City Employee Gives Massive Bikeathon an O.C. Connection

It's true. You never forget how to ride a bike.

When he was in high school, Joe Clark rode in youth cycle clubs. He detoured into American Revolution re-enactments for six years, and when he got back on a bicycle again, he was as a rider who took to the Boardwalk at a leisurely pace.

A few years ago, he had what he calls "an awakening." Approaching 50 and putting on weight at his desk job as purchasing manager for the city, Clark was reminded at a holiday gathering by his mother that his father had died of heart disease. That led him to indoor cycling, or "spinning" classes, which led him to outdoor biking with a group of long-distance riders ... which led him to entering the 30th anniversary staging of the "Bike MS: City to Shore," a 150-mile, two-day event that will bring 7,200 bicyclists into town on Saturday.

The cyclists will depart Sunday for the second leg of the bikeathon, the 75-mile return trip to Cherry Hill.

Clark, who "spins" at the with a veritable "who's who" of Ocean City and Upper Township society, is riding in the bikeathon as a member of Team Beth. Team Beth, which consists of many early-morning habituees of and some of Clark's "spinning" classmates, has raised $180,000 in five years for multiple sclerosis research. The team's "champion," the person in whose honor they ride, is Beth Koch Higgins, a mother of two who owns a home on 15th Street.

Since committing two months ago to joining Team Beth, Clark has taken frequent 40- to 60-mile rides to train for this weekend's bikeathon. He's also committed to forming an Ocean City team for next year's bikeathon.

"This year, I've gotten to the point where I'm physically able to take it outside," he says, crediting two years of indoor cycling with helping him lose 35 pounds, make a lifestyle change and prepare him for this weekend's back-to-back six-hour road tests. "And I had saved enough money to buy the bike I wanted."

Clark converted two years' worth of gift cards and monetary presents into a custom-fitted carbon fiber bike that he pedals at a typical cruising speed of 16 to 20 mph. Two of the course's most challenging "hills" are two bridges at the end of the ride: the Dolores Cooper Bridge on the Longport causeway and the Ocean City-Longport bridge. He's not looking forward to either.

"When I started to do rides with Team Beth, I found out what MS was," Clark says. "I found out I know three people who have it. That makes it more personal, knowing people with the disease."

Knowing those people, two of whom work for the city and one of whom works with Clark's son, Randy, inspired Clark to join Team Beth as a rookie this year, where he is learning the intricacies of the bikeathon in the hopes of forming a Team Ocean City next year.

As the only year-round Ocean City resident on Team Beth, Clark became motivated to form a team of Ocean City-based riders when he received a coupon book full of offers from Philadelphia-area merchants in exchange for his $45 entry fee.

"I went to bike shops in the area and asked why they were not involved in this, and they said because very few of their customers participate in the bikeathon," Clark says. "I know there are many people who bike here and might want to join a team."

To participate in the bikeathon, cyclists are required to raise $300 in donations. Clark says he is "shocked by how generous people have been" and touched by some of their sentiments. "People wrote they couldn't do it, either because of physical limitations or age, but they were thankful I could. They said I was riding for them."

Clark set a goal of $300 for donations, hoping to make the minimum required to ride. He was closing in on $1,100 at mid-week, the third-best showing among the team's 21 members. The two riders who have raised the most have exceeded $3,000 apiece. Also among the top fundraisers are Chris Koch, father of champion Beth Koch Higgins and Team Beth's captain, and another rider, each of whom have surpassed the $1,000 mark.

As a whole, Team Beth has raised $15,000 this year. The 284-member UPHS Penn team has raised more than $100,000. Team Copaxone has 126 members ($41,000), Merck ($57,000) and Team Evesham ($62,000) each have 112 members, and Team Mars ($39,000) has 104.

"I never realized this was so big," Clark says. "The number of people biking in this almost equals this town's winter population."

To donate online, visit mscycling.org.