Dan Siegel rides a three-wheel bicycle with electric assist, a high headrest and a recumbent seat, which takes pressure off the back and knees. He’ll ride it in the Waves to Wine charity cycling event next month to raise money for multiple sclerosis research.
He needs all of the bike’s advantages because Siegel has been living with MS for more than 25 years, and his symptoms have been worsening, though he said he’s “feeling great.”
“I had ridden a regular two-wheel bike for a long time,” said the 56-year-old Berkeley resident. “It was getting more difficult over the years. I was biking slower with less power, so it got to be less fun. [The new bike] lets me go at normal speed, go up the hard hills, with the same energy as everyone else. It reinvigorated me.”
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, some 50,000 cyclists and more than 5,000 teams across the country sign up for rides like Waves to Wine annually to support the nonprofit’s work. Over the years, such events have raised more than $1.4 billion.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic progressive disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe enough to cause blindness or paralysis. The cause remains unknown, and there is no cure.
Siegel and his team, the Mitzvah Milers, have collectively raised more than $1 million since they started riding in Waves to Wine two decades ago. It’s a figure equaled only by a couple of other participating teams.
This year’s ride takes place Sept. 14 and 15, with multiple routes, some more arduous than others, available to riders. One of the starting lines will be at Levi’s Plaza along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Cyclists will pedal through Marin into Napa and Sonoma wine country, ending up in Rohnert Park. Shorter routes start and end in Rohnert Park. All riders must register and commit to raising a minimum of $350.
Siegel said that many members of the Mitzvah Milers, of which he serves as team captain, have been participating for years, though new riders are always welcome — including for this year’s event.
“It’s mostly, but not all Jews,” he said of the team’s composition. “Jews and friends of the Jews. We’ve been consistent, [raising] $50,000 to $60,000 every year. We’re very proud of the team.”
A native of Reno, Nevada, Siegel is a retired lawyer who now runs a bed-and-breakfast in Berkeley. He plays trombone in a klezmer band that often performs at Berkeley’s Congregation Netivot Shalom. He also organizes Jewish music concerts.
As for his diagnosis, Seigel acknowledges MS remains mysterious, but he said researchers are getting closer to understanding the disease. “They strongly suspect the Epstein-Barr or mononucleosis virus has something to do with it,” he said. “There’s also a theory related to Vitamin D and sun exposure. More people get it the farther they are from the equator. And there is a genetic component.”
He knows the latter data point all too well. Siegel’s late mother had MS. But he refuses to let MS define him or the life he wants to lead. So the open road still beckons.
“It’s become my normal,” Siegel said of living with MS, “and so I just do the best I can each day and live life as fully as I can. I’m appreciative of how much I can do.”