Tomassoni Tour will honor late senator and raise money to fight ALS

Get your bicycles ready for the Tomassoni Tour.

This new, red-carpet event on the Range will give people a chance to fight ALS by enjoying the Mesabi Trail. The trail stretches from Grand Rapids to Ely.

On Wednesday, at the Mesabi Station, the Never Surrender non-profit announced they are launching the tour. It’s coming up September 14-16th.

The plan is to have an opening reception at Fortune Bay, and have people ride out from there or back that point. Organizers will be mapping out the routes once the snow is gone.

There is a full ride, half ride, even a virtual option. E-bikes will also be available.

Never Surrender is the parent company of the Blackwoods Blizzard Tour and the Kolar Toyota ALS Fishing Tournament. Both raise money to fight ALS.

Tomassoni died in August. The Chisholm native was a tireless advocate for the region. In fact, he championed legislation to secure $25 million to support ALS efforts, as his final bill in the legislature.

He also knew that this tour was going to be named for him, and he was humbled and honored by it.

According to Never Surrender, someone is diagnosed with ALS every 90 minutes. And the Midwest has the highest prevalence of the disease.

You can sign up for the tour at: https://www.neversurrenderinc.org/site/TR?fr_id=1170&pg=entry