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News Provided by the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
Bike MS Round Up Ride, Presented by Sam’s Club, Gears Up for Its 25th Annual Event
Hundreds of Arizona cyclists are gearing up for the 25th Annual bike MS: Round Up Ride on March 26-27, 2011. Formerly known as The MS150 Best Dam Bike Tour, bike MS provides new opportunities to beat multiple sclerosis. Hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Arizona Chapter and presented by Sam’s Club this premier cycling event has added new features, making it more enjoyable for participants of all cycling abilities. The Bike MS: Round Up Ride expects to raise $500,000 to support research and local programs for more than 8,000 Arizonans living with multiple sclerosis.
The upcoming bike MS: Round Up Ride will include a figure-eight route that travels through Florence, Coolidge and Casa Grande. As always, Bike MS is fully supported with rest stops, medical personnel and support vehicles to help along the way. The start, finish and overnight celebration will all take place at Heritage Park in Florence. This location will provide more overnight options to cyclists than ever before, who can choose to stay in a hotel, camp, rent an RV, or even sleep soundly at home between the two days of cycling.
The ride will begin and end at Heritage Park and cyclists can choose from four available mileage options: a 35-mile route, a 75-mile route, a one-day 100-mile route, or the two-day 150-mile route. To help cyclists prepare for the event, the Arizona Chapter will be hosting weekly training rides in various cities. Beginner training rides have already started in Ahwatukee, Glendale and Scottsdale.
Participants also have the option of joining a team or creating a new team. This provides a great way to meet other cyclists, build morale and gain support. Any group of four or more people can form a team by visiting www.bikeMSarizona.org or by calling 1-800-344-4867. The bike MS: Round Up Ride also accommodates single riders.
There is a $75 registration fee for this event, and a minimum of $250 in pledges is required from each participant.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS through our 50 state network of chapters. We fund more MS research, provide more services to people with MS, offer more professional education and further more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS now. Join the movement at nationalmssociety.org.
Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for many people with multiple sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at http://aza.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344-4867 to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.
More than a thousand cyclists expected to ride for MS March 26-27, 2011