Updated: 'Amazing Race' host pit stop

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette

Bikers, from left, Todd Felber, Dennis Shannon, Dallas Hayes and Don Pierce and cyclists Tor Olson, Randy Andrews, Candy Crosby and Harold Beebe were among those escorting Phil Keoghan, front, the celebrity host of the CBS television show "The Amazing Race" from a rally in McCook's Kelley Park to U.S. Highway 6-34 Tuesday morning.

Keoghan's blog about his stop in McCook is posted here.

Keoghan is bicycling from Los Angeles to New York, raising awareness of multiple sclerosis -- "a tremendously cruel disease," he called it -- and funds for research and the search for a cure. The goal of Keoghan's cross-country bike ride, he told supporters gathered for breakfast in the park, is to raise $250,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Keoghan said he "fell in love with" the society's "heartfelt effort" and its focus, energy and passion. "It's quite extraordinary," he said. "Nothing compares." Keoghan's park rally was coordinated by the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce. Keoghan and his entourage planned overnight stops in only 30 communities; his next will be in Holdrege.