Cyclists take on multiple sclerosis
MS Bike Tour takes to streets to fund research
A group of Kitchener-area residents rode 50 kilometres through the GTA last year in their quest to raise funds to find a cure for multiple sclerosis.
This year, members of team Parker Peloton turned their attention to Niagara.
The five-member team participated in the Niagara MS Bike tour Sunday and raised more than $11,300, more than double their goal of $5,000.
Team leader Sam Parker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 17.
With treatments and medications, which are only made possible through research, he doesn’t let his diagnosis define him.
His partner Elizabeth Parkin and his mother Julia Williams completed the 40-kilometre route on Sunday, while his father Wayne Parker and friend Spencer Gough tackled the challenging 75-kilometre route.
“It was a very ominous start but they just delayed the start for half an hour,” said Williams, referring to the unsettled weather that greeted them that morning.
“It turned out it be a great ride. It was cool and overcast and the route was unbelievably beautiful.”
They were among 250 riders who set out from the Crystal Ridge Arena in Ridgeway, including Whitney Bassett-Bradley.
This was the Niagara Falls resident’s first time participating in a charity ride.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said, holding a sign her sister made that read ‘world’s okayest biker.’
Funds raised from the MS Bike tour, the largest fundraising cycling series in North America, supports research into the cause, treatment and cure of multiple sclerosis as well services and advocacy for Canadians affected by the disease.
There are 20 MS Bike tours scheduled for this year. In Ontario alone, the rides were expected to raise an estimated $2.75-million in pledges.
According to the MS Society of Canada, multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, brain and spinal cord.
Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world, with an estimated one in 385 people living with the disease that often strikes young adults.