MS Takes on MS on Route 66

Plan B

In life, who hasn’t had to consider a Plan B? For some of us, it is as simple as your favorite pizza place being closed when you are really craving pizza. Plan B: burgers, anyone? Or perhaps something more impactful, such as being laid off from a job you loved – where you got to say, “Would you like fries with that? Plan B: Back to School.

When the road we are on takes a detour, we have a choice: complain or figure out where the next road leads. When life shows up on your doorstep in the form of a debilitating disease, it can be soul-crushing. But, in 2014, when Multiple Sclerosis was foolish enough to show up brandishing the same initials as my friend Mark Southerland, it had no idea what was in store for it. Suddenly, it was MS that needed a Plan B! It chose the wrong hombre to pick a fight with . . . Mark’s a tough Scotsman. Before kicking butt in the world of Internet Security and becoming quite the master brewer, he served our country in the US NAVY!

Taking on MS on Route 66

So, how did we decide on Route 66? It all started when I helped Mark pick out and purchase a Triumph Scramblers. 

In fact, I was so enamored by his purchase that as he was filling out his paperwork, I picked out a matching model and started filling out paperwork for one of my own.

Sadly, we were only able to ride together a few times before MS took its toll on Mark’s balance and robbed him of his love of riding motorcycles.

The M3 was our chariot as we traveled from Colorado to Chicago, the starting point of Route 66! This is where Mark took back his MS initials from Multiple Sclerosis and we headed down the historic road.