‘Road Bikers’ to ride from Houston to Austin
Bicycle trek benefits multiple sclerosis patients
By Nyshicka Jordan
Staff Reporter

A road trip from Houston to Austin with friends is all about having a good time. But taking the whole 150-mile trek on a bike is a little different.

The Confused Road Bikers, a group of TCU students, staff and alumni, will ride in the BP MS 150 beginning Saturday to benefit people with multiple sclerosis. BP MS 150 is a two-day cycling adventure organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according to (www.ms150.org).

Heather Estey, a junior kinesiology major, who participated in the event last year, said she decided it would be more fun to do the event with a group because riding alone is a more daunting task.

“I think the whole ride is a lot easier to do with other people than doing it by yourself,” Estey said.

To recruit people, Estey said she sent out an e-mail to people she knew and that the network developed from there.

Estey said she decided to do the event last year when a friend introduced her to the ride.

She said she has known two people who have suffered from multiple sclerosis and will wear a family friend’s name on a bandana during the long ride, which is called a pedal pusher.

But what made her different from the pack last year was that Estey was one of the few people to be on a mountain bike when most riders were on road bikes.

However, this weekend Estey will be in good company because most of the Confused Road Bikers will be on mountain bikes as well, she said.

Scott Hamilton, a senior e-business major, said this will be his first benefit ride. He said he came up with the name the Confused Mountain Bikers, but that the group decided on the Confused Road Bikers instead.

“It just worked out that we all had mountain bikes,” Hamilton said. “It’s kind of a whole theme now.”

Hamilton said mountain biking is more technical than road biking and that mountain bikes are heavier and made to ride on non-traditional surfaces. He said road biking is more of an endurance event.

Hamilton said he decided to participate because it was a good cause and was something that would challenge him.

“It’s a sacrifice — the time and the training, and it’s a commitment to the organization,” Hamilton said. “You can’t just hop on a bike and say I can ride 150 miles without a problem.”

He said to train for the event he has ridden on Trinity Trail and Benbrook Lake. He said his longest distance has been 50 miles in a day.

Estey said during the ride, bikers are allowed to stop and have lunch.

Besides the training time that team members have put in, they also had to raise $300 each to participate.

John Singleton, director of International Student Services, is on the team and said that group members raised money through individual means and that he solicited business contributions from Blue Mesa Grill and Sapristi restaurant.

Singleton said the bike ride is about being grateful for having the physical ability to ride and to publicize that the disease is present.

“The fund raising is important, but just as important is the publicity that this generates,” Singleton said.

International Student Services is donating team jerseys to the team, Singleton said.

n.d.jordan@tcu.edu