Charity bike ride offers focus for MS sufferer
While weekly group training for the Central South Island Charity Bike Ride has just gotten under way, a multiple sclerosis sufferer in Temuka has already poured two months into training from her living-room.
A year after being diagnosed with primary progressive MS, Maree Foxcroft decided to sign up for the gruelling ride for the first time but she will be doing it aboard a spin bike in her living room, in a similar quest to that of Timaru’s Jo Willetts, another MS sufferer. ‘‘It has given me something to focus on and work towards. I am practising on and off all day, every day,’’ Foxcroft said.
She is one of 80 people who have signed up for the February 2020 ride so far, which spans three days and 385 kilometres from Timaru, to Tekapo, to Kurow, and back.
Charity Bike Ride chairman Mike Munro said entries remained open, including to those with electric bikes, with the next training ride scheduled for Phar Lap Raceway at 9am on Sunday. ‘‘We had our first open day at the raceway last week [October 13].
‘‘We had all the charities we are raising money for. It was great to get that connection between the riders and the charities.’’
Foxcroft said she was riding for the about 170 other MS sufferers in South Canterbury, especially those too weak to tackle the challenge.
Josie Teahen, Foxcroft’s sister, will alternate between providing water and snacks to keep her sibling going, and cycling alongside her.
‘‘Maree will do it [the ride] over a fortnight and I will do it over the three days. Our plan is to have a map to see how far along we are,’’ Teahen said.
‘‘Over those three days we will have a spare bike here for people to join in and support us.’’
Foxcroft said it was ‘‘amazing’’ how many people said they wanted to come along. While the 61-year-old had never been able to balance on a bicycle, her MS having been undiagnosed for about 30 years, she had always enjoyed hopping on her spin bike. ‘‘It keeps me moving a bit. It keeps my legs going,’’ Foxcroft said.
Life after Foxcroft’s diagnosis had been ‘‘a hell of a learning curve’’, but South Canterbury’s MS Society had made the journey easier.
As well as the MS Society, next year’s ride will also benefit Hospice South Canterbury, YMCA, Hearing Association, Pinc and Steel, Life Education, Cystic Fibrosis, and Plunket.