March 22, 2023

Our Alumni Living with MS

For MS awareness month, we thought we could highlight some of our fabulous Bike the US for MS alumni who currently live with multiple sclerosis. This month we’ve talked to Lina Garada and Mirjam Buren to see what they’ve been up to and hear some of their favorite memories from the ride.

This Tailwinds blog is brought to you by Alumni Coordinators Kelly Wolf and Neil McCallum.

Lina Garada

TransAmerica and Pacific Coast 2019

This year, Lina celebrates 10+ years living with MS and continues to stay active and adventurous while giving back. Some of her favorite memories from the TransAmerica and Pacific Coast include sand dune climbing in Nevada, riding up the Sierras, all them lovely Redwoods, ocean dips, and of course all the wonderful people.

In 2022, Lina and 12 teammates completed Hood to Coast, a 200 mile relay race for athletes with disabilities to raise awareness for disabilities as a whole. She has also been actively spreading awareness with Meat Fight, a nonprofit that hosts BBQ-fueled events to raise money and donates bikes to people living with multiple sclerosis.

She is planning to ride the Olympic Peninsula this summer and in the future she plans to Bike the UK for MS, complete a 70.3 race (again), do a 5k swim, and run an ultra marathon. If you want to follow along on Lina’s adventures and see her #rebrandms, check out her Instagram @linagarada or visit her website.

Mirjam and Bart Buren, Bike the US for MS alumni living with MS.

Mirjam Buren

TransAmerica 2018

Mirjam and husband Bart are currently living in their newly built, MS-proof house in Warder, a small village near Amsterdam. After living with secondary progressive MS for over 20 years, mobility has been growing more difficult. Luckily, they’ve designed their tinyXL house to have everything on the ground floor.

They’ve been staying busy with their new addition to the family; a grandson who’s almost 9 months now. Taking care of him one day a week and didn’t know that having a grandchild would be such a joy.

Their best memory from the TransAmerica trip in 2018 is the wonderful people they were cycling with and the hospitality they experienced on the trip. Mirjam and Bart continue cycling together through the beautiful countryside on their new tandem. Bart is signed up to bike the Pacific Coast and in the future he would like to ride the Northern Tier.

Duncan Moore

Duncan was looking for an adventure and he certainly found one when he teamed up with Bike the US for MS in 2013 to cycle the Trans Am. He fell in love fast with biking slow so he could see the sites, talk to strangers, volunteer for a cause, and take more pictures than he knows what to do with. Duncan has led 11 cross country trips with Bike the US for MS and became a full time employee in 2022. One of his best memories from all these trips is when the Bike the UK for MS team helped assist individuals with multiple sclerosis ride a bike for the first time in decades and see the joy on their faces. Additional bicycle credibility includes biking every street in Manhattan, self supported tours of Route 66 and New Zealand, leading the 11,000 mile Big Loop, and training mechanics for the San Francisco bike share program.