ZELIENOPLE — While many Butler County residents were sleeping Saturday, more than a thousand bicyclists started a journey from Zelienople to Lake Erie to help fight a debilitating disease.

The Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society kicked off its 29th annual Bike MS Escape to the Lake ride at 7 a.m. at Glick Fire Equipment, 2348 Evans City Road in Zelienople.

Nearly 1,300 riders are biking 150 miles during two days to Conneaut, Ohio.

Chris Pfeiffer, the lead organizer, said the ride will raise more than $900,000.

“This is the premier charity ride in Western Pennsylvania,” he said.

Part of the funds raised will go to locally supporting people with multiple sclerosis, including helping them pay for housing and utility bills.

Money also will go to national research in fighting the disease.

Each participating cyclist has a fundraising minimum of $300, although some riders raise more than $10,000.

Pfeiffer said there is an extraordinary amount of planning needed to safely guide riders the 150 miles.

“This is my full-time job,” he said. “It’s a year-round effort.”

Pfeiffer said the society finds its riders through networking at bike shops.

“We’re tied into the bike scene in Pittsburgh,” he said. “And a lot of our riders are through teams and companies.”

“We have a lot of support from local bike shops,” he said, adding Dapper Bicycle in Zelienople and Immel Bicycle Center in Gibsonia are longtime supporters.

The society depends on nearly 250 volunteers to help orchestrate the massive bike ride.

Bike MS works with volunteer fire departments to ensure the safety along the bike route.

“We depend on firefighters to direct and manage traffic at the intersections,” he said. “We use a lot of volunteer fire police.”

The Portersville-Muddy Creek Township Fire Department and Jackson Township Police Department assisted along the route in Butler County.

Pfeiffer said the two departments are longtime supporters of the ride.

“They’ve worked with us for years,” he said. “We greatly appreciate the support we get.”

The society also needed to get approval from the state Department of Transportation and state police.

Pfeiffer said safety is a main concern when attempting to organize an event of this scale.

The riders took off in waves to split the group up.

“They’ll take off in waves of 100 or 150 riders every 10 minutes,” he said before the ride started. “It just makes it a little safer.”

The fastest riders left first so they didn’t have to pass the less experienced.

“The fastest cyclists will be going at about 20 mph,” he said. “The slowest will be around 8 to 10 mph.”

Pfeiffer said there are a variety of riders.

“There are riders with all sorts of cycling experience,” he said. “Some of the men and women are very experienced and ride every weekend. Some people only do one event per year.”

For the convenience of all riders, Pfeiffer said the route has rest stops every 12 to 18 miles, including stops at Moraine State Park and in Grove City.

The stops offer a variety of features to riders, including food and bike mechanics. Emergency personal from ambulances are expected to be at each stop.

While the rest stops serve as a safe haven for cyclists, there also is “support and gear” support vehicles that assist riders along the road.

“They can pick up people who break down or start to cramp,” Pfeiffer said.

The event also depends on other volunteer groups, including HAM radio operators and the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, a motorcycle club with some members in the county.

The bicyclists will spend Saturday night at Allegheny College in Meadville.

Pfeiffer said he is fortunate the college handles the headache of making sleeping arraignments. The college also will cater a full lunch at the town square in Mercer on Saturday.

In addition to this weekend’s ride, the society hosts two smaller rides.

The Keystone Country Ride will take cyclists from Hollidaysburg to State College, while the Cook Forest River Ride will travel around the state park.

“Between all three bike rides in the state, we’ll raise about $1.5 million,” Pfeiffer said.