Guest Voice: I’m riding 100 miles a month for the MS community
Guest writer Kevin Byrne explains 'Garage Dayz,' his ambitious cycling project
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If I sit for over three minutes, it takes almost that long to regain movement in my legs when I stand. Even then, my limbs must fight the relentless pressure of immobility.
Focused therapies, such as the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, have given me back years of lost function. Still, my multiple sclerosis (MS) rages on. Strong muscles are weakened to the point of inertia. My previously 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pound, muscle-bound frame now floats around the 170-pound mark. I have constant scarring and pain from whatever latest fall I’ve had. My legs can’t run. My hands can’t write.
Today is April 14. At a little past 5 a.m., I stumbled into my garage, climbed onto a recumbent trike mounted to a stationary trainer, and rode 100 miles. Why? For no other reason than because I can.
When I finished, I posted my social media reports and sat at my desk to write this story. Why? For no other reason than because the world needs to know what it means to “Never Stop… Never Quit…, for them.”
A surge of energy and adrenaline
The National MS Society planted this idea in my head back in 2003. Bike MS is an annual event held in chapters across the United States. My first ride was in Western Pennsylvania before moving on in my career and life. I rode in New York City, Delaware, Oregon, and Washington. I rode a bicycle until my MS progressed, forcing me onto a recumbent trike. In 2023, I could barely complete the 30-mile route. I would never again take to the streets.
That might have been the end of my story, except for the fact that my life revolves around my mantra of “Never Stop… Never Quit…” I live it, breathe it, and since my disability retirement in 2017, I have focused on its meaning through my nonprofit, NEVER STOP NEVER QUIT. One day in 2024, my daughter threw me for a loop when she said, “It should say ‘for them.’” She never explained whom she meant by “them,” but she didn’t have to.
The shame I felt about not being able to complete that ride prevented me from participating in Bike MS in September 2024. If my words were going to have any meaning, though, I needed to demonstrate what that mantra meant. So, on Oct. 6, 2024, I rode 100 miles in my garage — 25 years after the day I was diagnosed with MS. The exhilaration was addicting!
Kevin Byrne plans to keep riding 100 miles on his recumbent trike every month for as long as he can. (Courtesy of Kevin Byrne)
In 2025, I rode my century trike before Oregon’s Bike MS, so that I could spend my days celebrating with them. I called it “Garage Dayz,” a whimsical play on words. I made it a big deal, printed some T-shirts to sell through my nonprofit, and touted the event on social media.
That magical surge of energy and adrenaline returned, begging me to do it “One. More. Time.” in October. Then in November. And again in December.
Saying “one more time” lost its urgency when I declared in January that I would ride 100 miles every month for as long as my body holds. Today was my eighth consecutive month: 800 miles.
I sat in my recumbent trike for a lot longer than three minutes when I finished. It took three tries over 10 minutes to regain movement in my legs and stand. It will take days for the pain in my knees and legs to return to a normal level. Every month, I will do this because I can, I want to, and I feel I must show the world what it means to “Never Stop… Never Quit…, for them.”
My next ride is tentatively scheduled for May 14. June, July, and the following months are all to be determined, but I will keep everyone up to date on my website.
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