Ride for ALS
I don’t normally write directly about my work but today will be an exception. As one of the many professional hats I wear, I run a basic biomedical research laboratory that investigates ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Lou Gehrig’s Disease). This is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no effective treatments. People are hit in the prime of life and generally become paralyzed and die within 3 to 5 years of disease onset. Through my research, I became involved with families and individuals affected by ALS.
One of the very first people I met locally was Ian Pearson whose story has been featured on several local news programs. He has survived ALS for far longer than 5 years now. One of his friends is planning a cross country bicycle trip in his honor. He’s asked me to get the word out as best I can as he is looking for sponsors and fellow riders along his route. Here is his request:
Wanted: Riders for The Ride to Overtake ALS
My name is Mac Tiger-Toll and this summer, I am planning to ride from Denver to Washington, Maine to raise awareness of ALS and raise funds for the ALS Association. I have been touched by this disease, which a friend who had ALS described as “obscene.” I am doing this ride for friends and family who have had ALS and to make more people aware of the disease and of the need to find a cure for it as soon as humanly possible.
I am riding especially for my friend Ian Pearson, who has ALS and lives heroically with the limitations that it puts on him. I am looking for people who would ride with me and/or drive my van for support, and possibly would work with me on making the ride into a fund raiser for ALS. One possibility might be to have some riders ride on the order of 100 miles in the morning of every day while others went ahead with the van, and at a rendezvous point, switch, with the other group of riders then riding approximately 100 miles, to compile 200 miles for the day.
If you would be willing to participate and interested in being a member of this ride to Defeat ALS, please contact me at:
Mac Tiger-Toll
1614 Gaylord St.
Denver, CO 80206
303-355-2759
or:
I will post more details as dates are firmed up and Mac’s route comes available. From our conversation yesterday, he is looking obviously for sponsorship, but also for additional riders along the route. He has the van and I think a driver lined up so that other riders could rest. He plans to bike the entire route.