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Newsletter Oct 7, 2009 By: Joseph Flanigan Day 3 of MS Global 2009 The strong help the weak, a community for a cure. Today’s ride left Corte Madera for a 63 mile janunt to the next overnight at Bodega Bay, the place where Alfred Hitchcock made the 1963 movie, “The Birds”.  The ride map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/-corte-madera/269125112873574664 I had a special honor today to start the ride early, and to ride with Tyler Hamilton as my ride companion. A better term would be adaptive riding coach. We started 45 minutes before the rest the MS Global riders and finished last. The 63 mile ride took us 7 hours. There are a LOT of big rolling hills on the coast of California. The ride leaders reported the ride had 4700 feet of climb. My heart monitor reported that I burned 4,550 calories. Tyler and I spent the day, just the 2 of us doing the ride. Tyler does not know the meaning of the word quit. When my legs got tired of pedaling uphill he pushed me up the hill. Understand, I am 196 lbs and 60 years old. Tyler is 145 and 38 years old. When going downhill, sometimes he pushed, too. For most of the 7 hour ride he had my back. Today was an incredible example of the strong helping the weak. Tyler talked to me, coached me, encouraged me and told me he was a rocket scientist knowing when the last hill climb was. I told Tyler, in polite Marine Corps speech, he better stick to riding.  Even when we pulled into the motel, there was a small hill. The ocean breeze is a myth; it is a wind in the face. There will be pictures and videos of the ride as soon as they are available. I will let you know. When I say the strong helping the weak, it means more than using muscles. People with MS always battle Fatigue. While Fatigue is the technical term, another way to describe Fatigue is the failure of the brain’s nerve cells to conduct messages to the body. It is like someone turning off the switch for action and saying, “You cannot play with my ball anymore!” The Fatigue passes when the nerves can play catch again. In the meantime, the action switch is turned off. Our funding raising progressed today. It is still weak. We need your strength. You can visit, www.happyheart.org for a link to my Accelerated Cure Project MS Global ride or you can go directly to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/happyheart. Thank you all for supporting me in the many ways that you do! Joseph