Texas - 2010 Houston Austin MS150 registration plan?

The 2010 Houston to Austin MS150 ride will have priority registration (two weeks before general registration) for:

• 2009 Club 300* members plus two guests
• Participants who raise $1,000+ in the 2009 BP MS 150 by July 31
• 2009 Top Fundraising Teams*

For full details see:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/bp-ms-150/join-the-ride/index.aspx

My question regards the 2009 Top Fundraising Teams. Does this mean that every 2009 member of a top fundraising team will get priority registration?

Does this mean that every 2009 member of a top fundraising team will get priority registration?

The way I read the info, the answer to your question is YES.

From the Q&A:

Q13 How many teams will be able to participate in the priority registration?
A13 Once fundraising totals have been confirmed later this summer, we will announce which teams qualify for priority registration. We anticipate this to be roughly 20% of the total teams, based on overall fundraising and highest average pledge.

Q14 How much does a team have to raise to qualify for the priority registration?
A14 The top fundraising teams will be determined on a percentage of overall fundraising (total raised and highest average pledge). The goal for 2009 is $17 million and we anticipate awarding priority to the top 20% teams, similar to the Club 300.

So it seems small teams that have a high average will make it, and then the large teams which, because of their size, will also be included since they bring in a lot of $$$.


What I want to know is if a cyclist can join one of the top qualifying teams in the months before registration in Oct. 2009 and then be able to register under their priority status, or if they had to have been a registered rider of the team during the 2009 ride? I would guess the latter. If not, certain teams (those that are open to anyone) will grow by leaps and bounds.

Well this would help improve the average experience level of the riders for 2010.

For those that didn't sign up this year, or won't get in next year either, could this inspire a rebirth of talks of a H-town to ATX route using old Highway 20? Cough... sadly I doubt it.

Well this would help improve the average experience level of the riders for 2010.

How do you figure that? I've ridden it 7 years since the turn of the Millenium, but never with a team. I've always been an independent.

From the looks of things, this may be my last year. The big teams which will get priority will most certainly grow in size. Eventually, there will be no independents unless they can raise many thousands of dollars.

I'm sad because I really enjoy the MS150, but I do realize that this whole thing is a way to help increase fund raising for a very good cause.

What I want to know is if a cyclist can join one of the top qualifying teams in the months before registration in Oct. 2009 and then be able to register under their priority status, or if they had to have been a registered rider of the team during the 2009 ride? I would guess the latter. If not, certain teams (those that are open to anyone) will grow by leaps and bounds.

Maybe, but not necessarily. To ride for our team again next year, you have to raise a minimum of $1,000. I'm barely going to make the $400 MS 150 minimum. So I probably won't be around next year.

Yes this charity ride is for a good cause, but the whole MS150 campaign is still a business afterall. Big corporations with the big dough reaps the rewards. But do we know where exactly where our donations is truly going ?? Does anyone know?? Do they tel us?? I've rode this for two yrs, with the second yr choosing the long route on second day. And thats good enough for me and looking for other challenges.

Yes this charity ride is for a good cause, but the whole MS150 campaign is still a business afterall. Big corporations with the big dough reaps the rewards. But do we know where exactly where our donations is truly going ?? Does anyone know?? Do they tel us?? I've rode this for two yrs, with the second yr choosing the long route on second day. And thats good enough for me and looking for other challenges.

I 100% disagree with the bolded part of your quote. The Lone Star Chapter website breaks down exactly where the money goes and who it benefits. 87 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to fund research into MS, to pay for assistance for people with MS, and to fund education programs and outreach activities to help broaden knowledge about MS, etc. If you are really interested in where the money is going, check out the society's newsletter and read about the research studies they are funding or about the programs to help people with MS equip their vehicles with wheelchair friendly accessories or about the programs to provide assistance to people who can't afford treatments, etc. I have MS, and have been to several research presentations where the docs and researchers studying MS come to discuss their ongoing research with people with MS. These guys are making progress towards a cure, and the money raised in the MS150 rides is absolutely critical to keep that research pipeline going. The treatment I am on costs roughly $2500 per month. If I didn't have good insurance, I would need assistance to be able to afford to keep using it.

I know it may be difficult for folks who approach the MS 150 rides purely as cyclists and who don't have any personal connection to MS to see where the money goes or to understand who it benefits. They just want to ride, and are willing to raise the minimum, and can't necessarily understand why that isn't "good enough". Please understand that the MS society would love to have 30,000 riders and raise $30 million each ride. But the reality is that they have determined that it simply isn't safe with more than 13,000 riders. The NMSS has been sued by riders in other MS150 rides for not properly taking safety into account with their ride planning, and nothing will kill the benefit of raising millions of dollars faster than losing millions in a lawsuit. They are struggling just as hard as everybody else to figure out an equitable way to distribute the available spaces, and going back to the original purpose of the ride (fundraising) makes the most sense. I know that cyclists who want the challenge of the ride and who see the fundraising for MS as an incidental sidelight to the ride itself don't like that idea, but the MS society has to be true to the purpose of the ride, and that is the fundraising. If things change too much next year, maybe they will change the system again...who knows.

I know it may be difficult for folks who approach the MS 150 rides purely as cyclists and who don't have any personal connection to MS to see where the money goes or to understand who it benefits. They just want to ride, and are willing to raise the minimum, and can't necessarily understand why that isn't "good enough". Please understand that the MS society would love to have 30,000 riders and raise $30 million each ride. But the reality is that they have determined that it simply isn't safe with more than 13,000 riders. The NMSS has been sued by riders in other MS150 rides for not properly taking safety into account with their ride planning, and nothing will kill the benefit of raising millions of dollars faster than losing millions in a lawsuit. They are struggling just as hard as everybody else to figure out an equitable way to distribute the available spaces, and going back to the original purpose of the ride (fundraising) makes the most sense. I know that cyclists who want the challenge of the ride and who see the fundraising for MS as an incidental sidelight to the ride itself don't like that idea, but the MS society has to be true to the purpose of the ride, and that is the fundraising. If things change too much next year, maybe they will change the system again...who knows.


You are so right. I'm one of those riders that really can't afford to raise much more than the minimum. I do look forward to this ride every year, and if I can't get in after this year, I'll be dissappointed. But I'll take solace in the fact that the overall fundraising will go up because of this move...which is the whole point of the ride in the first place.

I suppose that cyclists who are frustrated by the all the bureaucratic stuff can just get together in small groups and do a contrarian ride along the same (or similar) route, on a different weekend, and if so motivated, send a donation to the MS folks.

The frustration is not just among cyclists! Being a break point volunteer at such a big event can be an exercise in frustration, too, especially once you are assigned a leadership position. My wife considered switching to a different volunteer group, then decided to not participate this year. (We both worked a break point in 2007; in 2008 she worked a break point while I stayed in Houston with her elderly Dad.) One of my wife's best volunteers was snatched away in 2008 to be a driver for some VIP.

This frustration can hurt a charity. My charity dollars for this year have already gone other places. I still might donate toward an MS150 rider, but it won't be as much as last year.

Thankfully I'm already over $1000

The route is fun for a while, but I would like to see them start in Houston and ride somewhere else too.

-Nate

I was told yesterday by somebody in a position to know, that the MS Society is not responsible for the 13,000 rider limit. Apparently TXDOT is the one who put that limit on the ride, so the MS Society is just coping as best they can with the limit placed on them by TXDOT.

I agree that I would like to see a second Houston to ?? ride to give some variety for folks that don't want to ride to Austin or who don't get registered. Perhaps a trip to the piney woods and back? Or down the coast to Aransas or something? Call it the crosswind 150.

There should be an Austin ride that circles the hill country, we need more hills!

I doubt I'll ever ride another MS150 again.

-Nate

Personally, I think I'm going to branch out and do different MS 150's. I'm looking at the South Dakota one next.

Try the bike to Jack and back in Tennessee. Starts on the outskirts of Nashville and rides to the Jack Daniels Distillery. You stay overnight in Lynchburg, then ride back to Nashville on day 2.