In 2014 a psychological study found that cyclists have a unique blend of intelligent generosity and the "cool" factor. Now there is a reason to get on your bike!!
Thursday evening I received a text from Paul Harrold co-founder at Paraguide asking if I could help two of their athletes reassemble a tandem ready for a race they have on Saturday, you bet of course.
Who are Paraguide? They are a 503c3 non-profit organization founded in Charlotte NC in 2017 by Shannon Houlihan and Paul Harrold with the purpose of supporting adaptive athletes in the pursuit of accessibility, inclusion and equity. Services provided by Paraguide include sighted guides for adaptive athletes who want to walk, run, cycle and swim or participate in group exercise events.
Friday I had the pleasure of meeting two fine athletes, Joseph Matta and Paul Shields, they had both flown in from Texas the previous day and competing in a 40k time trial race on the Saturday morning in Wade NC. Both Joseph and Paul are accomplished, talented cyclists and athletes, Paul an adaptive athlete and Joseph his tandem pilot (Joseph steers and operates the controls). Together we completed the build, installing the electronic controls (Shimano Di2), correcting Paul's position and dialing in the drivetrain and disk brakes on Paul's beautiful Calfee built tandem, this bike is a work of art.
So fast forward to Saturday afternoon i am please to say that Paul and Joseph took second place in the mens category with an average speed around 25mph, that's impressive seeing as their training has been impacted by Covid restrictions and social distancing. Congratulations gentleman.
If you are interested in learning more about Paraguide and would like to get involved or help please like and follow Paraguide on your socials. Paraguide do offer training sessions for persons interested in becoming a sighted guide please check out their website for more information http://www.paraguide.org/ the training may be impacted by current Covid restrictions.