'It's kind of a moment': Austin has been biking for MS cause for at least 40 years
"May Greg use your shower?"
This odd request was made several years in a row by my sister, Valerie Barnes Koehler, for her husband, Greg Koehler.
That's because Greg, an engineer, rode his bike in the MS 150, a punishing ride, formerly between Houston and Austin. (The route has changed.) University of Texas grads, my sister and brother-in-law already knew their way around Austin. And organizers of the tour always provide portable showers at this city's terminus.
Yet it proved something of a luxury to reserve a long, warm shower at a close relative's house as the sweaty event wound down.
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These memories rush back because the MS 150, which turned 40 recently, returns April 26-27. These days, the ride, which raises awareness and money to fight multiple sclerosis, takes off from Austin and Houston separately, then the two swarms join forces at Kyle Field in College Station. (Just as a mere spectator, I can affirm that this is a much more attainable route than the old one.)
Organizers say that the April 2025 event is its 41st year.
The earliest article found in the American-Statesman archives is dated May 21, 1985. Under the headline, "Local rider sets high goal for bike tour," reporter Shannon Pursley interviewed Ilene Gray.
"Gray, a program specialist for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission, decided she was fit enough to ride a bike at least 30 miles to Bastrop," Pursley wrote, "and she set a goal to raise $5,000 for MS through business and individual pledges for the miles she would ride. So far, Gray has raised $4,000 in pledges toward her goal."
In 1985, the bike tour was sponsored by Cycology Bike Shop, Southland Corp. and the Austin Cycling Association. The pledges benefited the Texas Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, which then included more than 500 people with MS in 30 Texas counties.
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"I am a leftover '60s person and I like causes," Gray said. "I saw the MS bike tour brochure and it appealed to me. I like riding my bike but I've never done it seriously. I think I can make it the 30 miles to Bastrop, especially considering the incentive I have from my pledges."
According to a spokesperson for Bike MS: ACC Texas MS 150, participants have raised over $320 million in 41 years. This year's goal: $10.75 million. (The ACC in the name refers to title sponsor American Communications Construction.)
Farther afield, Bike MS is the largest charity cycling series in the world. It has raised $1.5 billion to feed the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's mission to cure MS. It helps people affected by MS to live their best lives.
The Texas MS 150 is the fourth overall largest cause-related ride in America with 6,800 riders on average. It is the largest fundraising event for the National MS Society, generating 7% of the society's total revenue in 2023.
Brothers-in-law rarely make appearances in newspaper columns. Yet kudos to Greg, who made the ride from Houston to Austin — often on atrociously humid days — eight times with the Shell USA team that numbered 80 riders.
(Retired, Greg now focuses on his golf game. He is no less competitive or outdoorsy.)
"I met a whole new network of friends on the tour," he says. "We did training rides together, overnighted together and developed a lot of camaraderie. Going through that physical endurance test turns into a bonding thing."
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Greg rode for a next-door neighbor who has MS.
"When you sign up you, get a handkerchief, really an orange bandana, and afterwards, you present the bandana to the person you were riding for," Greg says. "So it's not just the riding thing, but the person you are riding for."
Like any other person, however, Greg is not immune to the public attention.
"During the ride itself, going through small Texas towns, people lined the streets in lawn chairs, ringing cow bells, blowing bubble machines," Greg says. "Even in Austin, you'd ride past the big crowds, then turn to see the Capitol.
"You felt famous or important. It is kind of a moment."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Grueling Austin MS 150 bike tour raises awareness, money to fight MS
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