56572 welcomes Father Wieser

Nick Coleman, Star Tribune

I didn't realize Stan Wieser was a priest the first time we talked. But then again, he didn't tell me.

"When I'm drinking Leinenkugel's and eating cheese curds, I really don't want to mention it," he says.

By now, as many people have probably seen Stan on a bike as in a Roman collar. Although he has been a priest 39 years, he's as well-recognized rolling along the highways and by-ways of Minnesota as on an altar. Stan is pastor of Ave Maria Catholic Church in Wheaton, Minn., and will soon be moving to St. Leonard's in Pelican Rapids, Minn. But at this time of year, he starts thinking about putting some mettle to the pedal.

Father Stan is one of just 14 folks who have ridden each and every MS TRAM Bike Tour since Minnesota's best charity bicycle ride began in 1990. For the past couple of years, this newspaper has been proud to call it the Star Tribune MS TRAM, and to help make it a success for the Minnesota chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I was on the ride during its first five years, and returned last year. But Stan is one of a small number of hardy souls who has made every ride.

My helmet is off to him.

Stan did his first TRAM at age 47, after he returned from a stint as a missionary in South America and found his weight had ballooned to 257 pounds. Now, with the help of the MS TRAM, he keeps his weight down to around 200, although the gantlet of beer and brats TRAM riders run sometimes makes him gain a few pounds while biking 60 miles a day.

"Last year, with all the hills we rode, I gained 10 pounds," he says. "I don't know how that happened, but it sure was fun."

Stan will be 65 when he makes his 18th Minnesota bike excursion next month, as the 2007 Star Tribune MS TRAM Bike Tour rolls toward the tall pines and clear headwaters of the Mississippi River from July 22 to July 27.

Consider this your invitation to join Stan, me and 2,000 fellow travelers on the ride of a lifetime.

Since its beginning, TRAM has raised $10 million for the fight against multiple sclerosis, with a total of about 20,000 riders pedaling six million miles. And (I won't lie) enjoying a beer or two.

This year, Father Stan is part of a TRAM team that is calling itself One Summit is Never Enough, a title that indicates a switch in brand loyalties from Leinie's to St. Paul's Summit beer. In addition to the priest, the team has a doctor, a lawyer, three nurses and an undertaker. Together, they can examine you, marry you and bury you. But try not to bother them.

They will be too busy having a blast to want to work.

The Star Tribune MS TRAM is the most fun you can have on two wheels, and (despite the beer) as wholesome as a family p! icnic. In fact, it IS a kind of family picnic, an annual rolling feast that attracts all ages, from 8 to 88, and spends five days and 300 miles giving them a handlebar's view of Minnesota and making sure everyone gets acquainted with everyone else in the festival.

Already, 1,200 riders have registered for next month's TRAM, but there is room for more, and time to get ready. Now that the kids are out of school, I invite you to sit down with a calendar, circle the fourth week of July, and get ready to ride with us.

We'll be staying in summer vacation hot spots such as Walker, Park Rapids, and Fergus Falls, visiting Itasca State Park and Alexandria and meeting our family -- the family of Minnesota -- as we go.

I have promised to kiss Otto the Otter in Fergus Falls if we don't get 2,000 riders. So please, help me out here.

It's a good time for a great cause, so you will be asked to register for a nominal fee, $50, to help defray costs, and ! to raise pledges for the MS Society. Believe me, it's worth it!

You'll come home feeling tired and sore, and good about yourself and your beautiful state. You may even run into a great priest at the beer tent, without knowing it.