Local Residents Ride for ALS Cure and Awareness

Seeing first hand the devastating results of the neurodegenerative disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), for which there is no cure, Shari Besterman of Yorktown decided to take action. 

Besterman's high school friend Loree Dippary lost her mother, Loraine, at the age of 63 to ALS in March, 2010 after struggling with the disease for five years. In her honor, she and another friend Sabrina Bluestone decided to participate in a 270-mile bike ride over three days to benefit the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), which works toward finding a cure.

"For [Bluestone] the connection was not a personal thing," Besterman said. "It was that I'm raising money and at the same time challenging myself to do something."

Besterman remembers the ride and gets emotional when she speaks about the experience and the woman for whom she is riding. 

"It was such an overwhelming feeling," she said of the ride. "We were all physically drained, but so inspired 'Oh my God, we did it!' There was nothing about it that wasn't 'feel-good.'"

This year the two women are doing it again. Besterman and Bluestone will be joined by Jane DeCoursey, as well as Sabrina’s son, Max Bluestone, 17, and his friend, Tim George, 17, as part of the team "For the Love of Loraine." They will be cycling for cure in the ninth annual Tri-State Trek, along with roughly 250 other men and women from all over the country. 

"There’s no better feeling than doing something physically challenging for the benefit of others," said Besterman. 

For DeCoursey, who admits she was not a cyclist, seeing her friend get to the finish line and the emotions running high, she was so energized, she said, that she decided she too wanted to do it. 

"When I watched her pull in, I was so emotional," she said. "I was so proud of her. You set this goal, she worked so hard and to see her finish it!"

What she remembers seeing is one rider having the words "I can't save my dad, but I can save someone else's life" written on a shirt that really stuck with her.

"I could write them a check, or I could work really hard and raise awareness," DeCoursey said of her involvement. "And show them there are people out there who really care."

The event expects to raise $500,000 for ALS research, and cyclists plan to spread awareness in the communities they ride through. Funds raised through the event support the research being done at the Institute, based in Cambridge, MA. Built by and for patients today, ALS TDI is the world’s largest ALS research center and the only non-profit biotechnology company with more than 30 professional scientists focused on a single disease indication, officials said. The mission of ALS TDI is to develop effective therapeutics that stop ALS.

What kept Besterman going along the ride last year was the people she met along the way. At the rest stops throughout the three-day ride, men and women, who have ALS, would wait for members of a team riding for them, she said. Some were on crutches, others in wheelchairs. 

If her legs were hurting after a long ride, she said, she couldn't help but think of those people would do anything to be able to ride a bike, or have their legs back, so all complaining went away. 

"When you look at someone who has [the disease], it's automatic," Besterman said. "It's a death sentence. It's a matter of when will it come."

The Tri-State Trek ride began in 2003, when 16 riders cycled from Newton, MA, to White Plains and raised about $30,000 for ALS research. This year, the ninth annual ride will take place on July 22-24.

"I like knowing the money we're raising will go toward finding a cure," Besterman said. 

Besterman's team has already raised close to $5,000 of their $9,000 goal. To support For the Love of Loraine Team’s efforts, click here.

For more information on riding, volunteering, or just coming out to cheer, call 617-441-7211 or visit the Trek here.