Couple with Niagara County ties taking part in cross-country bike journey

Rob Creenan, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Mar. 28—A Washington D.C. area couple with ties to Niagara County will be partaking in a cross-country bike ride that helps raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.

Ken and Janet Sims will be taking part in this year's Bike the US for MS Northern Tier journey, a 70-day bike ride which includes a route through Western New York.

Janet has family in the Town of Porter, with her brother and sister living there while her 94-year-old mother, Phyllis Ibaugh, lives in the Village of Youngstown. Her and Ken have lived in the D.C. area for the past 35 years since they graduated from college, with Janet working as a library page and Ken with the FBI.

For Ken, he has been interested in such a journey since high school when he and a friend had planned on it, but always found it challenging.

"When I was offered early retirement, I thought it was the perfect opportunity," Ken said. "So I accepted early retirement so I could go across with this year's group."

Bike the US for MS has groups of bike riders go along different national routes to raise funds and raise awareness of those suffering from MS, a disease that attacks the body's central nervous system. The Northern Tier route will last from May 27 to Aug. 5. The route starts in Bar Harbor, Maine and ends in Seattle, Washington, totaling 4,295 going through 15 different states. The 10-person group plans to have seven service days and two clinic donations take place during their trek.

In Western New York, the bikers will be in the area June 9 and 10, making stops in Lockport and Buffalo. The route comes in from Rochester along the Empire State Trail, which follows the Erie Canal. From Lockport, they will go along Upper Mountain Road to the Lewiston-Queenston bridge into Canada. After going south through Niagara Falls, Ont., and along the Canadian side of the Niagara River, they will cross the Peace Bridge into Buffalo where they will go south through Lackawanna, West Seneca, Orchard Park and Hamburg before going along the Lake Erie shoreline.

Janet will only be with the group for the first 10 days as the group driver hauling their equipment and providing water at rest stops. When the group reaches Western New York, she will depart in order to visit her mother and to be present when their first grandchild is due.

Other Bike the US for MS routes go along the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and along the Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake & Ohio trails in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. While they do not require a lot of training to participate in these rides, Ken says he is getting ready by trying to ride 60 miles a day.

"Currently I ride 160 miles a week," Ken said, with most of his riding experience being biking to and from work, 14 miles each way.

During the trek, the riders spend the night either in tents, churches or fire stations to keep costs down. Service days in the past have been used to help anyone dealing with MS, like helping them around the house and putting in wheelchair ramps. Ken said this year's service days have not been planned out yet.

As of March 27, Ken has raised $3,675 of his $5,000 goal, with the minimum amount he needs to raise being $4,500 while Janet raised $300 toward her $1,000 goal. Half of the funds go toward research for a MS cure while the rest goes toward supporting the trips. Donations for the Sims can be made through the Bike the US for MS website.

The most daunting thing about this challenge for Ken is about going to bike that far. But he has a choice on whether to do that or no, unlike the people living with who have to live with their condition.

"I find it interesting that I'm intimidated by doing this," Ken said, who did research into what MS is in his preparation. "It's neat to understand what MS is. I've always hears the term MS, now I understand it more."