The 26th Annual BP MS 150 Bike Ride, Texas’ largest non-profit sporting event and the largest MS 150 in the nation, will take place April 17 – 18, 2010.

An estimated 13,000 cyclists are expected to take part in the two-day, 180-mile trek from Houston to Austin. This year, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society: Lone Star aims to raise a record $18 million to support multiple sclerosis (MS) research and fund programs and services benefiting an estimated 20,000 people affected by MS in 174 Texas counties. Registration is available at www.ms150.org. Individuals, families and groups are also encouraged to volunteer for the more than 3,000 positions in Houston, Austin and along the route. Log on to www.ms150.org to volunteer or donate online. The ride starts at sunrise in Houston on Saturday, April 17 and finishes in downtown Austin near the Texas Capitol on Sunday, April 18, after an overnight celebration at the Fayette County Fairgrounds in La Grange.

Three Houston-area starting points will be offered this year. On day two, riders can choose one of two routes out of La Grange as they make their way to Austin. Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.1 million worldwide. About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society The National MS Society is a collective of passionate individuals who want to do something about MS NOW — to move together toward a world free of multiple sclerosis. We mobilize people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS. MS stops people from moving. We exist to make sure it doesn’t.

The National MS Society: Lone Star serves an estimated 20,000 individuals and their families affected by multiple sclerosis in 174 Texas counties. Lone Star has offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Join the movement to create a world free of MS at www.JointheMovementLoneStar.org