We're ba-ack! Bike MS City to Shore Ride Weekend 2013 is here. Hard to believe it, but Team Screens 'N' Spokes have been doing this for 7 years now. With all this experience under our belt, you'd think we'd be just going through the paces, the routine and bike route familiar and trusted. But the night before the energy is electric. The excitement is tangible. We're full of anticipation of...

...whether the spandex will fit and what our jerseys will look like all together on the road

...the new assortment of friends and family that have traveled near and wide to ride with Team SNS

...the unwrapping of a package of never-before seen (not even on the Internet) SNS prints from a favorite artist

...the amazing taste of food during and immediately after the ride Day 1 (especially: pb&j grahams, pierogies, baked potatoes, chicken, ice cream, funnel cake, cheese fries, fried oreos...good thing the Ocean City Boardwalk is ready to serve us!

...the friendly faces: the NMSS staff, bike shop staff, policemen: at each rest stop, in their Suburus, and at each stop light

...the amazing sense of community as we ride together, whether we're elite riders, amateurs, or haven't been on a bike in years, all determined to challenge ourselves and together take on MS.

Time is a mysterious thing. Through memories it's elastic and electric, scaling back and forth, near and far. I can't believe it's been 7 years - the first time feels like yesterday. I'll never forget it. But I also feel like I was born doing this. It's a part of me. It's a part of us.

Muscles are equally mysterious. They remember, too. Once you learn how to ride a bike, even if it's been a while, they somehow know what to do. Even if you haven't been riding in a while. Even if you're a little scared.

MS, the disease, makes us keenly aware of muscles, and memory. Bike MS brings them together on a completely different note. We are ready. We're excited.

Let's do this.

Signing off,

Jess & Sam & the Screens 'N' Spokes Gang