The daughter of a former Poway retired medical doctor, both with multiple sclerosis, is the inspiration behind a cycling team set to participate at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour, a two-day cycling fundraiser this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20.
Melissa Friedman, who lives in Long Beach, Calif., was diagnosed in 2002 at age 36.
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“At the time, I was an emergency room nurse and triathlete, training for an Ironman, when I suddenly got blurred vision, muscle spasms and started tripping and dropping things,” she said. “Today, I’m still biking and swimming, playing outdoors. I also volunteer as a clown for kids with cancer, special needs and burn victims. The memory of my dad remains an inspiration for me.”
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The late Dr. Herbert Friedman retired in Poway after practicing internal medicine in Michigan. He passed away on June 9, 2012, with severe spasms caused by MS, a chronic, unpredictable and disabling disease of the central nervous system with no known cause, cure or prevention.
About 10 years ago, Friedman and her cycling friends formed a team called Team Copaxone, named after a drug for people with multiple sclerosis. Last year, they renamed the team with a catchy name to ride in the MS Bike Tour: “Team Tiki Ha Ha.” The team is known for riding while wearing clown noses.”
“Our motto is `laughing in the face of MS,’” said Friedman. “I loved cycling while dressed up as a clown. My clown name is Tag-A-Long. My team members wear their clown noses and we love having a good time and riding in the MS Bike Tour.”
The 31st annual MS Bike Tour will draw about 2,500 riders who are expected to raise about $2 million in donations for MS research and programs and services for people affected by MS, a chronic, unpredictable and disabling disease of the central nervous system with no known cause, cure or prevention.
The MS Bike Tour features four different cycling rides of 15, 25, 100 and 150 miles. Registration donation minimums vary from $150 to $400 per rider depending on which one of the four rides is selected. The fundraiser is open to all levels of cyclists ranging from beginner to expert. The minimum age limit for riders is 12 years. The MS fundraiser has been voted “Best Cycling Event” for the past six years by the readers of Competitor Magazine. Bus transportation is available on Saturday to Irvine for San Diego-based riders for their Saturday morning ride start, and for Orange County-based riders for a return trip to Irvine on Sunday afternoon. Registration is open and information is available at www.BikeToFinishMS.com.
A two-day, 100- or 150-mile ride will begin with a staggered start between 7 and 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Irvine Transportation Center and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Parking Lot, 15215 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, Calif. The Saturday route will continue south through Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Clemente, past San Onofre, through Camp Pendleton and Oceanside and end in Carlsbad at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa, 5480 Grand Pacific Dr., near the Legoland California theme park. Riders are expected to begin arriving at the Sheraton hotel at around noontime on Saturday, Oct. 19. Activities at the hotel will include a health expo, live music, refreshments and beer garden.
The 100- or 150-mile ride will conclude with 50-mile ride on Sunday morning, Oct. 20, at the Sheraton hotel and conclude at San Diego’s Mission Bay. The Sunday route will head south through Leucadia, Encinitas and Cardiff. After a rest stop in Solana Beach, the cyclists will proceed up the grueling Torrey Pines Hill to North Torrey Pines Road, down the steep La Jolla Shores Drive and through La Jolla and Pacific Beach, including such streets as Crown Point Drive, Pacific Beach Drive and Grand Avenue. The riders are expected to conclude their pedaling trek starting around 10:30 a.m. at San Diego's Mission Bay area. The finish line is at Hospitality Point on Quivara Way in Mission Bay.
Bus transportation is available on Saturday to Irvine for San Diego-based riders for their Saturday morning ride start, and for Orange County-based riders for a return trip to Irvine on Sunday afternoon.
A one-day, 15- and 25-mile ride will start at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20, with both the start and finish line at Hospitality Point. The 15- and 25-mile route is a leisurely ride mostly on bike paths along the flat-terrain shores of Mission Bay. The 25-mile route will head north through Pacific Beach and La Jolla’s Birdrock area before begin heading south at Windansea Beach in La Jolla
MS, the most common neurological disease leading to disability in young‑ to middle‑aged adults, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and more than twice as many women as men have MS. Symptoms cannot be predicted and can vary greatly, ranging from numbness in the limbs and extreme fatigue to loss of balance and muscle coordination or paralysis.
