Fund-raising bike trek rolls into city today BY APRIL DIODATO OBSERVER Staff Writer Friday was a long day for Lauren Smith. He and his close friend, Eric Karls, went on a 91-mile bike ride from the west end of Cleveland to Conneaut, Ohio. They’re not riding just for fun or to stay in shape. Their journey is called MS Pedal to the Metal — a multi-state bicycle ride from their hometown of Chicago to the Boston office of Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a nonprofit organization that is working to cure MS by determining its causes. Smith, Karls and his father, who is riding alongside the pair via automobile, are making the 1,034-mile trek to raise proceeds that will benefit the organization through pledges, sponsors and donations. Today, the trio will arrive in Dunkirk at approximately 3 p.m. — depending on “how hilly (the terrain) is,” Smith said — where they will stay at the Clarion Hotel overnight before continuing on to Buffalo and then through New York state to their final destination. Smith is making the trek in honor of his father, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1996. He became involved with the Accelerated Cure for MS one year ago and decided to do something to contribute to their effort. “(My father’s MS) progressed pretty quickly — he went from using a cane, to a walker and now a wheelchair,” Smith said. “There’s no known cause as to why someone gets MS, and since there’s no known cause, there’s no known cure. A lot of the big organizations focus on spreading awareness and working towards making the patients more comfortable, but the Accelerated Cure Projects focuses its efforts specifically on finding a cure, and that’s where my interest lies.” The trio’s trek began on June 16. The pair rides through cities and rural areas, rain or shine — though so far the elements have not become extreme enough to affect their excursion. “The weather has been pretty cooperative,” Smith said. “Tuesday it rained the whole ride, and it rained a little bit this morning. It was really hot the first couple days, and the heat’s worse — it really takes a toll on you and you have to be really careful... We don’t mind getting a little wet.” Smith and Karls ride for 5 to 8 hours at a time, averaging about 70 miles a day. “At first when we started, we thought we’d take a break for lunch, but it’s easier for us to just hammer it out and have a few snacks along the way... have water and a power bar and a sandwich and keep going,” Smith said. At the end of each long day of riding, they make a stop and stay overnight, giving them time to relax, make any necessary repairs to their bikes, and sometimes sight-see. During their pit-stops, Smith also spends about 20 minutes updating his blog (a Web site where regular entries are made, such as in a journal or diary). He writes daily about the journey and their experiences along the way, posting pictures of the places they have visited taken with his father’s digital camera. The group has brought a laptop along with them and has been able to access the internet from most of the locations they have stopped at. (To read Smith’s blog, log on to http://blueskycollaborative.typepad.com/mspedal). Posting information about their trek online has helped to raise awareness about their cause as well. So far, through the ride they have raised more than $20,000 — an accomplishment that Smith calls “humbling.” “The support has been amazing. We hope that by giving this big hunk of money to the organization will help in finding a cure and a cause. It’s a lot more prevalent than people may know. It’s one of those diseases that is really confusing and frustrating, and we wanted to kind of make everyone aware and do whatever we can to help figure it out.” The Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) was founded in 2001 by Art Mellor, who was diagnosed with MS in June of 2000. Their main effort is an MS Repository that contains blood and data samples from people with MS. The organization will make those samples available to researchers who are investigating the causes of the disease. A pilot trial was conducted last year, and this year a full-scale effort will be launched to obtain a 1,000 subject collection. Samples for the repository are currently being collected from hospitals around the country; the leading site is John Tompkin’s Hospital in Baltimore, Md. “(The repository) is a $2.5 million project, that’s why it hasn’t been done before,” Mellor said. “We’ve decided to step up and take on the challenge because the researchers haven’t been able to afford to do it themselves.” The organization has held vast variety of successful fund-raising efforts, including scavenger hunts, opera concerts, wine tastings, golf tournaments, a 1940s-theme dance, and a salon-a-thon — where salons provide services and donate all of the money earned to the organization — among many others. As of the beginning of 2006, the organization raised $2 million altogether. “This year, we’re looking to raise $2 million and we’re more than halfway there already,” Mellor said. To make a contribution to support Smith’s Pedal to the Medal effort, or for more information on the ride, visit http://expansion.acceleratedcure.org/mspedal. To learn more about the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, visit their Web site at www.acceleratedcure.org. Section: News        Date Posted: 6/24/2006