By Steve Graham

Want to be inspired this Saturday?

Head up to Broomfield and stand along Sheridan Parkway to cheer on the 3,000 cyclists heading to Fort Collins to begin the 150-mile Bike MS weekend ride.

Some are fit road cyclists on expensive, finely tuned and skinny-wheeled machines, but others ride cruisers, mountain bikes, recumbent bikes and at least one high-wheel penny farthing. No matter what they ride, they are raising money and awareness for a great cause — multiple sclerosis research and resources.

Cheer them on and be impressed, but don’t feel too sorry for them. After biking 83 miles on Saturday and dropping down off Horsetooth Reservoir onto the Colorado State University campus, they all get to enjoy some well-earned Left Hand Brewing Co. beers.

The brewery donates several kegs of beer each year for Bike MS, and is a major sponsor of the event.

Left Hand also sponsors a team that does more than wear cool red jerseys and down bottles of nitro milk stout at the 9 a.m. lunch stop. Team Left Hand has grown into the top fundraising team for this year’s Colorado Bike MS. The team has 180 members, including 12 Left Hand employees, and has raised more than $220,000.

The Longmont brewery launched a Bike MS team in 2008, and has since become a fundraising powerhouse, raising more than $2 million for the cause. Last year, the team raised more than $500,000. The 470 team members riding in Bike MS events in six states expect to raise $750,000 this year.

“There is nothing like a Bike MS weekend,” said Team Left Hand Coordinator Sara Barfoot. “Seeing our riders, volunteers, family, and friends coming together over a common goal to crush MS is truly remarkable. It’s a weekend to celebrate all the effort that has gone into Team Left Hand and is an opportunity to further our mission of raising awareness, bringing in new participants and, most importantly, fundraising, so that one day MS stands for Mystery Solved.”

Click here to support the team and the National MS Society.

Steve Graham is a Fort Collins freelance writer who happens to be one of the 180 members of Team Left Hand. Click here to contribute to Bike MS in his name.