Community Corner
Farmington Hills Woman with MS Rides to Beat the Disease
Tanya Nordhaus was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after years of riding in the MS150 fundraiser.
Tanya Nordhaus was just a teenager when a friend asked her to ride in the MS 150 (now Bike MS), a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society.
"I did it because I was always into doing things that were good for other people," the Farmington Hills resident said. "I also did it for the personal challenge."
Over the past 12 years, that challenge has grown to epic proportions, as Nordhaus battles symptoms of the very disease she has raised nearly $50,000 to fight.
"One person every hour is diagnosed with MS," she said. "My hour was 7 a.m. on February 20, 2001."
Nordhaus was hospitalized, unable to walk or to see clearly. Her cycling partner had brought in a photo of her cycling across the line at the previous year's fundraiser.
"The very first thing I said (after hearing the diagnosis) was, 'See that picture? That's me crossing the finish line of the MS 150. I'm gonna do that again."
Her doctor predicted she wouldn't make it that year, but she did, only after re-learning how to walk and how to get on a bike with impaired balance. "If you ask my grandmother, she will tell you I have been fiercely determined since I was little," Nordhaus said.
She's training now with her 26-member team – one of the largest in the state – for the Mid Michigan Great Lakes Breakaway July 13 and 14; they're at Kensington MetroPark every Saturday morning, riding for increasing amounts of time. During the weekend ride, bikers take rest stops every 8-12 miles for snacks and Gatorade.
'... it's exhausting and it's exhilarating'
"It's tiring and it's exhausting and it's exhilarating at the same time," she said. "You're accomplishing something before most people have gotten out of bed ... I feel like a million bucks afterward, even though I'm exhausted."
Extreme fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness are the symptoms that affect her most – so even before she hops on a bike, she's already tired.
"You really have to psych yourself up," she said. "When you're going up a steep hill, and it's raining or it's really hot, you ask yourself, 'Why am I doing this?'."
But Nordhaus has come up with a few tricks that help. She visualizes herself laying on the couch, and she also tracks her progress by watching the newspaper boxes between Fenton and East Lansing change from Flint Journal to Lansing State Journal.
Her father, Tim Roycraft, and husband, Mark Nordhaus, ride with her. While Mark is a fast rider, she said, "I give him a lot of credit for slowing down for me."
The couple's 2-year-old daughter Amelia is already preparing to carry the torch; she heads straight to the bikes when it's time to play at her pre-school.
Nordhaus said she won't be able to do the full ride this year, but will cover 120 miles. And she knows the day will come when she can't participate. "That will be a hard year," she said.
At the same time, she believes MS "can make you a stronger person, in some ways. I think it makes you stronger if you want it to, because you don't want it to defeat you."
Even though the race is in July, donors can contribute to Nordhaus's team through September. Donations can be made through her online Bike MS page at bikemig.nationalmssociety.org.
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