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Hundreds of Cyclists Take to the Streets to Create a World Free of Multiple Sclerosis on Nov. 10, 2012

Bike MS: Vegas Challenge will benefit the Southern California & Nevada Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012.

More than 200 cyclists are expected to participate in the Bike MS: Vegas Challenge in Las Vegas on November 10 & 11, 2012. Participants opt for one or two days of cycling and routes ranging from 30 to 150 miles. The goal is to raise $250,000 to help to create a world free of multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Funds raised will support direct services for the more than 2,500 people living with MS in the Las Vegas area and their families, as well as cutting-edge MS research worldwide to find better treatments and a cure for this chronic disease.

The National MS Society’s Bike MS Ride is the country’s largest organized charity bicycling event series. Last year, cyclists raised $85 million to support MS research and programs delivered by the Society’s 50-state network of chapters. Since the series began as one ride in Minnesota in 1980, cyclists have raised more than $1 billion to support MS.

Dr. Timothy West, who has been dedicated to MS research since his own mother was diagnosed in 1992, heads the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health MS program. Dr. West is putting a new “spin” on Bike MS by riding 65 miles on a stationary spin bike at the finish festival so that he is able to clock the miles, and also be available to answer questions about MS for participants and media seeking more information.

• 7:30 am – cyclists depart
• 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Cyclists on route through Red Rock Canyon
• 11:00 am – 5:00 pm – Cyclists crossing finish line
• 11:00 am – 5:00 pm – Finish line festivities

WHERE: Start & End Location: Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 888 W. Bonneville Ave., Las Vegas

REGISTRATION: Visit www.bikeMSnevada.org or call 800.344.4867.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

• The National MS Society helps each person address the challenges of living with MS through our 50-state network of chapters.
• The Society funds more MS research, provides more services to people with MS, offers more professional education and furthers more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world.
• The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS now. Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis

• Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system.
• Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The advancement, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS.
• Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease.
• MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.1 million worldwide.