NEWBERRY, S.C. — For the next three days, hundreds of cyclists will be making their way across South Carolina.

Their goal is to raise money and awareness in the fight against Alzheimer’s, a disease affecting thousands of South Carolinians.

“You don’t see people riding their bikes across the state in July in the South Carolina heat for nothing, and so it always raises that question, why?” Beth Sulkowski with the Alzheimer’s Association South Carolina Chapter said.

For some participating in the 2024 Ride to End ALZ South Carolina, it’s the physical challenge of pedaling more than 250 miles from the Upstate to the Lowcountry in three days.

“But a lot of them do it because they have been touched by Alzheimer’s or another dementia. You can see behind me just visually the pictures of some of the people that we are riding for over the next three days,” Sulkowski said.

Others take the reminders of why they ride with them on the journey, pinned to their backs.

“I started when my mom was diagnosed with early onset four years ago, and when I heard about it, it seemed like something I could do that actually would do something, and it does. It feels like doing something,” cyclist Cory Donovan of Baltimore, Maryland, said.

Donovan has ridden the last four years and is among the 400-plus along for this year’s ride.

“Every year, I look forward to this so much, and there’s people I see at the ride that I don’t see except for at the ride. This is the only time I get to see them, and every time, it’s like seeing family again. It’s really special,” he said.

“It’s a really special way for people to do something they love as a way to fight back against Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” Sulkowski added.

This is the South Carolina ride’s 16th year, and it is the only multi-day Ride to End ALZ in the country.

Last year, it made history as the first ride to raise more than $1 million in a single year, and this year, they hope to shatter that mark by raising $1.5 million.

“There is research happening every day to fight one step closer, day after day, to those life-changing treatments that we need and ultimately a cure,” Sulkowski said.

Money raised through the ride goes toward both local care and support services in South Carolina along with global research initiatives as they work to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.