Mission Control Guest Post: Orbit Dishes on the BP MS150 Bike Ride!
By arykoff
It’s been a little busy around here lately with the whole 10-game winning streak and being in first place, so we didn’t have a chance to share this extra special guest post until now. And it’s worth the wait, trust me. You know Orbit’s antics on the field make him an MVM (Most Valuable Mascot), but he’s also pretty awesome off the field. Two weeks ago, while in the middle of a homestand, Orbit teamed up with his mascot buddies Clutch of the Rockets and Diesel of the Dynamo, to ride the BP MS150 bike ride to raise money for multiple sclerosis. And what’s more, he had actually completed the entire 180 mile course BY HIMSELF last year. Yeah, he’s awesome. But enough from me yammering on. Here’s our favorite mascot and yours in his own words talking about this unique experience. Take it away, Orbit!
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Hey Astros fans! Yes, it’s really me, your favorite mascot. Welcome to my first foray into the blogosphere. I’ve trained these fuzzy fingers of mine this off-season, and at the request of my esteemed co-worker and social media guru, Amanda Rykoff, I’ve decided to take my talents to more than 140 characters of semi-hilarity.
In case you missed it, on April 18–19, I teamed up with my mascot buddies, Clutch of the Houston Rockets, and Diesel of the Houston Dynamo, to ride the BP MS150. The BP MS150 is a two-day, 180 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin. Yes, you read that right. 180 miles of tubby mascots on bicycles, but it’s not as crazy as it sounds!
Last year I jumped in the deep end of the pool with both feet and rode the entire ride by myself. Probably a little ambitious, but if you’ve ever seen my antics on the field, you know that I’m not one to shy away from many things!
As fun of an experience as it was, I walked like a baby giraffe for a week. So when Clutch and Diesel offered to team up with me to ride this year, I welcomed the help! The idea was for each of us to split the ride into thirds each day, making for a more mascot-friendly ride. Now, I may consider myself an adopted Texan, but this heat is still no joke and made me consider strapping an AC unit to my bike.
Before the ride, I attended the BP MS150 Expo on Friday. The Expo provides an opportunity for participants to pick up their rider packers, catch up with friends or check out some new gear for the ride. It’s open to all who want to ride — including green aliens, bears and foxes. I saw some cool stuff, but I opted to stick with my custom Astros jersey. Nothing personal to the vendor selling the jersey, but nobody needed to see this much handsome inside that small of a jersey.
Coincidentally, a few of their other products seemed to be of more interest to me.
While at The Expo, word came down that the first day of the ride had been cancelled due to all of the rain the area had received. As disappointing as this was, me and my mascot crew did not let the decision rain on our bicycle parade. Saturday was out, but Sunday was still a go!
The plan on Sunday was for me to start the ride, tag-in Diesel, and then have Clutch finish the ride into Austin. After the Astros big win on Saturday night over the Angels, Sunday morning came awfully early as me and my spot-rider/resident Astros ticket sales rep extraordinaire, Christian, made the 100 mile trek to La Grange to start day two. Christian rode the entire ride with me last year and agreed to help me out again this year. Spending the better part of 23 hours on a bike next to one another during the 2014 ride made us quite the bros, and I owe a big “Thanks!” to that guy both this year and last. I guess you could say Christian is an honorary Mascot Bro.
We arrived and lined up at the starting line ready to take on our 26 mile leg from La Grange, to the Smithville area. As always, there was excitement in the air and the previous day’s rain didn’t put a damper on the mood of the riders.
While one may argue my belly’s fame only comes in behind Santa, it isn’t exactly ergonomically designed for a normal bike. This necessitates me riding a three wheeling tricycle-like bike. Imagine if a bike and a hand gliding rig had a child….that’s my bike. While comfortable and ideal for coasting down a mountain, it creates some challenges in the Texas hill country, more specifically, going up hills. That being said, it was nothing a moon pie and a supreme athletic prowess couldn’t handle.
The support we’ve received from the MS Society and our fellow riders was nothing short of fantastic. Lots of encouraging words and the occasional odd look made the 26 mile ride a breeze. And of course there were selfies. So. Many. Selfies. I cruised into La Grange around 10:30am and tagged in my buddy Diesel.
It wasn’t a moment too soon, as I was able to jump in my van and cruise back to Houston in time for our 1:10pm game….and a game of Jenga with a few “friends”.
Meanwhile, Diesel and Clutch moved on without me and finished the big ride and successfully completed our 80 mile mascot bicycle adventure.
The ride was challenging and a lot of fun, but I’m most proud of the awareness we were able to bring to the MS Society, as well as raising money on their behalf. If you’d still like to donate to our team, it’s not too late! You can go to our mascot team page here and donate!
Be on the lookout for more joint amazing mascot feats in the coming months and I’ll see you at the ballpark!
- Orbit
@OrbitAstros
