TeamMS: The More the Merrier!

Get even more out of the RONA MS Bike Tours by cycling as part of a team. Forming a team is fun and easy. Gather a group of three or more colleagues, friends, or family members, choose a team name, and you’re ready to roll!

As a team, cyclists share more laughs, generate more memories, and celebrate more rewards. Teams enjoy extra perks, including exclusive access to the on-site “Tent Village” and special prizes for members and team captains. And the support of your team members will provide camaraderie and inspiration to cycle that extra mile!

Learn more about the TeamMS program.

** Calling all cyclists: Register by June 30th to take advantage of early bird discounts.

World MS Day Today!

Today is the first annual World MS Day, created to unite individuals, groups, and organizations in the global MS movement. More than 160 events are taking place today in 51 countries around the world!

Irish rock group U2 has contributed their song Beautiful Day to a global campaign video highlighting different aspects of MS. Check it out at www.worldmsday.org.

Join the global movement. End MS!

Join the Bike Tours team for the 2009 Pub Nights

Be sure to join the RONA MS Bike Tours team for the 2009 Pub Nights! They all start at 6pm!














May 27 - London - Moxies - 977 Wellington Rd S

June 3 - Windsor - Moxies - Devonshire Mall

June 10 - Sarnia - Stokes Bay Bar & Grill - 485 Harbour Rd

June 19 - Waterloo - Fox & Fiddle - 77 King St N

June 24 - London - Witts End Pub & Grill - 235 North Centre Rd

July 15 - Toronto - Hard Rock Cafe - Rogers Centre

August 5 - Toronto - Hard Rock Cafe - 279 Yonge Street

Hope to see you there!

RONA MS Bike Tours on Facebook!

Join the conversation!

Visit the RONA MS Bike Tours Facebook page for updates, photos, and cyclist feedback.

And for more about the Tours, check out the Facebook discussion group.

Fundraising tips...

At the MS Society office, we are often asked for fundraising tips by participants...people looking for new ways to raise funds to help end MS. We recently received an email from one (well...actually two - it's a husband and wife team) of our top fundraisers from the Grand Bend to London Tour. They are very active fundraisers, often dedicating many of their weekends to their fundraising efforts. Using this method at their local Beer Store, they have collected an average of $200/hr!!! Not bad for I'd say! I plan to give this a try to go towards my fundraising for the Niagara Tour!

Beer Store fundraising:
1) Contact me (sarah.mann@mssociety.ca) for application and print it out and fill it in.
2) Pick a date that works for you. Month of May is out as they do their own event for another organization, as is November (Legion does poppies)
3) Pick a busy store that you may be close to and go in and speak to the manager explaining what you want to do and when and give him your application. You are allowed to do two consecutive days- a Saturday and Sunday are best!
4) Check back with him in about a week or so as he must submit it to his area manager to get their O.K.. (Best to give them about a months notice)
5) Once approved- take a couple of tables to set up. One for literature on MS, the Bike Tours etc. and one to collect empties. Have a sign showing that you accept empties as donations- about a third of your fundraising will be from donated empties.
6) Be prepared to spend about eight hours or more on the Saturday and five hours on the Sunday (open 9-9 on Saturday and noon to five on Sunday) - best to have a little relief help so that you can have a break and go to bathroom etc
7) Write a thank you letter the week after and hand deliver to the store manager with details of how you did

If anyone has any other fundraising tips, please feel free to post! I know we have many participants who are always looking for new ideas!
Remember....submit $1000 and receive the Club jersey as seen in this month's issue of Bicycling magazine (in a Louis Garneau ad - what great coverage!)

Five Multiple Sclerosis Research Centres Established

The MS Society announced today the establishment of five research and training centres that are expected to significantly accelerate the pace of MS research. The centres, which are located in 54 academic institutions and teaching hospitals throughout Canada, involve more than 100 established scientists and 250 trainees.

Known as endMS Regional Research and Training Centres (RRTC), the centres come less than one year after the MS Society launched the endMS campaign, a major fundraising initiative to alter the research landscape in Canada. For the next three years, each centre will receive $100,000 per year to fund collaborative training and research activities.

For more information, visit endMS.ca.

Reynold Cycle's RONA MS Bike Tour Tips

The 2009 RONA MS Bike Tours are fast approaching and we at Reynold Cycle would like to share some helpful tips to ensure we all have a fun and enjoyable ride.

This week we’ll be taking about clothing and the benefits of bike specific wear. First, let’s talk about bike shorts and why you would enjoy wearing them. Most shorts are made of Lycra, a breathable, lightweight material that wicks sweat away from your skin and helps cool you down while minimizing wind resistance. Between the close fit and the synthetic material, cycling shorts provide comfort while you ride and help prevent chafing and rashes. A chamois lining also protects you from chafing from the bike's seat itself. Finally, as bike shorts fit so tightly, they effectively hug or compress the thigh muscles, cutting down on muscle fatigue.

Like bike shorts a good bicycle jersey can make the world of difference on a long ride. Usually made with the Lycra material, a bike jersey will wick the sweat away from your skin and provide excellent moisture management. In addition, your jersey will hug your body cutting down on wind resistance, allowing you to move quickly and with less energy.

Feel free to check out Reynold Cycle’s latest special on bike jersey’s; Special Deal: $30 Rock & Roll and Nike Discovery Riding jersey’s, Regular $89.99 (While quantities last)

That’s all for this week, keep an eye out for next week’s post where we will be discussing proper hydration.

First's

So I haven't always liked biking, well to be honest I never thought of biking for pleasure ever. Until about 15 years ago. This hurts but I am a chubby biker , but a cyclist in my mind just the same. So there I was 15 years ago in the middle of my mid-life crisis, divorce, kids, mortgage blah blah blah. And somewhere a bell went off (maybe a handlebar bell, could have been) hey I should get a bike, a real bike my first adult bike purchase. Off I go to the local bike shop in Grand Bend and buy myself an entry level puguet.

It was early spring I remember, I had made a trip to All Season Sports bought a pair of bike shorts , a helmet and some biking gloves I was now set for my first great biking adventure. Up early on Saturday morning for my first ever bike ride for fitness. There were so many things that I did not realized had to take place before my grand adventure was to take place. One spending 10 minutes trying to maneuver myself into spandex that was a first I would like to forget, two adjusting the seat height of my new bike, three making sure the tires had enough air in them. Well that list of first could go on for sometime but I will save you and I the embarrassment of several of those firsts.

Not even on my bike yet and I am already to the point of exhaustion and frustration. I had planned on biking around town that day just a leisure ride getting used to being back on a bike, maybe a nice1/2 hour ride. Well my lane way is about 700 yards and that was my first ride, yep you read that right I made it to the end of my own lane way,and back, and that was it. In fact it took longer to get into my bike shorts then the entire ride took. Distance ride one 1400 yards. What have I done, I am not a biker that was evident with the gasp and wheeze of every breathe I took, the shaky legs well if I am to be honest I had a body that was in complete spasms wondering what the heck I had just done to it, it was rebelling, it was trying to make sure I never did this to us again. Well that was the start of it, little by little I crept further and further from the house and until I could measure my distance my miles not yards. That was the start of what eventually became a love of cycling, the freedom, the quiet, the alone in the sun and eventually to the MS bike tour. I would not trade in the bruises the stitches the fabulous friends I have met over the last 15 years all thanks to cycling and getting past the end of my lane way. Needless to say I have lots of first to share with you, so keep checking in.

May is MS Awareness Month!

For those of you who have participated in an Ontario RONA MS Bike Tour before, you will recognize Mike Augustine, featured in the following article. http://healthandfitness.sympatico.msn.ca/%20Meet%20Michael%20Augustine/stories_of_survivors/articles/sos_may09_ms.htm?isfa=1

Go to http://www.mssociety.ca/en/aware.htm to learn more about MS Awareness month and how you can continue to help end MS.