Well, where to start. My name is Andrew Merriam and I hail from a little town called Brantford Ontario.
I was introduced to Multiple Sclerosis at a young age when I found out a good friend of mine Troy, whom I grew up skateboarding and snowboarding with, informed me that he was diagnosed with MS. He took the news like a champion, and since day one he has been battling to live with this disease. Fast forward to when I was 24 and began noticing a limp in my father’s step. My family started getting opinions and after many doctor’s visits and tests, a diagnosis of MS was confirmed. With having both my father and close friend diagnosed, I decided to dive headfirst into the process of ending this illness through knowledge, awareness and fundraising.
I participated in my first MS Bike tour in 2015 which was 150 km from Grand Bend, ON to London, ON. This year will be my 5th year participating. Over the past 4 years I have had some great friends, including my 13 year old cousin, who have joined my team to help me tackle the ride to raise money!
I’ve been toying with the idea of the big cross country ride for about a year now, but it wasn’t until recently when I found that a close friend of mine was diagnosed that I decided to turn the idea into a reality and begin planning the ride, where project Rubber4research was born!
Over the next year I’ll be doing various events to help fund raise including running a softball tournament, as well as partnering with a few local companies for MS fundraising nights! My goal while completing this ride is $150,000 towards MS research.
I hope you take some time to check out the site and follow along as I begin to fund raise, train, and prepare to bike from Vancouver, British Colombia to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia!
