by Bradley Dunn

At ThermApparel we've had August 27th circled on our calendar for a long time. Bike MS is the largest fundraising bike series in the world, and it embodies everything we are trying to accomplish:  supporting people living with MS to continue their active and healthy lifestyles.

It doesn't hurt that Kurtis was once a competitive cyclist, and I myself spent most of the summer working on ThermApparel testing our prototypes on 20-mile bike rides around Rochester.

When I mentioned the event to a family friend with MS, she jumped on the opportunity to come up to Rochester for the first time and ride with me and her daughter. Of course, my parents wanted to join in on the fun and soon we had a team of 6 riders and raised $1,855.00 for the MS Society.

Ride Day! 65 miles to go on my 1975 Schwinn Sprint, I was a little worried about being able to keep up with a team riding on lighter bikes, but it worked out well.  The Upstate NY chapter of the MS Society had planned and staffed the race exceptionally well. There were five well-stocked rest points, where I could catch my breath and fill up on water, fruits, and sandwiches.

The ride took us on a beautiful journey starting at Rochester's beautiful Genesee Valley Park and along the Erie Canal trail, and then on to Bloomfield, Avon, and finally passing ThermApparel's home at Rochester Institute of Technology before finishing up back at the park.

While I was busy riding, Kurtis and Crystal had set up a table with some prototypes and had some great conversations with participants and people living with MS.  There was a lot of support for our work and some interest in helping us with testing in the near future!

After the ride, Tina and Anna wore some of our prototypes and were amazed by how comfortable they fit and how they helped to cool down when recovering from the ride.