Pedaling for Progress: Solve ME Bike-a-Thon

Michelle Leigh is organizing this fundraiser to benefit Solve ME/CFS Initiative, Inc..

Tax deductible

We're grabbing our bikes and Pedaling for Progress! This summer we'll be biking the 240-mile Missouri Katy Trail, the longest developed rail-to-trail in the country. And we want to do a little good along the way by raising money for Solve ME, the country's oldest non-profit advocacy organization for ME/CFS (Solve ME).

I'm Kevin and my wife, Michelle, has a disabling disease that has no diagnostic test, no approved treatments, and hardly any doctors available to manage it. I've roped some buddies into Pedal for Progress with me and we hope you consider donating at whatever size is right for you because Solve ME works tirelessly through research, advocacy, and education. Any amount is appreciated, here are some suggestions.

$0.25 per mile is just $60

$0.50 per mile is a generous $120

$1.00 per mile would be an amazing donation of $240

All money raised will go directly to Solve ME.

My wife and I gravitated toward each other and bonded over our mutual love for all things active. We took every opportunity to hike, bike, kayak, run and travel together. In January 2021 we had our last adventure. Michelle was feeling run down but had been for a while. She kept pushing through her workouts, noticing they were getting progressively more difficult for her to finish. We went cross-country skiing anyway. She pushed herself. That was her last workout. Over the last two years, she's experienced many more lasts.

Michelle had been diagnosed with a primary immunodeficiency around 2010. Parts of her immune system are missing and other parts just don't function properly. For this, she has to infuse immunoglobulin replacement therapy every week.

By 2019, she was starting to experience severe episodes of exercise intolerance that brought extremely weak and painful muscles and fatigue--more than fatigue--a total depletion of all energy. Throughout 2020, it continued to plague her but she continued to push herself through. That day in January 2021 changed everything.

Michelle's condition declined, her symptoms multiplied and the diagnosis was ME/CFS. She was fortunate to access one of the nation's few experts via telehealth who knew what tests to run and what diagnostic criteria to use. Michelle has had to give up her career and much of her life as she previously knew it. ME/CFS is a neuroimmune disease that can be absolutely devastating. On her worst days, Michelle is unable to move or talk. She now regularly uses a wheelchair and is often bedbound. ME/CFS is largely post-infectious and has been documented to occur in waves following outbreaks and pandemics, and is now revealing itself again through Long Covid.

The Solve ME/CFS Initiative (Solve M.E.) is a non-profit organization that serves as a catalyst for critical research into diagnostics, treatments, and cures for ME/CFS, Long Covid and other post-infection diseases. Their work with the scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical communities, advocacy with government agencies, and alliances with patient groups around the world is laying the foundation for breakthroughs that can improve the lives of millions.

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