He’d never ridden a bicycle so far in such a short time span, but Kelly Phillipchuk certainly had the incentive to cover 104 kilometres on his “regular old mountain bike.” this summer.
The cause of the bicycle trek was a search for a cure for multiple sclerosis, something his wife Nicole was diagnosed with five years ago.
The fight against MS is also a cause taken up by Canadian A&W franchises and Estevan’s was no exception. In fact, local owner/manager Darcy Graff presented Phillipchuk with a cheque in the amount of $500, representing a kick-start for the day-long event, Cruisin’ to End MS, which was held on Aug. 27, in A&W parking lots and restaurants across Canada. One dollar from each Teenburger sold was being directed toward MS research. Funds were also raised through paper cut out donations and through sharing on Facebook, Twitter retweets and the sale of mugs. Graff noted last year’s event managed to raise over $3,500 and he anticipated this year’s would match or exceed that target.
“MS is one of those prevelant diseases that we know something about here in Estevan,” said Phillipchuk, who added that he had to ask himself the serious question as to whether or not he could cover the 104 kilometres in a couple of days because he definitely had not trained for it.
Dozens of bicycle marathon riders gathered in Moose Jaw, as they have for several years now for the bicycle tour.
“The first day we biked to the Moose Jaw air base, then west and back to the city — 54 kilometres. On the second day we went pretty well straight south of Moose Jaw and then back, covering another 50 K’s.”
The ride was not without its additional challenges since it was the weekend that was plagued by bad weather.
“It was windy and we were pedalling right into it, so we had some issues,” said Phillipchuk with a laugh. He managed to raise $2,420 for MS research by cycling along with the $500 from Graff’s store. ”They’ve been supporting us for some time now,” said Phillipchuk, who noted that the local annual MS Walk also raised badly needed funds and awareness.
Graff noted that with the awareness factor in full bloom, the local A&W store had already realized $1,200 in donations, a day before the official Cruisin’ for MS event. Staff members also had the privilege of taping Graff to his office door, as they sold sections of the official tape that was used.
“Last year our 840 stores raised $1.45 million for MS research and it’s been $6.5 million over six years. Saskatchewan had the privilege of being the first group of franchise owners to try it out six years ago, and it was so successful it spread out to the other provinces,” said Graff.
The funds raised go toward research to find a cure and to develop new treatments to improve the quality of life for MS sufferers, to provide equipment for those requiring assistance and to provide support for caregivers.
MS is most commonly diagnosed in young adults aged 15 to 40 and one in 280 Canadians live with MS. Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world.
Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system.
