Intro to the 2015 Ride to Remember
In the past, I have always participated in one fundraising ride each year. This has always been the annual Tour to Tanglewood which benefits the National MS Society, and ultimately helps to find a cure for my Mother who has MS. This year, I am doing something completely different as part of my entry back into the world of cycling after about 10 months away. As part of a promise that I made to my wife Toni before buying a bike, I will be participating in a ride to benefit Alzheimer's research. Why would this be a part of the deal you might ask? Well, while MS has touched my life, Alzheimer's has touched Toni's life. Her Grandmother Maybel died with this disease. Toni remembers her as being the single most important person in her life growing up. She credits Maybel with doing the vast majority of her raising. This impact on her life was had before Toni reached middle school. Her Grandma passed away in July 1988 because of this disease. In addition to her Grandmother, Toni's Aunt Margaret also currently suffers from this disease. While she is still alive, the disease has caused her to have to leave home in favor of going to a nursing home which is better able to meet her increasing needs. As if that wasn't enough, Toni's Mother is also starting to show signs of this disease. While it has not been diagnosed, it is safe to say that the evidence is there to support that Alzheimer's runs in the family.
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| Margaret Stout-Brandon 2012 She needs your help, please donate today |
Yes, I have given this a lot of thought, and my only conclusion has been...Yes, I will still love her, and I will care for her to the best of my abilities no matter what happens, good or bad. It seems like a bunch of reactive lip service though. Its easy to make promises now when you can still hope that it won't happen. I've never been much of a fan of being reactive when I have the ability to do something about a potential problem. I call it stacking the deck in my favor. How do I stack this particular deck...well, when I was riding to support the NMSS I was raising a lot of money to fight a disease that my Mother has. Toni and I spent a good bit of time looking for something similar that would benefit the Alzheimer's Association in our neck of the woods. Sadly, there were no bike rides, only walks and runs.
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| Mary Belle Ellis Stout circa 1979 06/1921 -- 07/1988 Please donate today |
Oddly enough, shortly thereafter, I got bit by the cycling bug again and found myself back in the local bike shop buying a new bike. I had already made the decision that I would ride and train like I had in the past because that was the only way I can truly enjoy cycling. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of hours away from home, and away from Toni. She was fine with that because she wants to see me happy and enjoying life. However, I really wanted her to see some form of benefit from my riding again. Of course, A Ride to Remember popped right into my head. I discussed this briefly with her and said that if I did get back into cycling, I would strongly consider doing this ride in Grandma Maybel's memory, and in Aunt Margaret's honor.
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| Support my ride by donating today |
After just a couple of months back on a bike, the registration opened up for the 2015 Ride to Remember. It was time to put up or shut up. This was going to be a large scale undertaking for our family. First off, it was going to be an entire weekend where we would be involved with the event. Since it was out of town, we were going to have to spend nights in hotels, and with this being a stage event going from one side of South Carolina to the other, we would be in different hotels each night. Toni, and our daughter Sierra would be bringing the transportation for me and my bike which meant that they would be following along the way. Logistically, this was going to be a more involved event than my one day ride to the NC coast for a double century.
I started to have second thoughts about this ride, not so much because of the distance, although, that is a lot of miles for just three days. It was the cost for hotel stays, food, and travel expenses. Not to mention time away from work, and the training needed for a ride of this scope. I really thought that it was going to be too much of a drain on our family resources. Honestly, it will be....but I was losing sight of why I was wanting to ride this ride in the first place. I was tired of be reactive to a disease that might be getting closer to Toni as we speak. Almost overnight, my attitude changed, and I decided that I was going to do this ride one way or the other, and I was going to give it my all. I will ride the 252 miles across SC while Toni and Sierra volunteer along the way. As a family we are going to make a stand against Alzheimer's disease! If just one of those 252 miles is the one that allows Toni to remember her own life, then every pedal stroke will be worth it. Of course, without your generous donations, those 252 miles will just be for my own health. It is your dollars that make my miles worth it. Lets stack the deck in favor of beating this disease, and raise as much money as we possibly can!
In April, a slight change was announced to the second day's route. No longer would it be 85 miles, we would now be riding 88 miles through the heart of South Carolina. This is getting dangerously close to being a second century. Oh well, I'm committed, and a few extra miles won't keep me away!
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| 2014 Ride to Remember |
Ride details for each day.
July 17 Route--67 miles, Simpsonville to Newberry
July 18 Route--88 miles, Newberry to Orangeburg (Updated)
July 19 Route--100 miles, Orangeburg to Charleston
Please donate by clicking this link, any amount is greatly appreciated.
My personal challenge for fund raising...
What have I done to make this a ride to remember? Well, I decided that I would do a little challenge to help motivate some donations. I had set an early goal of $1750.00 for this ride, and saw that I was getting close to it. In order to possibly set myself up to surpass this goal, I offered up a little personal challenge. If I could reach that goal by March 1st, I would shave my legs. Simple enough, and something I had been toying with for a while now. It was what a proper cyclist is supposed to do, and I also know first hand how bad pulling a bandage from a hairy leg feels. I figured that if I had enough donations, I would go ahead and make the plunge. Well, I got the donations needed and that sealed the deal.
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| The last time I rode a bike with hairy legs |
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| Yeah, I used one of my daughter's disposable razors, but not quite yet. |
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| First, I had to take the clippers to my legs, much like they do to sheep. |
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| Then it was time to shave. This is not fun at all, is it ladies? |
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| In the end, I had smooth legs, ready for a bike ride. All in the name of raising money! |
So, what exactly is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia which is a general term for memory loss as well as other intellectual abilities. The result is enough to interfere with a person's daily life. Typically, Alzheimers represents between 60-80% of the dementia diagnoses.
Alzheimer's typically affects those who are ages 65 and older, however, it is not a "normal" part of aging. There are up to 5% of cases diagnosed as early as the 40's which is referred to as "Early Onset Alzheimer's". Alzheimer's is a progressive disease which means that the symptoms gradually worsen over time. In the early stages, memory loss is mild, and could actually go undetected. In the late stages though, its not just memory that is affected. Patients will lose the ability to carry on a conversation and even the ability to respond to their environment. Even though Alzheimer's is most widely known for the memory issues, it is also the sixth leading cause of death in the US. The average mortality rate of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's is roughly eight years after the symptoms become noticeable. However, survival can range from four to 20 years depending on age and other health factors.
Right now there is no cure for Alzheimer's and there isn't even anything available to stop its progression. What is currently available as a treatment option is designed to slow the progression. This is just a temporary solution for those who have the disease. For the most part, once you are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it really is just a matter of time. It is only through your donations that research can possibly find a different way of fighting this disease. Of course the goal is to wipe it out completely, but just think how the quality of life for the patients would be improved if the progression of the disease could be halted at an early stage.
The 10 signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life: This is the most common sign, and typically deals with forgetting recently learned information. One can also forget important dates or events which can lead to asking for the same information over and over. The responsibility for remember things starts to fall on notes, electronic devices, or family members when they used to be able to handle these things on their own.
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems: Some patients experience changes in their ability to develop or follow through with a plan. They also can develop difficulty working with numbers. Just following a recipe or keeping track of the monthly bills becomes troublesome. Concentration suffers which makes normal activities take longer.
3. Difficulty in completing familiar tasks: This might be something like remembering the rules of a game, managing a budget, or driving to a familiar location.
4. Confusion with time and place: The simple passage of time might be lost with a patient with Alzheimer's. They can lose track of dates, and even seasons. If an event is not happening currently, they may have a difficult time fully understanding what is going on. Sometimes, they might forget where they are and how they got there.
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships: Those with Alzheimer's might have difficulty reading, judging distances, and even determining color and contrast. Obviously, this could be problematic with those who are still driving.
6. New problems with words, whether spoken or written: Those with Alzheimer's may exhibit problems following or joining in with a conversation. This could cause them to stop in mid statement and pause, or start repeating themselves. They could also have problems finding the correct words to use, and could call things by the wrong name.
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps: Typically, those with Alzheimer's could put things in unusual places. They have difficulty going back over their steps in order to find the item again. This can result in the person accusing somebody else of stealing the item. Over time, this will increase in occurrence.
8. Decreased or poor judgement: Those developing Alzheimer's could experience a change in their judgement or decision making ability. This could result in the person falling victim to money scams and giving away large sums of money. They could also pay less attention to their own personal hygiene.
9. Withdraw from work or social activities: A person with Alzheimer's may start to neglect their hobbies, friends, social activities, or even work activities. They may develop difficulties keeping up with a favorite sports team. The changes make it increasingly difficult for them to be social and discuss these interests with others.
10. Change in mood or personality: Somebody suffering from Alzheimer's can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They can appear to be easily upset when they are out of their comfort zones.
Please donate by clicking this link, any amount is greatly appreciated.
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| Grandma Maybel with family that she no longer recognized |
What does a disease like Alzheimer's do to the loved ones? Like I alluded to before, Alzheimer's is a disease that has personally affected Toni at a young age. I wanted to put a little bit of her story in here to show just how important A Ride to Remember is to us. Toni would spend her Summers with her Grandma Maybel. This was a time to look forward to, not for being out of school, but for the time with her Grandma. This was a bit of an oddity to others because Maybel was very strict, and would not give Toni any breaks. It was this structure that Toni wanted and needed though. She learned so much from her Grandma in her early years, and became very angry when Alzheimer's took Maybel away when she was just 13 years old...the most crucial time in a child's life. This was a trigger for many of the negative things to come.
It was not just this premature exit from Toni's life that affected her, it was the decline in Maybel's life that deeply impacted her view of the entire family. During the decline, Toni watched the whole family distance themselves from Maybel which was confusing for Toni who has always had a very strong sense of family and what that unit stands for. Maybe it was the fact that the only person that Maybel would remember was little Toni, her Brown Sugar as she was called, while she could not remember anyone else in the family. That, of course, made the bond between them so much stronger as the disease progressed. There were times when she wouldn't recognize Toni, but those were fleeting times, and Grandma would return again. It made Toni angry the way that everyone treated Maybel and she just couldn't understand why they were being that way.
Toni still feels to this day that her Grandma was the only one who truly loved and cared for her. She knew this because Maybel would show it through her actions as well as her words throughout their short time together. There was always a very special connection between them, and to pay tribute to that, our daughter's middle name is "Belle" after Mary Belle Stout. Toni still visits her grave regularly, and she talks to her when she is needing advice and guidance. I can only imagine what an impact Maybel would have had on Toni had she had the opportunity to be there all through Toni's teen years and young adulthood.
Toni remembers very well the loss that she endured when Maybel died, and the void in her life that it left. She is now seeing her cousins going through the same thing, only at a much older age with her Aunt Margaret. She was diagnosed about three years ago and has since been placed in a nursing home to care for her needs. Toni stays in contact with her cousins and hears the stories about how Margaret doesn't remember either of them, and in some cases is frightened by their presence. This brings back all of the memories from what she remembers about her own Grandma Maybel.
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| Aunt Margaret and Grandma Maybel together |
We can make a difference, in the hopes of preventing stories like this from happening again and again. Please donate to show your support by clicking this link. Your sponsorship is greatly appreciated, more than you know.
Media Attention
Jan 1, 2015, I was featured in the Kernersville News on the front page, with an internet reprint a week later.
Mar, 2015, There was a small story in reference to my participation in this event.
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| Thank you to all who have donated in support of this cause! |
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