On Saturday September 28th, 10 members of the 1E North America team are participating in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s 100 mile Bike MS: City to Shore Ride from Philadelphia, PA to Ocean City, NJ, as team 'Rubber to Road' aka R2R.
Some of the 10 team members are keen cyclists, others like me have only just taken up cycling in the last few months, and others are hiring a bike on the day to do the ride! We all know of families and friends who are affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and we are taking part in this fund-raising ride because it is a great cause. So far our team has raised over $5000 in Bike MS: City to Shore Ride sponsorship, and the money raised will help fund critical research needed to end MS and to support the vital services the National Multiple Sclerosis Society provides.
You can read a little more about the motivation of one of our team, Paul Szemerenyi, Vice President of North American Channels, for taking on the Bike MS: City to Shore Ride challenge, in his interview for the recent post, 'Charity fundraising? On your bike!'
The number of people living with multiple sclerosis increases every hour of every day. This astonishing rate is not going to diminish, nor will it stop, until we've found a cure. Research has made some incredible advances recently, but the world can still only offer disease management drugs and therapies to the 400,000 people living with MS in America.
We've formed a team for Bike MS: City to Shore because we know that riding 100 miles is nowhere near as difficult as confronting a lifetime with multiple sclerosis. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society gives us all reason to hope, though. In addition to supporting novel research projects around the globe, they also provide much needed education, programs, and services to everyone who is affected by MS – including the diagnosed, their friends and families, and the healthcare professionals who work with them.
The R2R jerseys have arrived, and as you can see from the pic they look quite cool (as modeled by my son, Hugo). Nothing like an official team shirt to suddenly make a competition feel very real. Any spare jerseys will be available for sale and the proceeds will be added to our sponsorship monies and go to support the National MS Society.
Also, we would like to send a HUGE thank you to David Rode's daughter, Mason, for designing the R2R jerseys. She did an awesome job and we couldn't have made this happen without her creativity and hard work. Thank you, Mason!
If you would like to sponsor Team 1E, or any team member, or me, please just click on this link for our Bike MS: City to Shore Ride page.
For those slightly older members of 1E, the only serious cycling I’d done until three months ago was 30 years ago on my cool 3-gear Chopper! I’ve certainly never cycled 100 miles!
Seriously, we do appreciate your support. MS is a disease of the central nervous system that usually strikes adults in the prime of their lives as they are starting their careers and raising families. Scientists are continuing to expand their understanding of multiple sclerosis, but there’s still much work to be done for people with progressive forms of the disease. Currently, there are no medications approved for progressive MS, an advanced form of the disease for which there are no periods of remission.
Please help support Nick, the rest of the 1E team taking part in Bike MS: City to Shore, and the National MS Society, by donating on our fundraising page, and sharing this article with your contacts via the social media buttons to the left.