Bicycle: The MS Bike

Joseph’s MS Bike

Joseph’s MS Bike explains Multiple Sclerosis.

While at a yard sale, laying on the lawn was a dirty old steel bike for $10.  Something about it attracted my attention. The rusted chain hung off the crank gears. The shredded cabling rubber dangled out of the shifter.  The bent wheels would never roll.  The seat rotted away a long time ago, leaving only the metal frame. The logos and markings were long gone. For an offer of $5, I took it home and stashed it in the corner of the garage, and I forgot about it. As an ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, I give talks about MS and my life with MS. One morning, a dream memory remained. In the memory vision was that yard sale bike but rebuilt, bright with new colors that explained MS.  For ambassador talks, I am always looking for a better way to communicate MS topics and issues.

In a dream vision, I could see a new design perfectly. On the top, down and seat tubes are the words Live, Ride, Believe. The neuron painted on the head tube and forks represents the dark mystery of MS hiding its cause and cure. The lighter spots on the tubes show where MS attacks the myelin on the axons leaving its scars (sclerosis). The orange is for all MS heroes who help MSers and support efforts to find a cure. The white is the belief that MS will be cured. On the chain stay tubes are the words “Stop MS”

As we all know, seeing something in a dream and making it come true are two quite different stories. The yard sale bike was a steel frame fitted with 27-inch wheels, 10-speed gears, and downtube lever gear shifters. The off the drop handlebar hung what were once the brake levers. The bike vintage was in the early 1970s. In the dream, the new components replaced the original components. The frame and the fork remained 

The MS Bike took weeks to build. All the components had to be acquired.  After sandblasting the paint and rust off the frame, a new powder-coated paint made the frame look new just off an assembly line. Wheels and gears, cables, brakes and shifters, handlebars and a seat, and MS Bike was ready to ride.

The dream became true. The Multiple Sclerosis bike story begins at the head tube where the neuron and axon image shows the dark mystery of MS,  The yellow spots on the neurons are the scars from the MS lesion. The orange is for all the people who have MS, the support partners, and all the people helping to solve the MS mystery.  The white is the belief MS will be cured.

On the top tube is the word "Live", the down tube says "Ride" and the seat tube is "Believe". "We live with MS, ride through MS's challenges, and believe there will be a cure."

The MS Bike is Ready

Parade Ready