Cycle continues for Swampscott MS riders

SWAMPSCOTT – This month, members of the Beach Bluff Cycling Club will celebrate 10 years of riding in the 150-mile, two-day Cape Cod Getaway to benefit treatment of multiple sclerosis. But the ride is not just an athletic challenge; it’s a personal one, as teammates will be pedaling alongside a longtime member with the debilitating neurological disease.”Luckily I was diagnosed quickly ? I think I’m one of the fortunate ones; some people have it very badly,” said Swampscott resident Kathleen O’Sullivan. “Plus, I ride my bike. I think that helps.”O’Sullivan, 53, was introduced to cycling by her former husband, Philip, when they first met in their early 20s, and she soon began joining him on cycling trips. In 1997, O’Sullivan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body. She said she immediately began treatments which helped keep symptoms – typically tiredness, weakness, numbness or tingling sensations – reduced.And she kept biking. A decade ago, Philip began organizing regular rides for neighbors in the Beach Bluff neighborhood of Swampscott and Marblehead. The group decided to do its first Bike MS – Cape Cod Getaway, a 150-mile (a 175-mile option is also available) two-day ride from Boston to Provincetown. Team members also reached out to Ricky Huang, owner of the Swampscott and Beverly restaurants Gourmet Gardens for a sponsorship and permission to use the restaurant for an annual fundraiser to solicit donations for the ride.”That’s what they say,” O’Sullivan responded, laughing, when asked what it was like to have the team riding for her. “But they’re riding for themselves, they do it for the fun?”The ride kicks off June 28 from Boston, and riders will head down to Massachusetts Maritime Academy where a cookout and party helps soothe tired muscles.”We get hotels now because we’re a little bit older, wiser and have a little more money,” O’Sullivan said.The next morning, about 2,000 riders head over the bridge onto the Cape. A ferry in Provincetown awaits riders for a trip (and party) back to Boston.”It’s so much fun,” O’Sullivan continued. “It’s a great ride, the camaraderie is unbelievable, it’s the best fun you can have as an adult.”And that camaraderie has kept a core group of riders spending early Saturday mornings together riding throughout the North Shore. Their decade-long involvement in the Cape Cod Getaway has raised more than $250,000 for the New England Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and nearly 80 cents of every donated dollar goes directly to treatment, research, and family and patient support, team co-captain Myles Brown noted.They hope to raise $50,000 through donations and race entry fees this year.And O’Sullivan has lots of supporters, many of whom will be riding alongside her on the way to Provincetown.”We all really like cycling and have really become involved in the cause,” Brown said. “We’ve met so many people with multiple sclerosis, one of our riders is a neurologist and many of his patients are willing to stand up and talk about what it’s like to have multiple sclerosis, and it’s moving and inspiring in a number of ways.”To join or support Team Gourmet Garden, please visit: http://bikemam.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MAMBikeEvents?team_id=403868&pg=team&fr_id=25096.