May 11, 2012
Florham Park–Local Florham Park resident Rich Tannenbaum will team up again this coming Saturday and Sunday, May 19 & 20, 2012 to cycle 170 miles along the beautiful New Jersey coastline to help find a cure for multiple sclerosis. Rich is the National Co-Captain of Team Vitamin Shoppe Cycling.
Rich joined the Bike MS “Coast the Coast” ride in 2008 when he relocated from Pheonix to New Jersey. Having an Aunt who was living with multiple sclerosis Rich saw it was a great opportunity to support her and others living with the disease. “My wife’s Aunt, Annie, was diagnosed with MS more than a decade before I met my wife. By the time we got married, Aunt Annie’s condition required her to walk with a cane and she had good days and bad days” says Rich.
Aunt Annie lives in Brazil and would visit the family 2-3 times a year, but over the years her MS has progressed and she has limited her trips to once a year because it is just too taxing. This past year she became restricted to a wheelchair and she was unsure if she would ever be able to make the long trip again. Rich goes on to say “That was sobering news for the whole family. About 2 months ago she called to tell us she was going to try one more visit. This time, however, she made a specific request. She said she wanted to come to Monmouth University to support me as I started the ride. That request meant so much to me. No one knows if her disease will ultimately prevent her from making the trip to the United States. And even if she does, we don’t know if her symptoms that morning will stop her from wishing me luck at the Start line on May 19th. But I do know whether she is there or not, she will be the person I am thinking about as I start the long 170-mile journey down the Coast. I ride for her, because she can’t. I know she would if she could. It is the least I can do and I just hope that it can help make a difference.”
Since its inception, Team Vitamin Shoppe Cycling has grown from a team of 5 to over 100 people and Rich has taken on the of role of National Co-Captain for the team. To date the Team Vitamin Shoppe Cycling has raised over $588,000 for the New Jersey Metro Chapter alone. Thanks to Rich and his Co –Captain Mike Provost and the generous support of their employer Team Vitamin Shoppe’s reach extends beyond our local New Jersey Metro Chapter as they support National Multiple Sclerosis Society Bike MS cycling events across the United States.
On Saturday and Sunday May 19 & 20, 2012 Rich and his team will put the pedal to the meddle and coast the New Jersey coast to help create a world free of MS in the 2012 Bike MS “Coast the Coast” Ride. His goal is to create MS awareness and raise funds to support critical programs and services and help fund a cure.
The New Jersey Metro Chapter’s “Coast the Cost” Bike MS ride will host over 2,000 participants and volunteers with a goal of raising $1 million as they pedal along the Jersey Shore. Participants are welcome to register individually, or join or create a team, and choose from one or two day ride lengths. For more information about Bike MS please contact: Mary Beth Maclearieat 800-344-4867 or visit http://bikenjm.nationalmssociety.org.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with the disease. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, 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.
About the National MS Society
The National MS Society is a movement by and for people with MS. The Society funds cutting-edge research, drives change through advocacy, facilitates professional education and provides programs and services that help people with MS and their families to move their lives forward. MS stops people from moving. We exist to make sure it doesn’t.
Join the movement.
Find out more at nationalMSsociety.org/njm