Kelly Rulison
Copy Editor
On Sept. 11, 2016 L&C hosted the 2016 Bike MS event that was a charity ride for people who suffer with multiple-sclerosis. Roughly 3,000 cyclists signed up to ride all around southern Illinois.
This is the second year that L&C has hosted ‘The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Bike MS: Gateway Getaway Ride’ after its relocation from Columbia, Missouri.
“We wanted to bring the event a bit closer to home for some of our St. Louis area participants,” senior coordinator of the National MS Society Randy Adler said.
Adler continued, “We got such great feedback about last year’s event that we’re very excited to return to campus this year.”
This event offers an opportunity for anyone seeking a personal challenge and a world free of multiple sclerosis. The cyclists took different paths based on the mile length they planned to ride, their choices being 25, 50, 75, and 100-mile routes.
Saturday’s routes took riders through Fosterburg, Prairietown, Livingston, Hamel, Edwardsville, Wanda, Bethalto, Worden, New Douglas, and Old Ripley. Sunday’s routes turned north through Brighton, Shipman, Wilsonville, Staunton, Bunker Hill, Fosterburg, Carlinville, and Gillespie.
“Although some of the cyclists camp here on campus, many of them, along with family and friends, stay in area hotels and patronize our local establishments throughout the weekend,” L&C President Dale Chapman said.
Chapman continued, “In addition, they get to explore a great deal of the communities throughout our district along the bike routes.”
Bike MS is the largest fundraising cycling series in the U.S., attracting more than 100,000 participants nationwide. Last year alone, the National MS Society raised $122.2 million to connect more than one million individuals to the people, information and resources they need to fight MS.
For more information about Bike MS and their fight against multiple sclerosis, visit www.nationalMSsociety.org or www.gatewaybikems.org.
