Alex Lamprecht feels the need for speed with the wind in her hair.

The financial advisor at Thrivent is gearing up for her seventh Bike MS ride this summer. “The gameplan is I’m going to try to do 100 miles in one day,” Lamprecht said on a break from her job.

Lamprecht will join a team from Bike Peoria that’s going to ride in the Bike MS: Tour de Farms 2022 on June 26-27 in Kane County. The event is one of almost 70 nationwide in conjunction with Bike MS, which bills itself as “the largest fundraising cycling series in the world.” Nearly 75,000 riders saddle up for Bike MS all around the U.S. each year.

The Illinois event starts at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles with participants riding 25-, 50-, 75- or 100-mile routes. Lamprecht, who did a 75-mile Bike MS ride in Wisconsin in 2010, is going all-in this year. “I’m excited to be back in Illinois,” she said. “In Wisconsin it was hill after hill. I’m glad it’s going to be in Illinois. It’s flat.”

Lamprecht is also excited to get outside and ride, what with the beastly weather lately in central Illinois. She has been training inside in Les Mills SPRINT spin classes at the RiverPlex.

“I love the feeling of speed and the wind,” said Lamprecht, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010. “Heat is a big deal with MS. It’s been said that it kind of makes you feel like a wilted flower. And the wind (from riding) really helps.

“I can’t run a mile, but I can ride for miles and miles.”

Up next, before Tour de Farms, is the Beers and Gears Pub Ride fundraiser May 28 here in town. The Peoria Area National MS Society is teaming with Bike Peoria to help recognize World Multiple Sclerosis Day. The ride starts at Industry Brewing Company just north of Pioneer Parkway, heads south on the Rock Island Trail to Peoria Heights, then loops back for an after party at the Fox Pub and Cafe.

“Our focus will be ‘Ride 100 miles with Alex’ and get some hype going for Tour de Farms,” Lamprecht said. “I am not someone who is going to give you a bunch of bike lingo.

“I just like to ride.”

Along the way on the trail that Saturday, the Peoria Park District’s Parks on Tap van will be serving suds at a station at the Bicycle Safety Town. And 22VA will be unveiling a special statue “Wheels Within Wheels” on the RIT near the Peoria Heights Library at 12:30 p.m. Oliver’s in the Heights is on board for a stop, and Brian Gorsich, who is the National MS Society Board of Trustees Chair, Peoria Area Community Council, hopes to bring more businesses into the fold by May 28.

Registration starts at 11 a.m. on the 28th (entry fee $25 online at bikepeoria.org or $30 day of the ride) with the riders heading out to the various stops starting a noon. The after party is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. in the parking lot at the Fox Pub.

“It’s going to be a casual start. Sign up, sign a waiver and take off on the ride,” said Gorsich, who will join Lamprecht at Tour de Farms. “We are asking everybody to come back to the Fox Pub, where we will do some additional fundraising.”

The Bike Peoria team will be recruiting interested riders to join its group for Tour de Farms. Gorsich also said the Peoria society is working to establish an official Bike MS supported ride in the future, perhaps as soon as next year.

In the meantime, Lamprecht is focusing on her bike, Beers and Gears and Tour de Farms.

“Here I am with MS — a fully functioning person — and I can ride,” she said. “I love my job, and I love my life.”