While I was sitting in my tent, a toddler wandered up, curious about what it was. When I opened the door, she marched right in and took a look around. So cute! Day 2 - May 29 - Belfast, ME to Damariscotta, ME - 51.1miDay 2 was pretty short. I rode with Alison, Vikki, and Catherine for most of the day. Couple of missed turns, and some pretty tough hills before the second rest stop. Stopped for lunch, and covered the table in ketchup after failing to notice that the cap was not on tightly before shaking the bottle. We we stayed in a church in Damariscotta for the night, and the pastor was kind enough to open up her house and let us shower. The church was a maze with a ton of rooms, but we ended up setting up our sleeping bags in the nursery because it was carpeted and had animal shaped pillows everywhere. Day 3 - May 30 - DamariscOtta, ME to Naples, Me - 79.1miLong day, but a great one. Our route was interrupted in Bath by a Memorial Day parade, so we stopped to watch. We then proceeded to get lost, and ended up adding at least a mile to our already long day. The first rest stop was at Walmart, where we were able to pick up a bunch of food for the week. We then proceeded to get lost again in Brunswick. One of the highlights of the day was cruising along Riverside Drive, which, not surprisingly, was along a river. We we camped on the side of a lake for the night, and were able to cool off with a refreshing (freezing) swim. After setting up my hammock, Alison, Vikki, Catherine, and I cooked dinner on a picnic table. The potato and bacon soup I got from Walmart was fantastic. Day 4 - May 31 - Naples, ME to Lincoln, NH - 75.6miSo much happened today! First off, I woke up from a great sleep in my hammock to an equal great view of the lake. After packing up we headed off, and made it to rest stop 1 without any trouble. Along the way we ran into Chuck, who is biking the perimeter of the USA for his 60th birthday. A little while later, we crossed our first state line and headed into New Hampshire. Rest stop 2 was the last one before the Kankamagus Highway, which is probably the part I was least looking forward to for the whole trip. Catherine and I grabbed a quick bite at a local restaurant, where I had probably the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had. Kankamagus was a tough, but stunningly beautiful climb. Peter and Bruce had made it sound a lot worse than it actually was, so it was slightly easier than I had expected. Stefan and Megan were waiting at the top with dollar store medals and snacks. Didn't hang out at the top for too long because the bugs were awful, but the view was incredible. The decent was completely worth the climb, and the last 10 miles flew by. For dinner, I grabbed some pizza in town with Frank and Ethan. Camping again for the night!
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What a weekend! Yesterday morning I met up with Noah, Bike and Build alumni and fellow Harvard student, and we cycled all the way down to Providence, RI. Noah was incredibly helpful in terms of giving tips for the ride, and telling me all about his experiences biking across the country last summer. The ride was absolutely fantastic, and we were able to make a couple stops for frostys and apple cider. Not only was this my first metric century (100km), but it was also my first time biking across state lines! Unfortunately the "Welcome to Rhode Island" sign was obscured by trees, so we couldn't do the obligatory photo in front of the sign, but it was exciting nonetheless. We were, however, able to stop by Brown University and get some photos before catching the train back to Boston. The Main Green at Brown University. Today was the MuckFest MS 5K Mud Run! For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is a great excuse to get covered in mud, spend time with your friends, and support a great cause. It was a little chilly today, but we had a great time. MuckFest Boston alone had 5,000 participants and raised nearly $700,000! If you have the chance to run in one this summer or in the future, I highly recommend it! Pre-mud at the MuckFest Mud Run! However, I have to say the best part of all of from this weekend was that I finally reached my fundraising goal!! Thanks so much to Kevin, Ted, Gordana, the Sullivans, the Heitzners, Jon Mark, and everyone else who has contributed to the cause! Your generosity truly humbles me, and I am so grateful for your support.
18 days to go! It's starting to feel really real now as school is winding down, and I've had more time to get out on the bike, fundraise, and get all the gear I need for the trip. Training has been pretty good recently, even though the weather is still pretty hit or miss here in Boston. Got over 100mi (160km) in last week, and a 42mi (67km) ride in over this past weekend, which turned out to be a great opportunity to test my rain gear. I also got to try out the GoPro, and got some pretty cool footage. Took the bike in to Landry's for a fitting and tune-up today. The fitting was a pretty cool experience, and I learned a lot about my bike. Turns out the reason my shoulders get sore on long bike rides is because the handlebars were too wide for me, so we swapped it out for a new one. Besides the handlebars, there were a number of other adjustments made, including raising the seat, adjusting the cleats, and replacing the stem. It'll be in the shop until Thursday, which means two whole days without my bike. Once I get it back though, it'll be pretty intense training until graduation. I would like to get in at least one 75mi (120km) ride before I leave for Bar Harbor, as this will be the daily average for the trip. Fundraising has really taken off in the past two weeks, and as of today I am 90% fundraised! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated so far, and special shout out to everyone who has donated since my last blog post: Conrad, Austin & Paul, Julius, Jay, Christine, Anna, the Wakils, Maheen, the Mulroys, the Gartners, Mary-Jane, MaryBeth, the Sajgaliks, Fusco, and, of course, my super awesome family. All the money raised goes to support an amazing cause, and I am so thankful for all of your support!
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katie macdonald
Summer 2016, I biked 4,295 miles, coast to coast across the USA to raise money and awareness for MS. March 2017, I biked self-contained from San Francisco to San Diego with my friend Carissa. August 2017 I connected the dots and biked from Seattle to San Francisco. Summer 2018 I am heading to the UK! Follow my journey here! Miles biked for MS:
6,800.13
Updated August 27, 2018 Archives
January 2019
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