Aidan Dyson
Bike MS is a massive series of cycling fundraising events proudly holding the title for largest cycling event in the world. Its focus is bringing the cycling community together to raise money for the National MS Society to help those whose lives are impacted by multiple sclerosis. with about 50 rides nationwide it just so happens that we have (or had?) our own bike MS event taking place here on campus. The Event Dubbed: Gateway Getaway 2025 took place September sixth through seventh with 73 teams and around 800 plus riders, it was hard to miss all the bikes zipping their routes through town.
This Is Bike MS’s eleventh year at Lewis and Clark, but its history goes further back than just that that. March 1946 Sylvia Lawry along with a gathering of scientists prominent in the field founded what would become the National MS society determined to help her brother Bernard and others like him suffering from MS. The Society during its existence has raised over one billion dollars through various programs, winning more ground in research for MS than any other neurological condition. Just One of these programs taking the lead is Bike MS. Since its Inaugural MS 150 event in 1980 Bike MS has grown to a staggering size with its current president and CEO Dr. Tim Coetzee writing in a recent letter that “We raised $191 million from 620,000 donors and fundraisers, including individuals, corporations, and foundations” in 2024 alone.
After a breakfast served on campus and some even camping out the night before with their tents out on the green, cyclists gathered at the start line bright and early at 7am to begin the day’s races. Later in the day I had the opportunity of interviewing the events bike manager in charge of sponsor relations, event logistics and rider experience: Mo Breece. She was excited to tell me that the event had reached its million-dollar fundraising goal that same morning giving credit to “…the riders who have done all that. They came together with this common goal for it. And they’ve been pushing, especially the last few weeks as we’ve gotten closer to the ride, that they’ve made a really big effort to help get us to that goal”.
It’s the over 900 riders and 73 teams that make up the heart of this event, they are the ones that raise over 90% of funds competing in friendly contests and winning prizes along way. Mo tells me about an unusual prize coveted by rivaling teams “the biggest competition is for a free porta potty, which sounds funny. But we have teams that want that because they want their private access here”. To win this private porta potty teams duked it out (always with a bit of friendly banter on social media) seeing who could raise the money in a week, the winner this time around being United by Design. United by Design, with its roster of about 90 cyclists, ended the event as the top team in terms of donations, raising eighty-five thousand dollars in total.
The event was from all angles and was a huge success. Not only did the Gateway Getaway achieve its financial goal it also brought together an amazingly dedicated and compassionate community. I think we would all love to see this event return to campus next year to keep changing the world for the better.
