More than 500 bicycle riders surmounted an accident that killed one of their own Saturday, May 17, to raise more than $400,000 to fight multiple sclerosis.

Coming from as far away as Canada and Ireland, 535 avid bike riders rode as far as 100 miles on three different loops from the Verde Valley Fairgrounds up to Sedona and out through the Village of Oak Creek, both solo and in teams, in the third annual BikeMS: Ride the Vortex race that concluded Sunday, May 18.

Verde Valley Medical Center physical therapist Eric Mace and his Sedona-based bicycle team Therapy Rocks raised $2,400 for biking 125 miles each through the two days of the race.

“Our primary goal is to raise money to support a cure for MS,” he said. “MS is a progressive neurological disease that strikes people in mid-life. It’s a pretty crummy disease.”

The thoughts of Mace and the other BikeMS riders May 17, though, were with the family of 48-year-old Ethelyn Hartline of Gilbert, who suffered a fatal collision May 17 with a Cottonwood driver at the intersection of Beaverhead Flat Road and Cornville Road.

For the full story, please see the Friday, May 23, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.