HOLLIDAYSBURG, BLAIR COUNTY --- Hollidaysburg will serve as the start and finish line for this weekend's Bike: M.S. Keystone Country Ride 2008.

Close to 500 cyclists will travel from Hollidaysburg to State College on Saturday and head back on Sunday.  That's one hundred more participants than last year.

This tour benefits multiple sclerosis research and services in Blair County.  Event organizers said the tour gets bigger each year, and that's helping them reach their ultimate goal.

Steve Seltzer of Altoona will tell you himself he's out of shape, but that's not going to stop him from biking in the tour.  He said it's easy to be motivated, especially when you're riding for a good cause... in this case multiple sclerosis research.

"I've just come across so many people who have M.S., or have relatives who have M.S., or have friends who have M.S., or get M.S. through the years I've been doing this," Seltzer said.  "I do this because I can."

Seltzer is an old pro at this tour.  This is the 13th year for the Bike:  M.S. Keystone Country Ride.  Seltzer has participated in 11 of them.  He's also raised more then $16,000 himself for M.S. research this year.  Multiple sclerosis services workers said he is just one part of this growing effort.

"We've got people coming in from Pittsburgh, from Washington D.C., from Virginia, from all over Pennsylvania, we've got people coming from Arizona and Florida, too," Sharon O'Keiff of the Multiple Sclerosis National Society said.  "People whose friends and families have been touched by M.S. or are just avid cyclists come to the tour."

Last year the even raised $280,000 for multiple sclerosis research.  O'Keiff said she expects to top that this year.  She said more than 300 people in Blair County alone have multiple sclerosis.  She hopes workers won't have to organize many more tours because a cure for M.S. is the ultimate goal.

"The goal is to ultimately one day not have to worry about doing this and have a cure," O'Keiff said.

The tour starts at Hollidaysburg Junior High School at 7:00 a.m. Saturday.  If you want to join the ride you can still register the registration fee is $25,  with a minimum donation of $250.  You can sign up by calling the Keystone Branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society at (814) 696 1017.