Hundreds of people are expected to ride their bikes from Grand Bend to London this weekend to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada.
The event is in its 35th year and will start Saturday morning at the Grand Bend Motorplex and cyclists will pedal to Fanshawe College before returning Sunday.
So far, there are over 55 teams registered with 459 participants. Typically the event sees around 545 cyclists.
Barry Travnicek has participated in the bike since it started and has raised over $1.1 million for MS.
He said his sister Lynne was diagnosed with MS in 1991 and he noticed an ad about the event and has participated ever since.
"When my sister was diagnosed they said you have MS, I didn't know what it was," Travnicek said. "The awareness that these rides and the walks have done over the years, so many more people are aware, so many more people are engaged in finding a cure."
According to Travnicek, when his sister was first diagnosed there wasn't anything available, but now there therapies for people living with MS.
In total, the ride covers 150 kilometres over two days on secondary roads.
Travnicek said every 15 to 20 kilometres there are check points where riders can stretch, have water, or have a snack.
"It's an event for everybody from all ages. We see riders from people six and seven years old to people in their seventies riding this," he said. " It really gets the community involved and the good part is we raise a lot of money over the years."
Travnicek's sister passed away in 2018 from her battle with MS.
He said he continues to ride in her memory but also for others who are affected.
"Over the years I've met so many people that are either diagnosed with MS or family and friends of people with MS and once you've been privy to the struggles and these are daily struggles that people go through and if we have a chance to help fix that then good on us for doing it," Travnicek said.
So far this year, he has raised over $65,000, surpassing his goal of $60,000.
The goal for the event is to raise $885,000 and, as of Thursday afternoon, nearly $653,000 has been raised.
It will take place rain or shine but in the event of thunder and/or lightning, the event will either be postponed or cancelled.
MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system.
Over 90,000 people in Canada currently live with the disease and approximately 12 Canadians are diagnosed every day.