Our Story

Who the Heck is Colin Mackay?

Colin Mackay is a dear friend of ours. He is a proud Scot from Glasgow, he's a brilliant software engineer, a wonderful father, and he is an inspiration and a hero.

You see, Colin has had two kidney transplants because of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) - a progressive kidney disease which attacks your kidney's filtering system causing serious scarring and shuts down the functioning of the kidneys.

Since FSGS has attacked Colin's transplanted kidneys, he's not eligible for further transplants.  He's learned to perform hemodialysis at home and undergoes this dialysis treatment every night while he is sleeping.   It's a difficult life where any problem during dialysis could put Colin's life in peril each night.  The overhead is immense - a simple weekend trip is a complex logistical undertaking and Colin has to worry each day about the future of his family. 

But we don't want to dwell on Colin's difficulties.  We want to talk about what a trooper he is!  You never hear Colin complain about his ailment.  You never see him feeling sorry for himself.  He's doing everything he can to keep himself healthy and be there for his family.  Colin is a true hero!  And he is an inspiration. 


What's This Ride About?

Although Colin may not get another transplant, he marches on as best he can.  And he rallies behind NephCure to find a cure for this tragic disease with the hopes that it may help him or the many thousands of others effected by it.  So we got together (Jim Gilbert, Mike Reynolds, and Kevin Horio) and decided to rally with Colin.  We decided to create an annual ride in honor of Colin to support NephCure, and we ask others with loved ones effected by FSGS or Nephrotic Syndrome to honor them on their ride.

We created a trail ride because when you're off-road, if you stop pedaling, you slow down much more quickly than on a paved surface.  This is like the struggle those we ride for - they endure this disease every day, they can never let up, they have to keep on pushing.  So as you do the ride and you have to keep on pedaling to make it to the finish, remember those that you ride for - it's well worth the effort!

The three of us would ride the Lehigh Gorge River Trail occasionally and would always be energized and inspired by it. We thought this would be the best route for the ride.  There aren't any other off-road charity rides in the area that we know about, the trail is only about 1 to 1.5 hours from Philly, and you really feel like you're much farther from everything.  Seriously - once you get through the initial parking lots, you only cross one road for the entire 52 mile ride!  It's simply awesome.

The trail isn't technical so anyone can ride it with any type of bike, except it might be a bit rough for road racing bikes.  Since it's an out-and-back route, riders can create their own distances by turning around at any point.  And to top it off, Jim Thorpe is a wonderful town with lots to do for folks who are not riding - restaurants, shops, the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, what more could you want?  And we end it all at Molly Maquires for good times.

So it all made sense -- the Colin Mackay Mad Scot Trail Ride was born!



Future Rides

We're hoping to build this ride up over the coming years, so post your comments below and we'll see how we can improve the ride.

If you like the ride, please tell your friends.  There's no other ride like this in the area!

Here are some of our plans for the coming years, but we have to build up our ridership and potentially get some sponsors to make all this happen.  And perhaps we may have to add a nominal registration fee to help make things more festive.

• Festivities at the Start/Finish AreaBands, kids activities, awards ceremonies, prizes, great food, tents for shops around town, and more!
  
  
• Ride T-Shirts
• Mad Scot Cycling Jerseys
• Rest Stops Along the Trail
• Support for Breakdowns
• Shuttles to White Haven to Start a 26 Mile RouteWith this, you can ride the entire length of the trail route and end in Jim Thorpe with the other riders.  Plus, it's a bit downhill from White Haven to Jim Thorpe - so it's an easier ride, too.

We all do this in our spare time, so if you would like to help, or know of potential sponsors, please let us know.

Post your comments below with ideas about the ride and feedback.

If you'd like to help out or sponsor the ride, please contact Kevin Horio at kevinhorio@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

  Jim, Mike, and Kevin