Why We Ride

Our former Team Captain, Dave Holmes, bought his current road bicycle with his very first social security check.  Dave has ridden sixteen consecutive MS 150 Bike Tours.  This is what Dave has to say about why he rides:

I started riding bicycles when I was 11 years old in Whittier, California, delivering prescription drugs for three pharmacies. When I lived in Winston-Salem I would ride with a group from the Moravian Church, taking trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Wilmington, and Myrtle Beach.   But my real love for riding began fifteen years ago when I saw an advertisement for the MS-150 Bike Tour. I called my friend Bob Bryant and suggested that we train and make this ride because I knew his brother Larry had been diagnosed with MS.   We barely had enough time that summer to train for 45 miles.  But we both thought we were in good enough shape to ride all 150 miles.  Bob did better than I did. I created four rest stops of my own the last5 miles to the finish line. We both vowed that we would never make that ride again unless we really did some serious training. So we gathered a group and started riding training rides together. I love all the Selma Cyclepaths, the training rides are wonderful and the two days in New Bern are the highlight of my year (as I write this I am planning a trip to Paris in two days with my wife and youngest son and believe me, I would rather be going to New Bern to ride the MS-150!)  It's not only just about having fun.  The best part is raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I send letters to everyone I know.  In all these years, I have been turned down only a couple of times when I asked people to contribute to this great cause.  Sending a personal letter and explaining why you ride always produces the best results. Every year I have ridden I have been awarded the Jewelry Boomerang award for fund raising.  I find it rewarding to raise this money - after all that's why we ride! I expect that the Eastern Chapter will raise over one million dollars this year on the MS-150 Bike Tour, and I am convinced that the Selma Cyclepaths will be high on the list of fund raising teams (one of theseyears we will be number one in fund raising).  I have ridden in 15 consecutive Bike Tours. I retired my old Fugi bike when I turned 62 and used my first social security check to purchase a Klein.  I have made a pact with Bob that I will ride this Bike Tour until I turn 70 years old, and then I will play it by ear.  You should come ride with us too! Please join the Selma Cyclepaths this summer for some great training rides and for the MS-150 Bike Tour with the best team in North Carolina.  

~  Dave Holmes

One of our original members, Bob Bryant, rides in the MS 150 Bike Tour every year as a testament to his brother, who was diagnosed with MS in 1989.  This is what Bob has to say about why he rides:

My original motivation for riding in the MS-150 Bike Tour was because my brother, Larry, was diagnosed with MS. This is still primarily what motivates me to ride. Were it not for Larry, I might have tired of riding my bicycle by now. 

Larry's condition has progressively worsened over the years. He is disabled and largely housebound at present. To see him go from being healthy and very athletic, with a good job, to someone who on many days has difficulty walking, has been heartbreaking. He has handled it fairly well and I am proud of him for that. 

Over the years of riding with others, I have developed some additional motivations for participating in the MS-150. The caring and camaraderie of this eclectic group of folks that call themselves the Cyclepaths has brought and continues to bring me warm satisfaction. Seeing these folks (most of whom don't have a family member with MS, like I do) train and raise lots of money is amazing and it touches my heart! Friendships have developed among the Cyclepath riders, and I have grown closer to these folks as time has passed. Good health and fitness is a nice side effect from riding regularly, so this too is part of the motivation. 

The training rides are fun, they lift my spirits, and the bucolic scenery around Johnston County is beautiful. Annual challenges from friend and fellow Cyclepath Dave Holmes to ride "five more years," and the personal challenge I make to myself to see how much money I can raise, both provide some of the incentive to ride, as well. 

But for me the strongest motivation remains the same: I long for my brother to be back like he was! Or at least that he be healthier and more comfortable than he is now. And raising money for MS research seems as good a way as any for me to try to help him. 

I am encouraged each year because there are advances being made in the research and treatment of MS. Ten or twelve years ago, there were virtually no medicines to treat MS. Now I know of at least five new drugs that can help with the symptoms - dramatic help for some, a little help for others. I like to think that these advancements have been made, at least in some small part, because of the money I and others of the Selma Cylcepaths have personally raised. 

When I ride my bicycle for training purposes and when I ride in the MS-150, I am not racing anyone. Yet I do sometimes feel like I am in sort of a race against time. I do hope and pray that a cure for, or a major break-though in the treatment of, MS will be discovered soon - before my brother runs out of time. 

I am not a scientist or a doctor. I cannot find or develop a cure for MS myself, but I can ride a bicycle, and I can raise some money for research. This is my way of helping Larry and others like him suffering from this disease. It is a fun, healthy, energizing way to help others! 


~  Robert W. Bryant, Jr. 

Darlene Creech is a “founding mother” of our group.  She has the honor of having given us our very creative team name.  She also met her husband, David Creech, while cycling!  This is her motivation to ride: 

I remember just like it was yesterday, hatching up the name "Cyclepath" to name our team back in 1993.  I think there were about 8 of us and the total value of all of our bikes was probably a couple thousand dollars (max)!  We looked forward to our afternoon and weekend rides, mostly for the socializing and eating we did before, during, and after the rides. We hated the hills, and would ride 10 miles out of the way to avoid even a 3% incline.  In addition to Bob Bryant's brother Larry, we learned of other local people who had MS and had a cook-out that first year to cement our symbiotic relationship - riding our bikes, which we loved to do, for those who couldn't.   It's hard to nail down just one or two reasons why I ride, and maybe that's why I, like many of the Cyclepaths, keep on riding - there are more reasons to ride than not, and a reason to fit almost everybody's needs.  In 1993, it was that first realization that asking my body to do the unfamiliar and agonizing, was much akin to what it must be like for someone with MS. In 1994 it was doing it again just to make sure the first year I did it wasn't a fluke.  My two year diversion in 2000 and 2001 riding with another team was a physical challenge (they loved hills and speed) and was equally rewarding. But it was nice coming back to my "home" team, the Selma Cyclepaths, in 2003, especially with "awesome" David as my tandem and life partner!   I have to admit though, that the past two years in particular have been the best.  It's truly amazing how the humble beginnings of cheap bikes and hand-painted jerseys (although still my favorites of all times) have been transformed by the talent, inspiration and motivation of over 75 people who come from near and far, some of whom commute by car as much as an hour on Saturday mornings from April through August just to be a part of this riding experience, some who have already ridden 20 miles (on their bikes) when they arrive. I am constantly inspired by the youthful vigor of the twenty-somethings and the staying power of the sixty-somethings.  It's beginning to look like I may be the only female Cyclepath from the original 1993 team who rides this year (let's see how effective guilt is). But the truth of the matter is, while the Cyclepaths have a 12 year legacy of which to be proud, the team has far exceeded what the original vision was, and with all the talent and commitment that continues to come on board, the sky appears to be the limit.  I've been called, among other things, the founding "mother" of the Cyclepath team because I named it . . . so thanks to all of you for makin' your momma proud. I look forward to riding as long as Ibuprofen stays on the market. 

~  Darlene Creech 

David Creech met his wife, Darlene while cycling together.  They’ve been tandem teaming it ever since!  Here’s his motivation to ride:

The way I came to be a CyclePath goes back a few years when I was captain of another cycling team. That team's goals were the same as the CyclePath's goals, to train for the MS150 and raise as much money as we could to help fund fighting the disease. I received a phone call one afternoon from a person who had heard a lot about our team and was interested in joining. Great, I said, and followed up with information about our next training ride.    The day arrived and along came Darlene in a borrowed pickup truck with her bike in the back, ready to roll. I would later learn that she was very nervous and intimidated because she had heard we were very fast. I guess that might explain why she was having such a hard time getting her helmet on. It turned out that it was backwards and as I helped her to get it on properly I think I fell in love right then and there. She was very brave and rode her little heart out that afternoon. She fit right in from the start. As time went on we started dating and ended up getting married. We rode together the remainder of that year and the following year. That team and we joined the Selma CyclePaths. Darlene had been a member of the CyclePaths before and knew everyone very well. All of the CyclePaths embraced me in a very warm and friendly way and I have become close friends with several of them. That is one of the biggest reasons that I ride with the CyclePaths. Everyone is so nice and caring and I have met so many wonderful people as the team has grown. The team's goal to continue to set records in fundraising is really impressive to me. I feel blessed to be a part of the CyclePath team and really look forward to the upcoming training season and MS150 in September. 

~ David Creech