MS Tram returning in 2010

By Jeff Hage (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published 10:54 a.m., November 14, 2009

More than a thousand bicycle riders will be peddling through Fergus Falls and setting up a base camp in Adams Park in late July 2010 when the MS Tram – Bike Across Minnesota returns to Fergus Falls.

It will be the second time in three years that the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s major fundraising event passed through Fergus Falls. The MS Tram parked in Fergus Falls in late July 2007.

The bicyclists will arrive on Thursday, July 29 — the same day they arrived in 2007. Fergus Falls will be the last stop on the tour, which begins Sunday, July 25 and will include overnight stops in Alexandria, Little Falls, Pequot Lakes, Wadena and finally, Fergus Falls.

“We’re so excited to be returning to Fergus Falls,” said Jody Payne, Vice President of Development at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Fergus Falls is one of the all-time favorite destinations of MS Tram riders based on feedback from rider surveys, Payne said.

“All of our host cities are great but Fergus Falls is one of our best and definitely one of our riders’ favorites,” Payne said,

It will be fun for the MS Tram and its riders to return to a town where the event was so well received,” Payne said.

Jean Bowman director of the Fergus Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau made the announcement locally and recalls how the Fergus Falls community came together with hard work — and quite a bit of fun — to give the MS Tram that reception that both the MS Society and bicyclists remember so well.

“When the bikes came in we had people lined up welcoming them,” Bowman recalled.

A crew from Applebee’s Restaurant was in Adams Park for 1 ? hours handing out granola bars and drinks to the bikers setting up camp near Grotto Lake in the park. Local scout troops armed with wheelbarrows then helped bikers transport their belongings to campsites. Fergus Falls volunteers provided security detail, food and refreshments, and entertainment, Bowman said. There was also a volunteer-manned information center, and local housing provided to those bikers wishing not to camp in the park.

There was a surprise, too, Bowman said. Park Region Telcom provided free wireless Internet service in the park that was an unexpected amenity and a hit among the bicyclists.

“One hundred and fifty volunteers from Fergus Falls helped make this a success (in 2007),” Bowman said.

Hotels rooms filled and restaurants and shops benefited greatly from the Tram, Bowman said. A shuttle bus service provided by Otter Tail Coaches moved bike riders from Adams Park to the city’s restaurants and shopping districts where the bicyclists all spent money.

“You could feel the energy and excitement as people pulled together to make this a success,” Bowman said.

“It was a huge team effort for the community,” said Connie Knapp, president of the convention and visitors bureau.

“And it was fun!” Knapp said.

“It wasn’t our goal to just host the tram in 2007, Bowman said. “It was our goal to go above and beyond.”

Even with that lofty goal, the effort put on by Fergus Falls residents exceeded expectations, she said.

The MS Tram is taking a different approach to its ride this year and will not be a cross-country trek but more of a circle.

The 2010 Tram will start and finish in Alexandria, Payne said, in order to cut costs in a tighter economy.

By doing so the MS Society will not be hiring buses to transport bicyclists back to the starting point after they reach their final destination.

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---