Bike riders target MS

What started 12 years ago as just another bike ride for Kevin Brady has evolved into a passion for fighting multiple sclerosis.

Brady will be among 450 anticipated riders who will take off today at 7 a.m. from Spencer Park in Sioux Falls on the Bike MS: Pedal the Plains ride. The event, in its 24th year, will benefit the North Central States Chapter of the National MS Society.

"As you do this, more and more people come to you and say, 'Thanks for riding for MS,' " said Brady, 42.

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This year, he will ride in honor of Natalie Carda, a 22-year-old University of South Dakota nursing student who was diagnosed with MS two years ago.

"I feel really honored," Carda said of Brady's gesture. "They're showing me that it means a lot to them, too. It affects your life in different ways, and it really means a lot that they're doing something to end MS."

From Sioux Falls, riders will pedal to Vermillion, 75 miles away. On Sunday, they'll get up and ride back to Sioux Falls.

The event is expected to raise about $156,000 for the fight against MS, said Mandy Petersen, director of special events for the MS Society NCSC, which serves South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa.

Riders pay a registration fee, and there is a $200 minimum pledge.

The MS Society said 83 cents of every $1 donated will go to research, educational programs, support programs and financial assistance for people living with MS, an incurable neurological disease. The NCSC serves 8,000 people who have the disease.

Heidi Carda, Natalie's mother, will be in charge of the rest stops every 10 miles along the bike route this weekend. She said the NCSC provides an effective support system for people living with MS.

With a rest stop waiting every 10 miles, Petersen had this advice for riders: "The tip that we always say is if you can ride 10 miles, you can do our ride."