Sahuarita man rides across the US to raise awareness and pitch in
Alex Risch of Sahuarita has been traveling across the country raising awareness for multiple sclerosis while helping those along the way who have the disease.
Risch, 45, who has lived with MS for 13 years, is participating in the Bike the US for MS, TransAmerica route – a cross-country bike ride covering 3,785 miles, from Yorktown, Virginia, to San Francisco. The ride started June 1 and is scheduled to end Aug. 1.
The ride isn’t a race. Riders take three months to cross the country raising money for MS – treatment, research and home accessibility modifications – at least $1 per mile.
“It’s an amazing event and it’s challenging, that’s for sure," Risch said. “And it’s time consuming, but it’s awesome and it’s been really an amazing experience."
Raising awareness about the disease is a major part of the event. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, there are nearly 1 million people in the United States living with MS, double previous study estimates. MS is a disease in which the immune system attacks a protective sheath covering nerve fibers. When these coverings are damaged it can disrupt the communication between the brain and the rest of the body which can cause permanent damage or deterioration of the nerves.
The symptoms can differ from person to person and some may have more severe damage than others.
“I’m really one of the very, very lucky ones," Risch said. “It hasn’t really progressed too far with me. I’m one of the lucky few who has it that don’t get wheelchair-bound pretty quick."
Risch’s mother, Carolyn, said that cycling is a way for her son to fight back and keep active.
“He used to just like his bike, but as soon as he was diagnosed with MS he noticed that his hands and feet felt weak and he said, ‘No, I’m not going to give up riding my bike,'" she said. “And he rode constantly. Daily. And that helped a lot. His hands and feet are fine, his balance is still a little bad, but he can manage quite nicely."
Carolyn has been in Sahuarita tracking Risch’s progress on an atlas. Flipping through the pages with a highlighter along the different routes cutting through the U.S. from the Atlantic to Risch’s last location in Utah, Carolyn admitted she was nervous when she first learned her son would make his first trip across the country.
“He’s tired, but he’s in a real good mood, actually," she said. “So this has been great."
Risch is the bike specialist to the 24-person team and does on-the-spot repairs using one of two trailing vehicles. Risch and the others will take turns driving the vans or riding for the day, but the team as a whole will have a day they take a rest every week to stop off and help out with community service.
“We were just in Cedar City, (Utah) and there’s a lady there and her husband is wheelchair-bound with MS and we went out and weeded their garden and washed their windows," Risch said. “Tried to just do some outreach stuff on our days off."
The community has given back to the riders as well. Along the way, many churches have opened their doors to the riders and offered a place for them to sleep for the night. While many churches were in the southern states, Risch said that it is understandable given how sparsely populated the route out west has been.
Soon, Risch and his team will be riding along Highway 50, known as the loneliest road in America. While there may be fewer people along the western half of the country there is still plenty of beauty, which Risch said he may be partial to given he is from the West.
“Colorado was magnificent, we just got into Nevada and it is breathtaking, Utah was absolutely beautiful and very tough with a lot of climbing up and down mountains," he said. “It’s been a beautiful journey all the way from Yorktown. It’s a very unique way to see the country up close and personal."
While the TransAmerica route is coming to an end in San Fransisco on Aug. 1, that will not be the end for Risch. Following the TransAmerica route, Risch will head north and joining the Pacific Coast route, which starts in Seattle on Aug. 6, and covers 1,852 miles along the coast, arriving in San Diego on Sept. 6.
With all this time on the road biking and camping across the country Risch said he isn’t going to mind having a long shower and his own bed to sleep in at night. Carolyn and Risch’s 8-year-old son will meet him in San Diego to celebrate the end of his first cross-country ride and a trip he is not likely to be forgetting anytime soon.
“It has been an incredible adventure and opportunity to see the world and meet people that I would not have met otherwise and have an amazing experience," he said. “It’s not always been easy, but it’s always been worth it. It’s just icing on the cake that it supports a cause that’s very close to my heart."