National Multiple Sclerosis, UT Chapter

This year I will be participating again in the Utah Multiple Sclerosis 150 mile bike tour. It’s a great opportunity that I try to take every year to help those suffering from MS. I think I’ve done the tour 7 or so times although I’ve lost count. I started in the early or mid 90′s and while I’ve missed a few years, I have ridden as often as I’ve been able.

Read on to find out more about MS, the ride and how you can help sponsor me…

Many people do not know a lot about mutiple sclerosis, what is does or what’s being done to fight it. To help out, here’s a little blurb about MS for you (there’s a link which goes to the Wikipedia definition of MS which is quite good):

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often progressive and disabling disease of the central nervous system believed to result from immune-system dysfunction. There are a third of a million Americans with multiple sclerosis. The typical age of diagnosis is 20-50. Every week, 200 Americans are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That’s more than one person every hour. Counting their family members and those who care for them, MS affects more than one million Americans.

Multiple sclerosis is devastating because it affects individuals in the prime of their lives, with symptoms that may come and go without warning. MS manifestations, which are highly individual, can include abnormal fatigue, impaired vision, loss of balance and muscle coordination, tremors, stiffness, difficulties with speech or walking and, in severe cases, partial or complete paralysis.

Although there is no proven treatment as yet to stop the disease or reverse its progression, research definitely is hopeful. Recently, the FDA has approved new drugs that affect the course of MS. Other experimental drugs are being evaluated for their effects on reducing the frequency and severity of MS symptoms.

This year’s ride will take place over the last weekend in June (25th & 26th). Last year’s tour followed the same (or nearly the same) route as previous years and I expect the same with this year’s tour. You can see more pictures from last year’s tour in my gallery. The scenery along the way is amazing. Below are the two day’s routes:

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Heading out for the ride, 2004

I ride a recumbent bicycle which makes the long MS ride oh-so-much better than on an upright. While I have ridden the 150 miles several times in the past on my mt. bike and while I did fine, I’ll never do that again 8^). After a full 70+ mile day on an upright, I was in so much pain that I didn’t want to finish the second day. On my recumbent, I’m wiped out but I’m not in pain (and no saddle sore!).

Each year I raise my goal of fund raising. This year, I’ve set a preliminary goal of $500. However, this year is the first year that I will be collecting donations via the National MS society’s secure online contribution system. This will make it much easier for people to contribute – especially thoes who are out of state or unable to meet me in person.

If you would like to contribute and/or see the progress made so far in my fund raising efforts, please visit my National MS Society fund raising page (on the official National MS website) where you can make a contribution securely online.

I beleive that because I’m using the online fundrasing system this year, I’ll be able to greatly increase my goal. If you’re able to help either financially or otherwise, I’d really appreciate it! I’d like to year from you – if you’d like to contact me with regard to the ride, send an email to or leave a word of encouragement as a comment…