{"id":774610,"date":"2026-07-02T03:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T03:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774610\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T03:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T03:12:08","slug":"bike-riders-push-through-challenging-conditions-to-support-canadians-living-with-multiple-sclerosis-discoverairdrie-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774610\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike riders push through challenging conditions to support Canadians living with Multiple Sclerosis – DiscoverAirdrie.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyclists battled strong winds and rain during this year’s MS Bike: Airdrie to Olds ride<\/a>, but for many participants, the difficult weather only reinforced why they return year after year.<\/p>\n

Among them was Mobile One team captain Dave Varga, who has been riding in the annual fundraiser for more than two decades. While this year’s event tested riders with challenging conditions, he said the focus remained on raising money to support people living with multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n

Related Stories:<\/p>\n

Two decades of riding for a cause<\/p>\n

Varga first signed up for the ride 21 years ago after he and his wife purchased road bikes and were looking for longer cycling events.<\/p>\n

At the time, he had no personal connection to multiple sclerosis and simply saw it as an opportunity to ride.<\/p>\n

That changed as he became more involved in the event and began speaking with donors and members of the MS community.<\/p>\n

“It is astounding how many people let you know that their mom had it, their sister has it, a friend has it,” Varga said. “You become much more entrenched in doing the fundraising because the fundraising goes towards research to find a cure for the disease and money to help support those afflicted with it.”<\/p>\n

What started as an individual ride eventually evolved into the Mobile One team, which Varga formed with support from Imperial Oil. Over the past two decades, the team has raised nearly $1 million for MS Canada<\/a>, including about $80,000 this year.<\/p>\n

Weather adds to the challenge<\/p>\n

While the fundraising remained strong, Varga said the weather made this year’s ride one of the toughest he can remember.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s ride featured persistent headwinds, leaving many cyclists exhausted by the time they reached Olds. On Sunday, riders benefited from a tailwind, but it was accompanied by heavy rain and gale-force winds.<\/p>\n

“We’ll be able to say, ‘Remember 2026?'” Varga said. “People were cheering as much for completing the ride as for enduring the ride this year.”<\/p>\n

Despite the conditions, participants completed the route, with volunteers and supporters continuing to cheer riders across the finish line.<\/p>\n

More than just a bike ride<\/p>\n

According to MS Canada, Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world, with an average of 12 people diagnosed every day.<\/p>\n

For Varga, those statistics have become increasingly personal over the years as he has met more families affected by the disease.<\/p>\n

He said the annual ride is about much more than cycling, bringing communities together while helping fund research and support services.<\/p>\n

“By riding on a team, it helps bring people together each year,” he said. “The real goal is to raise money for MS.”<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Although riders are still recovering from one of the most demanding editions of the event, Varga hopes even more people will take part next year.<\/p>\n

“I just appreciate you giving me a call so that we can get the message out about the ride and hopefully get a few more people to sign up next year,” he said. “The more people riding, the more money we raise to find a cure for the disease, which is the ultimate goal.”<\/p>\n

This year’s MS Bike: Airdrie to Olds once again brought together hundreds of cyclists, volunteers and supporters from across Alberta, continuing a tradition that has raised millions of dollars for multiple sclerosis research and programs over the past three decades.<\/p>\n

Sign up<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cyclists battled strong winds and rain during this year’s MS Bike: Airdrie to Olds ride, but for many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-774610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}