Twelve years ago, in 1996, I was officially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting type.  I believe that this disease initially showed its ugly head in 1981 while I was stationed at Ft. Devens, MA with the 18th Army Band, but it shortly went back into hiding. 15 years later it decided to reappear through something called "Optic Neuritis".

In 1996 I was told by my Neurologist that I would eventually not be able to carry mail, and would have to adjust my life to accomodate whatever way this neurological disease decided to go.  I actually bought into that philosophy for a few years, and as a result, my health got progressively worse with a noticeable increase in my limping, vertigo, and visual problems.

Three years later, I'm sitting in Bickford's Restaurant in Niantic when I see a colorful brochure describing this 115 mile bicycle ride "through scenic roads of southeastern CT"  to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis.  I thought to myself, "Self, this could be fun."  Then, I really noticed the "115 mile" part!  That seemed daunting, but I thought I should give it a try.  Well, I did and I remember actually falling off the bike at the finish line while my son Jason held the bike.

Well, that was 1999 and now here I am 9 years and 32,000 miles later, getting ready to start on my longest single ride ever - approximately 3,750 miles in just over 60 days!

God and I have discussed my trip (mostly I listened), and He reminded me that 50 is the year of Jubilee (hence the name of this tour).  In a nutshell, the year of Jubilee is important because it allows a family to completely redeem what has been lost.  Restoration is what this whole trip is about...health, faith, and confidence in believing everything that God has said!  But mostly, the healing part!