Teresa Kendrick Managing Editor
The first-ever 2025 Ride to Defeat ALS took place in Wimberley last weekend, bringing together the families and friends of people living with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, most commonly strikes middle-aged adults and affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
Riding the 10-mile Willow Lake loop on Saturday were Dylan and Grace Byrne and their great aunt Josolyn Nelson. Dylan and Grace are the children of former Wimberley Councilmember Christine Byrne, who resigned her position on the city council in 2023 because her husband James was diagnosed with ALS. After two decades in Wimberley, Christine and James moved to upper state New York, an area they love, where their oldest son Ian and Jim’s extended family live.
After his diagnosis, James retired from his work as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in San Antonio as a result of learning he had the disease.
Grace and brother Dylan learned about the 2025 Ride to Defeat ALS from their Great-Aunt Josolyn Nelson, who learned about it in January. In two short months, the siblings raised more than $11,000 in pledges.
“The ride was an opportunity to get involved with the ALS family,” said Dylan, who still resides in Texas. “It was the first time that my sister, greataunt and I could get together to attend an ALS function. Until this event, I never met another person who either was suffering from ALS or had a family member who was. Everyone at the ride was there for someone else and it was good to be there for the community.”
Overall support for the cause was robust. Organizers said the goal for Saturday’s ride was $100,000 and they exceeded their goal by $36,000 “It was great to see how many people in Wimberley came out to support our family,” said Dylan. “It was great to see how many lives he touched in the two decades we lived in Wimberley.”
When asked what led to her decision to participate in the ride, Grace, who attends university in Houston said, “Dad is and always has been one of my biggest supporters. He is such a great role model. He lived a busy, disciplined life, worked hard, took excellent care of his health and supported his family. I wanted to honor him by riding, although he would have never asked us to do it.”
