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MS connection: Fall 2013
1400 Mile Ride to Get Closer to Cure for MS (Continued from page 1) upon his return as he passed through Mt. Clemens. The local cable TV station for Warren did an interview before he left on his trek and welcomed him back on August 13, 2013 when he returned. Barnett’s two daughters, Karen and Lisa, and his wife Liz, supported him during the planning and the execution of the trip. Karen Waskin and Lisa Lebel developed and updated a website at: TomsBicycleTourOfMichiganForMS.com with Barnett’s daily progress during the trip. The two girls developed clothing with logos for the project which were sold with a portion donated to the National MS Society. Photos were uploaded as Barnett found access to send them to his two daughters. His wife Liz took on the major task of keeping everything running smooth at home and encouraging him when they talked at the end of each day’s ride. There were many highs and lows during this trip on a U.S.A. made bicycle from R & E Cycle in Seattle, Washington. The long days of solo riding were particularly difficult at times mentally. The camping and sleeping on the ground were certainly not as comfortable as sleeping in his own bed. The scorching heat the first two weeks of July, followed by unseasonably cold temperatures at night for the last half of July and first two weeks of August, were a test of endurance and determination.
Tom’s glamorous accommodations Additional clothing had to be purchased as plans did not include riding in high 40 degree temperatures near Elk Rapids along with high winds. The roads were not always friendly for a single bicycle on the Lake Michigan coast along US 31, but changed to pleasant friendly wide shoulders all along the Lake Huron coast. Barnett visited cities, towns and villages that he had never been in before and found people to be very friendly and eager to help him find places to eat and set up camp or locate a motel for the night. That was one of the pleasant surprises. The people he met either knew someone living with MS or had someone in their immediate family living with MS. “I wasn’t prepared for that. I talked with anyone who would listen about multiple sclerosis and the reasons I was riding for MS donations,” said Barnett. “It inspired people to go to my website where they found a link to my page for Bike MS on the National MS Society website. It also inspired cash donations. I was sitting in a