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NORTH ATTLEBORO - A team of North Attleboro students will be breaking in their bicycles as they ride 150 miles this weekend to raise money for multiple sclerosis research.

The team, dubbed "Break the Cycle" will be riding in the MS-150 bike tour, which raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The funds go for research, support programs and awareness about the disease.

The team, which includes more than 20 North Attleboro High School students, graduates and a few parents - is on track to raise $10,000 for the cause.

The team was organized by Nicole Caron, a North Attleboro resident and nursing student at the University of Massachusetts who has multiple sclerosis. Caron first experienced symptoms at 15 while at soccer camp. When three fingers went numb, Caron initially thought she had a sport-related injury, but she was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after her attacks worsened and she began to experience cycles of migraines and blurred vision.

On her MS-150 cyclist profile, Caron wrote: "I ride because I never again want to know what it is like to be numb, or to have optic neuritis. I want to be able to be more confident that I will never become paralyzed, or go blind. I will continue fighting until there is a cure, because nobody should have to live with the uncertainty that myself, and millions of other people, have to live with everyday."

Caron's friends, who formed a support network for her, jumped at the chance to participate in this weekend's bike tour, which runs from Narragansett, R.I., to Connecticut College, and back.

"The kids are really making such a difference," Judy Caron said of her daughter's team. "Especially in this economy, all of the biotech companies that do research are hurting. Every dollar really helps."

Not only did the team raise money through car washes and collections outside local stores, they had the support and help of teachers and the administration at North Attleboro High School.

Proceeds from a dress down day at the school went toward the cause.