Homeless Advocate Finds Personal Meaning In Multiple Sclerosis Charity Ride
DENVER (CBS4) - Sometimes people who have the least are the most generous. That's certainly the case with Randle Loeb, who has new reasons to give back.
As the sun rises over Denver, Randle Loeb, 63, grabs his bike and heads for an area many avoid.
"I've ridden my bicycle since I could barely move," he told CBS4 recently as he steered through homeless encampments just north of downtown Denver.
His mission is to listen to people living on the streets and give them a voice.
"I'm an advocate," he says. "I've worked for many, many years with homeless people."
Randle helps the homeless and is homeless himself.
"Sometimes I work out arrangements with friends," he says. "Sometimes I travel on a bus. Sometimes I ride my bike."
His bike is important to him. It's his transportation, providing mobility and freedom.
He says many homeless ride bikes.
"They ride the bicycles pretty much until they are worn out."
But Randle also uses his bike to raise money for charity. Every summer he rides 150 miles to Fort Collins and back in Bike MS. He started riding with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless team.
"To me, going on this event is like a picnic," he says, "You know it has a time limit -- a beginning and an end."
He says Bike MS is physically grueling, but it doesn't compare with living on the streets.
"You don't know where you are going to end up, or what the weather's going to be like, and you don't have any options for protecting yourself," Randle says.
LINK: MS Ride
In recent years, Randle's reason for riding has become personal.
"Three years ago, Luce, my oldest daughter, and Lyell, my son, contracted MS."
Now his team is called Randle's Riders in honor of his two children who are fighting the disease he's riding to eradicate.
"I'm really grateful that we have the opportunity to do this together because without having that connection, we are not going to get anywhere."
CBS4 is a proud sponsor of Bike MS. The event is June 28 and 29.
