Released: December 23, 2013

Dear Friends.

As we are rapidly approaching year end, I think it's time for my thank you letter to all our generous sponsors for the MS 2013 Bike Tour, which took place October 5/6. We rode from SLU in Hammond to Percy Quin State Park outside McComb, MS and back to Hammond, 75 miles each day.

This year we had about 1200 cyclists registered to participate, and one of the only clean teams left (no doping), Team Dan-Gulf showed up with almost 50 riders fit for duty, and I think when we finally got rolling about 900-1000 cyclists were riding!

The weekend of the ride did not look too promising weather wise with Tropical Storm Karen peaking around the corner, but the majority of registrants ignored the weather and were ready from the start to ride for the cause of Multiple Sclerosis research. Most of us lucked out and survived both days without getting rained on, although we did not escape the hot, muggy air.

It was the usual drill in Hammond: some of the guys were ready to ride an hour before the official start at 8 am, while others were scrambling to get their stuff together to start on time. Naturally we also had to have our team picture taken, with most of the riders in the shot, which we managed with some belly sucking, make up etc, a real Kodak moment!!

Our team did not start from the front this year, but as soon as we got on the road, we quickly moved to the front and Dan-Gulf's riders controlled the pace until crossing the finish line first at Percy Quinn State Park. I had stopped for water at the last rest stop, so I rolled in a few minutes later and ended up as number 11.

As soon as the ride was over, I headed for the massage bench, and got a nice massage by one of the volunteers in that department. These Mississippi gals can really beat the meat, but it was all good!!

Then it was time for some good food at the Dan-Gulf tent, which was catered by Liz, Klara and Manny from our office plus Eddie (Sam's husband) who grilled steaks and chicken (marinated Persian style) for all of our team plus our volunteers, friends and families who attended the function.

After the lunch, most of our team hung out at our tent, where we also had an opportunity to mingle with some of the riders from the other teams. Naturally war stories from the first day's ride were exchanged. Beverages and cigars were consumed to relieve the riders of sore muscles etc, but for most of our team 75 miles is a walk in the park.

In the evening awards were given to various teams and individuals for various accomplishments. For the second consecutive year, Team Dan-Gulf was awarded the trophy for being the number one fund raising team. Our team raised $ 52,591.78 while I, thanks to you, raised about 15K this year and was once again awarded the trophy for being the number one individual fund raiser plus we had many Dan-Gulf riders who made the TOP 100 list for fund raising. THANK YOU.

This year I stayed with Mersedeh at a comfortable hotel to keep her company, as opposed to the usual overnighter in the cabin with the old boys like Jorgen and Terry. Hotel was nice, but I missed the shipping stories in the cabin, and Terry and Jorgen have many!!!

Sunday morning arrived quickly after some sweet dreams, and most of us had breakfast at the Percy Quin Park loading up for second day's ride, which was scheduled for 8 am. Suddenly we were informed about 7 am that the start had been pushed up to 7:30 am, in order to beat some expecting rain heading our way, but most of us managed to adjust and get ready.

The route on the second day is slightly faster than the one on the first day, so the race, which is not a race, was on from the get go. Quickly we had a group of about 20-25 guys up front including riders from other teams, but Jorge, from our team, who finished first Saturday carried the majority of the work load up front, while the rest of us naturally did our share of work. After about 60 miles we were down to about 10-11 riders in the front, while one of our teammates decided to drop a rider from another team on a hill, but the end result was that Dr. Watson as I call him dropped a couple of his own teammates on one of the last hills, including me who weighed in at about 215 lbs, and was the only fat boy over 200 lbs in the front group. At that time we had averaged 23.8 mph, so Mark and I, who were among the Dan-Gulf riders who got dropped, decided to stop for some water at the last stop as we were both totally out of drinks.

However, when we stopped to refill, the volunteers told us that there were no refreshments available at all, primarily because we got there fairly early, and also because the start time was pushed up by 30 minutes. One of the other riders from one of the other teams totally collapsed on the lawn, when he heard the bad news, but since he was not riding the Dan-Gulf colors we left him behind to die on the lawn. Mark and I managed to locate an elderly lady who was on her front porch with a cup of coffee, and after we explained to her that we rode for MS, and needed holy water, she convinced herself she would go to heaven if she assisted, so she saved our day by refilling our bottles. After this little event Mark and I strolled in and finished in the 8th and 9th spot for the day, while Jorge, Watson and Bob Lewis from our team finished as the first riders in Hammond along with a couple of suspects, from other teams who rode with our team. All in all an excellent ride without any major incidents, and all our riders represented the Dan-Gulf colors well including Asger who managed yet another MS Bike ride without getting a DWI. Meanwhile, I have lost count of how many times Lowell has managed to escape this event, but a new year is to begin soon, so the pressure will be on Lowell starting January 2014!

Most importantly MS Bike event raised about 715K, and our team was proud to be part of making that happen, so thanks again for your generous support, and I also take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. See you next year!

Thank you for your support in the fight against MS.

Best Regards,

Dan-Gulf Shipping