Peddling For a Good Cause
Former north Texan Claire Dal Nogare, seeking a bicycle trip of a lifetime, found a new cause – one she’s still riding for six years later.
“I just wanted to ride across the country,” she said, explaining how she did a Google search in 2012 for “Bike the U.S.” and found the nonprofit Bike the US for MS.
The 2010 Highland Park High School graduate moved to Montana, but is working through the winter as a park ranger in the Florida Everglades.
She will spend the summer biking through 31 states – her third and longest trip in support of Multiple Sclerosis research: 11,327 miles.
In patients with MS, the immune system attacks the central nervous system – the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.
“Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision,” according to biketheusforms.org.
Doctors don’t know what causes MS nor how to cure it. Treatments focus on keeping the disease under control and restoring damaged nerves.
Scientists hope to find the cause of MS, so they can diagnosis it quicker and one day eradicate the disease, according to biketheusforms.org.
The nonprofit Bike the US for MS brings awareness and raises money for MS research and treatment. Cyclists get together for annual cross country biking trips with every participant raising $1 per mile they ride.
This year’s route will go from Florida to Maine to Seattle to San Diego and then back to Florida.
“Luckily, this non-profit is unsurpassed in what they do, and I found a worthy cause in MS through the service projects around the country as well as the huge checks that we drop off to MS Clinics,” Dal Nogare said.
