An annual September bicycle ride created in memory of a local fitness legend has been transformed into a fundraising event for multiple sclerosis.

With a new focus and an extra day of biking, event promoters seek to draw more riders to the Roanoke Valley.

For a dozen years, local cyclists have pedaled 100 miles for a day in September on the Artie Levin Memorial Ride.

It typically attracted about 100 participants, and the entry fees supported activities of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, which Levin founded. Levin, who died in 1996, also had a local fitness television show and fitness column in The Roanoke Times.

Last year, more than 200 people rode in the Artie Levin ride.

"We did a lot of extra marketing," said Greg Edwards, president of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. "We always had visions to growing it to something much, much larger."

But club board members struggled to find enough people with time to put on a well-run bike ride.

"Being able to come up with people to do that much work is a full-time, yearlong commitment," Edwards said.

As the club looked for help to increase participation, the local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was looking to start one of its well-known fundraising bike rides in the valley. In December, the two formalized a partnership.

"Bike MS, nationwide, is the strongest cycling series," said Catherine Turner, development manager for the Blue Ridge chapter of the MS Society.

"It's the largest cycling series in the country. ... We have the resources to do more of the marketing and to pull in more participants to the ride."

The goal is to have 300 participants raise $100,000. The ride is Sept. 27-28 and being held in Buchanan. Thirty people have registered so far, Turner said.

The long-term goal is to draw as many as 1,000 riders.

Even if this year's ride attracts a smaller, more local crowd, supporters said they hope it ultimately attracts people from a regional and national scope.

There are more than 100 Bike MS events annually across the country.

The Blue Ridge chapter already organizes an annual two-day ride in Charlottesville called the MS Tour de Vine, which winds through vineyards and includes wine tasting at the finish line. In June, 500 cyclists raised about $400,000 during the 20th anniversary of the ride, Turner said.

Another Bike MS ride was held May 31 and June 1 along Virginia's Eastern Shore. That ride has been around since 1980 and recently started to attract more riders.

This year 600 riders raised $720,000, said Shannon Rice, director of community development for the Hampton Roads chapter.

The Roanoke Valley ride has potential for promoting economic development in Roanoke Valley, said Dave Kjolhede, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Putting Roanoke Valley on the map as a bike-friendly area could ultimately help attract the younger employees the city is striving to reach, he said.

Kjolhede pointed not only to the positive reputation that the area has for hosting sporting events, but also to the recent uptick in support for improving the greenway system of bike trails in the area.

"The communities in the valley are in the process of starting to build something really special in terms of the greenway system, and any kind of event that focuses attention on the biking can only help to develop the product here," Kjolhede said.

The newest MS bike ride in the state will carry on the tradition of the Artie Levin Memorial Ride by keeping the name. The new full name is Best of the Blue Ridge, the Artie Levin Memorial Ride.

Changes include going from a single-day adventure to a two-day event, and a $250 minimum fundraising requirement.

The route lengths have also changed. While the century, or 100-mile option, will remain, routes for 25, 50 and 75 miles are also included.

The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club will stay actively involved in the ride. The club has been hired by the MS Society as a vendor for the event.

"They are a vendor providing logistical support and will be paid like any other vendor," Turner said, declining to say how much the club will be paid.

That money will be used to continue to support and promote bicycling in the area, Edwards said.

In previous years, the club used funds from the ride to promote helmet use and improve bike trails with bridges and water fountains, Edwards said.