HOUSTON - About 13,000 thousand cyclists take off from west Houston's Tully and Rhodes stadiums at 6:45 A.M. this Saturday and from Waller Stadium at 8 A.M. for the 31st annual BP MS150.
Among them will be the mascots from three of Houston's professional sports teams. Orbit from the Astros, Clutch from the Rockets and Diesel from the Houston Dynamo are riding. Each will go for 25 miles, then pass the baton to the next mascot, completing the 180 mile two day ride, relay style. Last year Orbit did the entire ride by himself.
"I think he stopped at all the breakpoints. He took his time," said Kelli Dreiling, Vice-President of Development for Houston's MS Society. "He was not the last rider but he was close to being the last rider."
For Orbit, as is the case for so many others, the marathon charity bike ride is personal.
"He has a family connection with MS and this was something he wanted to do," Dreiling said.
The ride is also personal for Ron Brannigan, founder of Houston's Because We Can organization. He has had MS for 18 years. His group is made up of riders who participate even though they have Multiple Sclerosis. They wear special jerseys and numbers, identifying themselves as participants with MS.
"There's a lot of people who can't ride. I ride for them. I raise money for all of us to put an end to MS," Brannigan said. He has also started a new group. It is called As Far As We Can. It is comprised of riders who can no longer go the entire distance. They will ride as far as they can, then get picked up by a support van. Brannigan will be one of 12 riders in the group this year.
"So many of us do bike riding, kayaking, hiking, running, many different things because we refuse to lose to MS," he said.
"There are 300 teams participating in the BP MS150 this year. Last year the teams collected a total of $20 million to help end MS. Once again the KHOU Buc-ee's team is among them. This is the sixth year the team has participated.
If you'd like to help our KHOU Buc-ee's team stop MS, please click here to donate to the MS Society.
Visit the KHOU Buc-ee's Bike Team FaceBook page.
