Coming up: Bike MS NYC on Oct. 2

NEW YORK -- At 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, the New York City-Southern New York chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society will host Bike MS NYC 2011 in Manhattan. The event has become of the largest one-day charity bike events in the country and a preeminent cycling events in the city.

The ride, which is one of two Bike MS NYC events organized by the chapter that is expected to raise $3 million in support for MS research, will start and finish at Pier 94, near West 54th Street and West Side Highway. Participants will be able to take advantage of 30 miles of closed roadways, including West Side Highway and FDR Drive. The event will mark the final time riders will be able to cycle through the Lincoln Tunnel free of traffic and onto challenging 57- or 100-mile routes. For information about the event, visit www.bikeMSnyc.org.

Proceeds raised will beneift the local chapter and its hundreds of annual programs and services for those living with the autoimmunue disease and MS research in general. Approximately 10,000 people live with MS in the five boroughs and Westcheter, Putnam, Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties combined. For information about the chapter, visit www.MSnyc.org.

Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body -- stopping people from moving in the process. Every hour in the U.S. some is diagnosed with the unpredictable disease. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men. More than 2.5 million are affected by MS worldwide, including 400,000 Americans.

The National MS Society, through its national office and 50-state network of chapters, devoted more than $132 million to programs that helped more than one million people alone in 2009. In addition, the organization has invested about $36 million to support 375 research projects throughout the world.

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