New Bern Bike MS picks up speed after hurricane, COVID setbacks
Though it has faced a number of setbacks in recent years, New Bern’s annual Bike MS Ride appears to be back on track following the 2022 event, which was held September 10-11.
Though cyclists braved heavy rain both days of this year’s event, New Bern’s 34th MS Bike Ride saw participation by nearly 1,300 cyclists and raised more than $1.2 million for Multiple Sclerosis research.
The top fundraising teams for this year’s event were Team CBC ($110,994); Flythes Bike Shop ($70,344); Missing Spokes ($65,401); and Team Pinkie ($55,224).
This year marks only the second Bike MS Ride held in New Bern since 2018. In 2019 Hurricane Dorian put the brakes on the ride and in 2020 it was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the New Bern event hasn’t quite reached pre-pandemic speed just yet, a look at numbers from past years shows that in terms of both participation and fundraising Bike MS is well into the recovery phase.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the 2021 New Bern’s Bike MS, the first since 2018, drew 1,300 participants and raised $1.3 million for Multiple Sclerosis research.
Although it was eventually canceled, in 2019 close to 1,900 riders from 28 states were expected to take part in New Bern’s Bike MS Ride. Cyclists that year were still able to raise $1.3 million.
Though this year's event New Bern Bike MS event was successful despite the weather, the local event still has a ways to go to catch up to its pre-pandemic numbers.
New Bern's Bike MS raised over $1.75 million in 2017. That year’s event hosted 1,867 cyclists and 143 teams.
Those numbers seem to be in line with fundraising statistics for per-COVID New Bern Bike MS events. Looking back to 2013, the two-day ride through Craven, Beaufort and Pamlico counties raised $1.8 million for Multiple Sclerosis research while drawing close to 2,000 participants.
Hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Bike MS: Historic New Bern Ride is the largest of its kind in the southeast and is part of the biggest fundraising cycling series in the world. Bike MS currently holds 68 rides across the U.S.. Each year, nearly 75,000 cyclists and more than 6,000 teams ride together to help improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis.
Reporter Todd Wetherington can be reached by email at wwetherington@gannett.com. Please consider supporting local journalism by signing up for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern Bike MS picks up speed after hurricane, COVID setbacks
