Drive a SUV through certain segments of society and you’re likely to be derided as a fiend personally responsible for blackening the sky, raising gas prices and aiming for people in crosswalks. Why, then, don’t Forester drivers, who technically are hauling around town in SUVs, face the same psychic daggers from the Green populace?

It’s because Subaru has, rightly, established a reputation for well-made, smart vehicles, the Forester traditionally has been one of its most reliable, and because people in Subarus, for the most part, don’t drive them like testosterone-laced buffoons. Since its American introduction in 1998, the Forester has been big enough for the family but not so gallootish as to send small cars skidding out of the way. It’s more of a taller station wagon than a sport ute. And — it must be said — Subaru has traditionally turned out fairly homely vehicles, endearing it to bohemians and nonconformists everywhere.

Now, for 2009, it’s been both blanded down and given steroids; it’s bigger everywhere. What remains is a brickhouse-solid, well-laid out machine that can take it over rough city roads, busy highways and inclement weather.

You’re not going to pound through forests or valley streams, but it’s got a particularly balanced build that I trusted over a 300-plus-mile weeklong test through sheets of rain and Dante-like summer heat. It’s also a particularly safe ride, too, having recently earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest safety thumbs-up, the Top Safety Pick, for its stellar performance in rear-impact, side and front crashes. The car is further assisted in fender-benders — and worse — by an electronic stability control system, active head restraints, side-impact front airbags and air curtains. If you’re going to wreck, this is the vehicle to do it in.

It comes in many flavors; the base 2.5X; the 2.5X Premium Package, 2.5X Limited, 2.5XT and my fully-equipped tester, the 2.5XT Limited. The price is right for the base model, starting at $19,995 and including a five-speed manual transmission mated to a four-cylinder, 2.5 liter, 170-horsepower engine; stickers rise from there to the 2.5XT, starting at $26,195. Its interior uses new higher-quality materials, including double-stitched fabrics and high-grade plastics. Mileage is an OK-but-not-miserable 20 miles per city gallon, 24 highway.

A longer wheelbase yields improved interior roominess and ride quality over previous models, and its new chassis improves crash-worthiness. Finally, my prototype test model had a panoramic sunroof spanning the front and rear, making the car almost a convertible, when desired. That alone places the Forester ahead of its competition in its price range.

If there’s a single complaint, it’s the absence of the Forester’s formerly nerdy body - but adolescence has to end sometime.

Lee’s Summit Subaru thrives on teamwork.

That’s why Vice President and General Manager Bruce McWilliams said the Bike MS: Kansas City Ride was a perfect fit for them.

Bike MS is an annual fund-raising event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the event has raised $21 million locally.

McWilliams said Lee’s Summit Subaru is proud to be a sponsor for the first time this year, and entered a riding team of 14 participants.

“Subaru is a company that seems to attract a lot of people that are active,” he said. “The MS ride is a great organization and a great way to work with a lot of our clients who own bikes.”

Patrick Steiner, general sales manager with Subaru, said he hasn’t been on a bike in 20 years but has been training to ride in this year’s event for the first time.

“I’m going to give it a whirl,” he said. “I have met with people who have MS and how it’s struck their lives. It’s amazing to see what people go through with it.”

Steiner said on any given Saturday, 200 to 300 cyclists will ride by the dealership, stopping in for a rest and some water.

Bike MS: Kansas City Ride, presented by Sam’s Club, runs from Sept. 6 to 7 starting at Peculiar High School to Sedalia and finishing back at the school. The ride is designed for people of all skill levels. Day one offers three options: the traditional route of approximately 80 miles, the century loop of 100 miles, or a more leisurely route of some 30 miles that loops back to the starting line.

The weekend includes catered meals, frequent rest stops with food and water, and an overnight stay at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.

Lee’s Summit resident Dee Leman said she can’t remember how many years she has been cycling in the event, but her reasons for starting are clear.

“I have an older sister that was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago,” she said. “When I heard about the ride from a friend, it immediately piqued my interest. I wanted to do it in my sister’s honor.”

Leman just returned from an MS ride that took her across the state of Iowa. She traveled 450 to 500 miles in six days, and said she feels ready for the Kansas City ride.

“Here in MO you have the three ‘Hs,’ - heat, hills and headwinds.” she said. “That’s why I won’t decide which route I will do until that morning. I’m not a fast rider and I don’t do heat like I use to.”

This year, Leman will ride with team Lee’s Summit Subaru, and has already banked $1,000 in fund-raising for the event. But she quickly adds that the amount of money she raises is not as important as the cause for which she rides.

“The volunteers and the awesome people at the event treat you like some kind of rock star,” she said. “But the real heroes are the people at the end of the ride who give you a medal, the people with MS that live with it every day. That should be reversed, they should get the medals.”