CARBONDALE - Some people go out of their way to make a difference. Doug Stetson is going more than 3,500 miles to do so.

The 62-year-old Virginia resident dipped the rear wheel of his bicycle into the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia Beach on May 25. He plans to dip the same wheel in the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco on Aug. 30, his 63rd birthday.

Stetson's cross-country bike ride is meant to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research and to build awareness of the disease.

"I know how devastating it is," said Stetson, a pediatrician and scientific researcher. "It's not a very well understood disease."

Stetson belongs to a cycling club called CLAMS, Cycling Legs Against MS. The team participates in an annual two-day, 150-mile ride, which is how Stetson first started long-distance bike riding.

Until a year ago, he had never ridden 75 miles in a day, and now he does it on almost daily.

On Thursday, Stetson stopped in Carbondale after completing his first 100-mile day on Wednesday. He brought his bike to Phoenix Cycles to have some work done before heading back on the road, enjoyed a meal at Mary Lou's and used computers at the Carbondale Public Library.

After riding through the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and Kentucky, Stetson was happy to finally reach the flatlands of the Midwest.

Stetson was inspired to complete the nearly-4,000-mile ride because of the struggles people living with MS experience. Polly Frease, one of the CLAMS team captains, lives with the disease. Stetson sees his ride as symbolic of people with MS.

"It's really a challenge and the outcome is unknown," he said. "For someone with MS, they face these challenges every day."

Stetson calls his wife every time he stops and leaves a message so she knows he is safe. Stetson retired from the Navy, so the couple knows how to handle being separated, he said. His mother, on the other hand, is the one he has to worry about.

"She thinks this is stupid; she's right," he said. "She thinks this is dangerous; she's a little right. And she just wants this to be done."

While the mountains of the Appalachians have been Stetson's biggest challenge so far, his next challenge is the deserts of Nevada. His maps indicate there can be up to 80-mile stretches without stores or gas stations, and temperatures in the 90s at this time of year.

Stetson's goal is to raise $7,916, or $2 per mile of his trip. So far, he has raised $4,709, which is 59 percent of his goal, said Shannon Rice, a staff member with the Hampton Roads Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the local chapter for the CLAMS cycling team.

"I think it says he is extremely committed to what he's doing," Rice said. "It's dedication to the cause."

Spokeswoman Beth Norviel for the NMSS Gateway Area Chapter said 5,300 people live with MS in the chapter's 90-county area in Southern Illinois and eastern Missouri. More than 400,000 people live with the disease across the United States, she said.

"That's why fundraising is so important, so we can continue the research and the local support we provide to those 5,300 individuals," she said.

For Stetson, the journey has not been easy. He said he doesn't know if he will complete the trip or wind up on a Greyhound bus headed back to Virginia Beach.

"People keep telling me to have fun. I'm not having fun. Up to the Ohio River, I've focused on survival," he said. "The fun has been the accomplishment of getting through a given day or road."

adam.testa@thesouthern.com / 351-5031