UPDATED - Hoppy Holidays! Busted Wagon Holiday IPA & the MS Society

05/08/14 - UPDATE! Back in March, we received the total fundraising amounts from the Payette Brewing / Hayden Distributing Holiday fundraiser - and I wanted to share them with you all. The totals are:

Payette Brewing: $3,596.60

Hayden Distributing: $1.265.00

That's a total of $4,860.60 to our chapter of the MS Society! Funds raised were earmarked for providing local financial assistance and support for those in our communities impacted by MS. For more detail, please read the original blog post below. Thanks to all who came out and supported this effort by enjoying some delicious Busted Wagon Holiday IPA! And a huge thank you to Payette Brewing, Hayden Beverage and to all of our local eating and drinking establishments who proudly served Busted Wagon!

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Payette Brewing Company and Hayden Beverage here in Boise, ID are holding a great holiday fundraiser for the National MS Society - Utah and Southern Idaho Chapter. And you can help, simply by having a delicious, hoppy, well-balanced holiday beer at your favorite establishment this month! Learn how after the break...

Other Voices - Why Patti Supports the MS Society

My friend Patti Bernhardt was kind enough to contribute an article to "Biking MS" this week. This is a must-read story about how MS has affected her family, but also a story about one of the toughest women I know. In my opinion, this will likely be the best article you will have read on this site all year.

Bike MS 2013 Recap!

Bike MS: Harmon's Best Dam Bike Ride 2013 is on the books! Team WinCo rode a cumulative 1,790 miles and raised $15,625 (and counting) to help in the fight against MS. Here is a recap of this amazing weekend.

Other Voices - Why Gordy Rides Bike MS

I talk a lot about my teammate Gordy Myre on my facebook updates and in this blog. I admire Gordy for many reasons, and am proud to ride with him in Bike MS this year. Gordy is riding with us, but he's also riding with MS - on a tricycle that he cranks with his arms. Gordy is an inspiring man, and to many, he is the "face" of Bike MS here in Idaho and throughout the entire chapter. Gordy was kind enough to share his MS story with me, here it is...

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update - Ready to Roll!

Bike MS is THIS WEEKEND! We're charging towards last year's fundraising total! I wrapped up my last huge training ride before Bike MS! I'm ready to ride. Details after the break...

How to Screw Up a Flat Tire Repair

As much as I ride, you'd think I'd be able to handle flat tires quickly and efficiently. But, I got my first road flat of the year yesterday, and I did just about everything wrong. Here's some lessons learned...

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update - We're Past the "Finish" Line!

We passed our fundraising goal this week, which is important for many reasons. But, we're just getting started! Details about this milestone week in my fundraising and training update...

Other Voices - Why Megan Supports the MS Society

The reason I support the National MS Society is well-known to readers of this blog. There are so many other compelling stories from people I'm connected with that I wanted to start sharing them with you...

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update! What a Week!

Momentum! We've got it now! The week of June 3rd was our largest fundraising and training week of the year as we enter the home stretch to Bike MS...read all about it!

My First Century Ride!

I finally rode my first official Century Ride on Saturday, June 8th - the Bob LeBow Bike tour. Great experience, and good preparation for Bike MS - but there were some highs and lows...

Wiseguy Pizza Pie Delivers - A Great Fundraiser for Bike MS!

We had a great turnout for the National MS Society fundraiser Monday night at Wiseguy Pizza Pie in Boise this week! This fundraiser exceeded my expectations, and I can't wait to do this again next year! Read all about it after the break...

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update - Week of May 27th

So much to talk about this week! Best week of fundraising in quite some time, thanks to a very generous group of old friends. Exciting fund-raising events coming up this week as well! More after the break...

Why I Ride - Rick Parker

A lot of you know that I ride Bike MS in honor of my late brother, Rick. But only a few of my friends in Boise were fortunate enough to get to meet him. So I thought I'd write a bit more about Rick this week, so that everyone could get to know him a little better.

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update!

We had a very exciting week for Bike MS training and fundraising! We had our first official donor giveaway, organized a night of fundraising and awareness, and got some great training rides in. Details after the break...

UPDATE - Fundraiser at Wiseguy Pizza and Meet Me Monday - June 3rd!

*** UPDATE *** See this article for the results of this great fundraiser...

Please join us in downtown Boise on Monday, June 3rd for a great evening of bikes, pizza, beer, and fighting MS! Wiseguy Pizza Pie has stepped up to host a fundraiser on Monday, June 3rd from 6:00 to 9:00. Wiseguy will be donating a percentage of their profits that evening to Bike MS! Megan Nettleton (MS Society - Boise) and I will also be hosting a community table at Meet Me Monday, right next door to Wiseguy, from 5:30 to 7:00, to talk about the great Bike MS events going on this year in our chapter. More details after the break...

Coming Soon - Advertisements! Really? Why?

I've recently made the difficult decision to place ads on my blog. I know we don't all appreciate ads - but the decision came down to fundraising. All ad proceeds will be donated to Bike MS...

Free Classes and Training Session at A2O Fitness!

My new friend Jennifer Ludington, Owner and Chief Fitness Officer at A2O Fitness in Boise, has stepped up this week to help with Bike MS fundraising! Jennifer has graciously donated free passes for Tabata classes, and a free training session with kettleball expert Jimmi Stanton...details after the break!

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update

What a nice fundraising week! Several of my friends stepped up for National Fundraising Challenge Week (May 13-19) and I got some "interesting" training in as well. Details after the break...

Weekly Fundraising and Training Update

This week's update is training-centric, with little fundraising news to report. We got in some nice bike rides - including the year's first trip up to Bogus Basin ski area. Details after the jump...

Weekly Fundraising (and Training) Update

The week of April 29th was a very slow week for fundraising, but a great week on a number of other fronts - including training. Details after the jump...

Momentum Magazine and Team Winco - Behind the Scenes...

On the first day of National Bike Month, the Summer issue of Momentum, the publication of the National MS Society, is arriving at homes and available online! As I mentioned in a previous article, our Bike MS team is featured prominently in an article and on the cover! Now that the magazine is out, I wanted to share some details about how this all came to pass, what it means for our local chapter of the MS Society, and behind-the-scenes info about the photos that appeared in the magazine.

Weekly Fundraising Update

Last week was a Bon Jovi week - "Whooah...we're halfway there!"  After a fast start, things slowed down but we hit some great milestones! Details after the jump...

Weekly Fundraising Update

Last week was our second biggest fundraising week of the year, with a total of $400 raised. We're now at $2,205, or 44% of goal. We have a long ways to go, and the big push is starting this week! Highlights and "shout-outs" for the week after the jump...

Week 4 Fundraising Update

Week 4 of Bike MS fundraising update: slow, but steady. We're at $1,805, or 36% of my goal of $5,000. Thanks everyone! Details after the jump...

Running Before Biking...

I haven't been able to spend much time on a bike so far this Spring. Several running events are impacting the time I have to train for Bike MS this year, starting with the Race to Robie Creek this weekend. But I have a plan to help mitigate that...

Bike MS? Walk MS? Clearing up some confusion....

There's been a little confusion about the Walk MS event in Boise on April 20th, and the Bike MS event in Utah on June 29th and 30th - specifically, which one am I fundraising for? Which one would I like contributions for? I'd like to clear that up. More after the jump...

Many Ways to Help...

I get a number of questions and comments from folks who would like to help with Bike MS fundraising, but may not have the resources to make a big financial commitment - or are generously donating to other causes. There are many quick, simple things you can do that do not require a financial commitment, but can really help us as we raise funds to help fight MS. Here are a few...

How To Train - Suggestions, Web Sites, Gadgets and Stuff

Here's my two cents on some questions I get from time to time about training - how to train for a long-distance cycling event (especially if you're just starting out), how to track workouts, and how to keep in shape when it's cold outside...I'm certainly no expert, but here's a few things I've picked up over the past few years...

Week 2 Update...

Wrapping up Week 2 of fundraising, we've added another $350 for a total of $1275! Thank you! That puts us at 26% of goal, which is down a bit from last year at this point - but a very nice amount for this early in the fundraising cycle! Let's keep it going! I've noticed some interesting differences from last year's fundraising, though...

"Momentum" Magazine Cover Photo!

Great news coming out of this weekend! We (Team Winco, formerly Team Allstate) have an exciting opportunity to be on the cover of the Summer 2013 issue of Momentum magazine, the award-winning magazine of the National MS Society, and the largest MS-related publication in the world...

Week 1 Update...

Quick update on week 1 fundraising - it was a great first week! Raised $925 towards my initial goal of $5,000. This is more than 2x what we pulled in during our first week last year. Getting a good start is so important to help build momentum. Thank you so much, especially my wonderful parents who were my first donors this year...

...and here we go!

Hi everyone! This blog is my official kick-off for Bike MS 2013 fundraising. Bike MS is in Logan, Utah this year on June 29th and 30th. This is a couple of months earlier than last year's event - which is why I'm starting to reach out to you all a bit earlier this year. I'll be discussing that change a bit more towards the end of this post...That, plus some recaps from last year, and I'll show you the 2012 Chapter Annual Report - so you can see more about how your money was used last year - after the jump...