What a great way to use the Parkway, helping people!
A wonderful story!
An excerpt.
Disease is bump in road for rider
By M.S. Enkoji -- Bee Staff Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, August 5, 2006
Time was, John Crews could command his body to soar on a bicycle, twisting and turning, making mouths drop open -- on several continents.
He was paid handsomely then to compete in biking motocross, riding on the cutting edge of an emerging sport born on dusty tracks in California.
So when the ever-so-slight tremors began to quiver his fingers, he closed off thoughts of disease, disability.
Tests, doctors, more tests. No more denials: Not even 40 yet, Crews had Parkinson's disease, a degeneration of nerve cells that robs the body of muscular control.
There is no cure.
"The first thing you say is 'Why me?' " said Crews, now 43.
A pioneering pro on the BMX circuit during the 1970s and 1980s, Crews didn't take long to leave self-pity behind in the dust.
He looked to biking cousins like road-racing Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor.
"Everybody's got some issue," said Crews, now owner of Bicycles Plus, a Folsom shop perched near the bike trail on the American River Parkway.
Crews and two other biking friends have joined forces to combine their passions for cycling and their causes.
The first annual Ride for a Reason, unlike other charity bike rides, is designed for families and casual riders unwilling to slice through traffic for upward of 100 miles.
Ride for a Reason's entire course is protected from motor vehicle traffic on the American River Parkway bike trail over a 13-mile loop around Lake Natoma. Riders have three hours to complete as many loops or as many miles as possible. And, unlike other rides, there will be at least $30,000 in prizes, from high-performance bicycles to high-end barbecue grills.
The Aug. 19 ride will benefit three charities, including the Davis Phinney Foundation, named for the Colorado man who collected more wins than any other U.S. cyclist and, like Crews, has Parkinson's. The foundation funds research toward a cure and therapy.
