Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers load or unload bicycles off of trucks. Repetitive moderate lifting is required. This is a work-intensive position. Volunteers are needed in both Mission Bay and Irvine.

Volunteers check-in and check-out bicycles in the storage locker at the overnight location in Carlsbad.

Assist cyclists boarding the bus at Mission Bay on Day 2 of the event.

Support the riders by cheering them on and thanking them for riding for a cure for MS. Great for groups or people with MS and their families or supporters.

This group of volunteers will be ready to assist staff where needed at all locations.

Provide information to riders who are boarding and getting off buses. Provide key information about the hotel shuttle schedule and information about the activities taking place at the Sheraton Carlsbad.

Volunteers provide assistance with luggage loading/unloading. Locations are Irvine, Carlsbad and San Diego. Volunteers may work all locations or only one or two. This position is great for groups. Requires moderate lifting.

Volunteer will provide medical assistance at the start line, overnight location, finish line and at each rest stop. Paramedics, EMT’s, LVN’s and Nurses are needed to service the route and assist in emergencies. Volunteers for the medical team must be licensed or certified professionals.

Work your way along the route snapping photos of sponsorship signage, happy event participants, children, scenery and the magnitude and excitement of it all! You must use your own equipment (digital camera and memory card) and mail photos on CD or DVD within a week of the event. Photos will be used for future marketing materials (photo credit will be given wherever possible), sponsorship verification and more. Call (714) 689-9604 with any questions. Photographers will need to provide their own transportation.

Rest stop volunteers help set up, tear down and operate rest stops throughout the Bike MS Tour route as well as the Century rest stops. This is a great opportunity for large groups. All supplies are provided. Various locations along the route are available.

Volunteers help facilitate our rider check-in events throughout Orange and San Diego Counties. This opportunity takes place prior to the event and the day before the event.

Volunteers will be stationed to direct riders along the route or at blind or dangerous intersections, to provide safety awareness and cheer. This is a great opportunity for groups.

Volunteers place route arrow signs to direct the riders along the route. Volunteers are needed both Friday and Saturday. Both the standard and Century routes will be marked. Teams of two are required to do this assignment. Your own vehicle is required. Motor Vehicle Screening required.

Volunteers are responsible for scouting the route and removing the route marker signs. Your own vehicle is required. Volunteers are needed both Saturday and Sunday in the late afternoon.

Volunteers assist with setting up the Sheraton before riders arrive on Saturday and throughout the day. Volunteers are needed throughout the site on Saturday and at the Expo Center. Volunteers also needed on Sunday morning as riders get ready to start their Day Two ride.

People with muscles, men, fraternities and military groups are good volunteers for this assignment. Setup includes tables, small tents, banners, supplies and other related tasks. May involve some moderate lifting.

Volunteers help maintain the cleanliness of the event site.

Work with staff and other volunteers at the Team Photography booth. Teams (ranging from 4 to 50+ people) will pose on the risers and you snap away! You must use your own equipment (digital camera and memory card) and set your camera to take each photo at least 630x450 pixels or 2MB in size. You must provide ALL images on CD or DVD within a week of the event. We provide your images to the teams as special memorabilia of the event! Call (714) 689-9604 with any questions.

Volunteers will help dismantle the site, load supplies onto pallets and clean up trash in the area. Moderate lifting is required for this position.

Volunteers will cater to the Top Fundraisers by checking riders into their special hospitality area. These volunteers must be at least 21 years old.

Volunteers needed to check-in/register other volunteers and give them their assignments. This position requires leadership and good communication skills working with a variety of people.

Event Directions

Directions for Day 1 of Bike MS: Bay to Bay can be found here. For Day 2 directions, click here.

Want to volunteer throughout the year?

Join us from the comfort of your home or at one of the chapter offices to help prepare for events, enter data, answer phones and plenty more! If you want to put your skills towards a worthy cause, click here to submit a volunteer application.

Volunteers can raise funds too! Bike MS volunteers have access to a variety of great fundraising tools. When you register online, you may access your Participant Center where you can set a fundraising goal, update your personal page to share your story with others, e-mail supporters, track your progress and qualify for great fundraising prizes!

If you would like more information about fundraising or volunteering at the Bike MS, please contact Linda Ingram at (760) 448-8416.

Do you have what it takes to be a volunteer captain?

Bike MS is recruiting for a Volunteer Crew Captain Team. There are many key areas at Bike MS that need leaders to manage and direct other volunteers. Minimum age is 18 and volunteer must be responsible. As a leader, we ask you to recruit volunteers for your area and join our crew captain's calls, which will be starting in the spring.

Bring your ideas and let's make sure Bike MS 2015 has oodles of volunteers at the festival sites, out on the route and at the rest stops. Crew Captain Teams will be needed in Orange County, San Diego North County and San Diego. Contact Linda Ingram at linda.ingram@nmss.org or 760-448-8416.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of our Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour Planning Committee. We think you will find the experience personally rewarding and you’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing you are and were part of planning the Best Bike Event in Southern California (we’re not bragging — Competitor Magazine has honored our MS Bay to Bay Bike event 7 times and the Committee members are very proud of that distinction).

Your involvement is critical to our success and we understand that you may have a lot of questions about what is involved. The good news is, while there are some simple requirements, you can customize what you want to do and the time you can reasonably give to this event. We would like to lay out for you what we the committee view as the minimum requirements to become a member of the Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour Planning Committee and what additional activities you may perform that the committee has found to produce tremendous benefit to the overall success of the event.

The below two items are the minimum requirements we ask. Our planning committee is not just an idea factory but also an engaged and active committee that is willing to give up some of their time outside of event weekend.

1. Attend monthly meetings - Meetings have typically been held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 6pm 8:30pm. The meeting location has been at Concordia Elementary School in San Clemente, CA (100 mile lunch stop location). In 2015 we will be occasionally testing out a video conference call edition where each member will choose to individually meet at either the NMSS office in Orange County (Santa Ana) or the NMSS office in San Diego (Scripps Ranch area).

2. Sit on a work team(s)

Mentors are responsible for creating programs to work with Bike MS participants on their fundraising, recruitment and event weekend questions. Sub-Committee chair will work with Bike staff to ensure that they have all materials needed to mentor.

Medical Support individuals are responsible for recruiting medical staff for rest stops and setting medical equipment standards and supplies for rest stop.

Safety and Training crew are responsible for development of all rider safety and training initiatives leading up to the Bay to Bay Tour.

Ride Marshals act as Safety Ambassadors by sharing cycling advice and encouraging safe cycling behaviors during the Tour. Ride Marshals provide basic mechanical assistance to riders when necessary. They also identify unsafe cyclists to ride officials. Ride Marshals may also perform the role of managing accident scenes along ride routes until first responders arrive.

SAG (Support and Gear) Crew is responsible for the safe transport of participants in the event of mechanical difficulties that cannot be handled on the route and for being the lookouts on the road during the event.

• CARES (Coastal Amateur Radio Emergency Services) / SOARA (South Orange Amateur Radio Association) runs the SAG vehicle program and is responsible for actual transport of riders and their cycles with the primary goal of rider and pedestrian safety.
• MARC (Motorcycle Amateur Radio Club) provides safe and reliable mobile two-way radio communication to support the Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour with safety as the primary objective. They communicate with SAG vehicles as well as Bike MS official route vehicles to warn of road conditions and emergent circumstances.

This Sub-Committee is responsible for creating and implementing no-cost / low-cost ideas to raise awareness and participation for the Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour which will supplement Bike MS’ existing marketing and new media plan.

Sponsorship/GIK staff is responsible for sourcing companies in OC and SD that would be willing to get involved in the Bay to Bay Tour by donating cash, product, volunteer groups or recruiting Expo vendors. Sub-Committee chair will work with Bike staff to ensure that no prior relationship exists.

Bike Shops and Ambassador Supporters are responsible for the overall grassroots marketing efforts and ensuring that we have a presence at local rides as well as getting the word out about the Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour to bike shops. In addition to promotion of the event, the Bike Shop Crew solicits bike shops to become Official Bike Shops of the event where the shop agrees to provide either mechanics for the event or supplies for our Ride Marshals and SAG Crew among other sponsorship collaboration between the NMSS and the bike shop.

This work team is responsible for all aspects of creating and maintaining a safe and challenging route for the Bay to Bay Tour. Members are charged with keeping up with any route obstacles, construction or changes that directly affect the existing route. They are responsible for preparation of all route slips, route marking expectations, STRAVA competitions and rest stop / lunch stop experiences as well as other route related materials.

A unique position within this Work Team is a Volunteer Liaison to work with the NMSS Volunteer Coordinator in setting volunteer work duties and descriptions for all phases of the event, such as set up, route marshals, cheer teams, event site volunteers, etc.

The below activities are recommended activities that the committee has found to produce tremendous benefit to the overall success of the event. As an engaged committee member, we ask that you choose as many of the below options that you feel comfortable or confident that you will be able to carry out. If you don’t feel you can meet the minimum requirements but feel confident that you can carry out some of the optional tasks we would welcome your assistance in each or any of these endeavors.

• Volunteer at other MS Events
• Recruit a volunteer team
• Make a formal presentation to a civic group, a bike club, etc.
• Hand out 25 Bike MS informational business cards to promote Bike MS
• Attend an ambassador event
• Stage a Rogue Rest Stop (set up a table & provide drinks & snacks & display ride material on a heavily traveled bike route)
• Bike Shop Liaison & Support (target of 2 shops)
• Attend/Organize a training ride/rally
• Be a Team Captain
• Be or Recruit a Ride Marshal
• Adopt a piece of the route for either marking or keeping staff up-to-date on construction, etc.
• Adopt a company to find the corporate connection or bring your own personal corporate connection to our annual CEOs breakfast in February
• Adopt a fitness center for recruitment & promotion
• Mentor a new team or new rider (mentor sub-committee)
• Drive the mission in a particular way
• Phone Calls Thank You, Recruitment, Cultivation
• Social Media on a weekly basis (share, like, post)

Now that you have read over our minimum requirements and additional support opportunities we still have your attention please feel free to contact the Bike MS Manager, Eric Beck, at eric.beck@nmss.org to find out what the next step is in joining the planning committee.

Ride Marshals are respected riders who are the Safety and Good Will Ambassadors to help keep the Bay to Bay Tour safe while on routes. On event weekend, safety is our number one priority and is critical to maintain the integrity of the event. We need registered, experienced cyclists who can set a great example for our riders and as a thank you, we'll hook you up with 2 free drink tickets for the beer garden at the finish line at Hospitality Point.

Download the Ride Marshal Flyer (PDF)

Ride Marshals act as safety ambassadors by sharing cycling advice and encouraging safe cycling behaviors. Ride Marshals may also perform the role of first responders at accident scenes along ride routes and identify unsafe cyclists to ride officials. In addition, Ride Marshals are often asked to provide basic assistance to riders who may experience problems, such as flat tires, along the route.

The Chapter is currently seeking safety-focused, experienced and enthusiastic registered riders to join the Ride Marshal Program. Bike Tour Ride Marshals must meet all of the following minimum requirements:

• Be passionate and knowledgeable about safe cycling and be willing to work with all levels of cyclists to promote safe cycling.
• Have a basic knowledge of bicycle repair (classes will be available).
• Have previously participated in at least one Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour.
• Attend a Ride Marshal orientation. Orientation dates are yet to be determined.

To sign up for more information, or contact Lutz (Yogi) Kunze at lutzkunze@verizon.net or 909-841-1284.