Trikes are meant for the open road...or so I thought until a friend pointed me toward the BERSERKER and I came across this video. I don't know much about it at this point except that it is being developed by a professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It looks very durable and stable, potentially a lot of fun!
A little more information in a press resease here.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Outback Charity Golf Tournament
I had a dream day on Monday. I took a drive down to the Outback Steakhouse Charity Golf Tournament in Pleasanton, CA. The Tournament was a fundraiser for MDA (Muscular Distrophy Association). Friedreich's Ataxia is one of the many diseases under the MDA umbrella. A large portion of the money raised on Monday is going directly to FA research.
Pat Kruk of Outback Steakhouse invited me to attend and I had a blast all day. I arrived at around 10am while the participants were showing up. I chatted with Pat for a while and then the tournament host John Madden showed up, yes the John Madden. I met Coach Madden and Pat told him that I had been riding my bike to raise funds, he said "You are strong." Coach was pulled away for a TV interview but not before I took advantage of the photo op:
Pat got a golf cart for me and I cruised the course with my friend Laurel meeting people and shooting the bull. There was food and drink at every hole so Laurel and I drove around all day eating and drinking Mai Tais, Ribs, Lemonade, Hot Wings, Long Islands, Seared Ahi...
On the course we hung out with Phil Bennet (24, FA) and other celebrities such as Tom Keating former All-Star Oakland Raider
And two-time Pro Bowler and four-time Super Bowl Champion, former San Francisco 49er Eric Wright.
At the end of the day, we had a great dinner Courtesy of Outback Steakhouse and a few words from Coach Madden. One of the goals of the day was to raise money to send kids to MDA Summer Camp. It costs around $500 to send a kid to camp for a week. So a few of the kids got up and told their stories...within about 25 minutes the MDA had collected 65 pledges to send kids to camp, that's over $30,000 in less than half an hour...amazing.
The tournament was a huge success ($150k all together) and we all had a lot of fun. Many thanks to Pat Kruk (Below, Right) and Outback Steakhouse!
Pat Kruk of Outback Steakhouse invited me to attend and I had a blast all day. I arrived at around 10am while the participants were showing up. I chatted with Pat for a while and then the tournament host John Madden showed up, yes the John Madden. I met Coach Madden and Pat told him that I had been riding my bike to raise funds, he said "You are strong." Coach was pulled away for a TV interview but not before I took advantage of the photo op:
Pat got a golf cart for me and I cruised the course with my friend Laurel meeting people and shooting the bull. There was food and drink at every hole so Laurel and I drove around all day eating and drinking Mai Tais, Ribs, Lemonade, Hot Wings, Long Islands, Seared Ahi...
On the course we hung out with Phil Bennet (24, FA) and other celebrities such as Tom Keating former All-Star Oakland Raider
And two-time Pro Bowler and four-time Super Bowl Champion, former San Francisco 49er Eric Wright.
At the end of the day, we had a great dinner Courtesy of Outback Steakhouse and a few words from Coach Madden. One of the goals of the day was to raise money to send kids to MDA Summer Camp. It costs around $500 to send a kid to camp for a week. So a few of the kids got up and told their stories...within about 25 minutes the MDA had collected 65 pledges to send kids to camp, that's over $30,000 in less than half an hour...amazing.
The tournament was a huge success ($150k all together) and we all had a lot of fun. Many thanks to Pat Kruk (Below, Right) and Outback Steakhouse!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Water Skiing
Yesterday I went waterskiing for the first time in about 8 years. My family owned a boat when I was young and we would go skiing, kneeboarding and wakeboarding weekly during the summer. During highschool a close friend of mine got into wakeboarding and we worked as lifeguards at a lake so we went wakeboarding several times a week.
As FA continued to progress I gave up wakeboarding and boating sports. I remember the last time I went wakeboarding, it was a struggle to get up and then I just wobbled like crazy until I went down with a splash.
On Saturday Disabled Sports USA Far West made it possible to experience boating sports again.
I pulled up to the lake at around 9am. This lake is a tiny little puddle made specifically for competition water skiing. It is only like 10 feet deep at the center, just deep enough for the boat. The lake is located at Pleasant Oak Ranch and the owner generously donates the use of the lake several times a year for DSUSA.
I met my instructors and we did a quick diagnosis to see whether I should try stand up skis or not. They asked me to stand on one foot, I could not, so we busted out the sit-ski. To me this thing looked kinda uncomfortable and lame. I soon found out that is actually quite comfortable and it rips! They fit me to a "cage" (the thing that you sit in) and it fit snug around my hips. The cage is bolted to the ski just like wakeboard bindings.
In the water I had an instructor, Brian, help me into the cage and then he helped me stabilize until the boat took off. I had a tough time starting, it took a couple tries and then I got it. I was up, skipping along at about 17mph. The sit-ski that I had was quite stable and the ride was effortless. It all came back to me, like riding a bike. I carved outside the wake then cut back, slowly at first then I started getting comfortable.
I cut out and back hard this time. I caught air on the wake and came down a little sideways. I swerved a bit then went down face first, water up the nose.
I had not realized how much I missed that terrible burning feeling in my nose...WOOHOO! I got up again and repeated the thrill, this time I cut a little harder and got a little higher, awesome...
I am stoked to discover boating sports again and I will definitely be back for more this summer. I am going to try a different ski, a more high performance ski that will allow me to edge a little more and cut harder...stay tuned!
As FA continued to progress I gave up wakeboarding and boating sports. I remember the last time I went wakeboarding, it was a struggle to get up and then I just wobbled like crazy until I went down with a splash.
On Saturday Disabled Sports USA Far West made it possible to experience boating sports again.
I pulled up to the lake at around 9am. This lake is a tiny little puddle made specifically for competition water skiing. It is only like 10 feet deep at the center, just deep enough for the boat. The lake is located at Pleasant Oak Ranch and the owner generously donates the use of the lake several times a year for DSUSA.
I met my instructors and we did a quick diagnosis to see whether I should try stand up skis or not. They asked me to stand on one foot, I could not, so we busted out the sit-ski. To me this thing looked kinda uncomfortable and lame. I soon found out that is actually quite comfortable and it rips! They fit me to a "cage" (the thing that you sit in) and it fit snug around my hips. The cage is bolted to the ski just like wakeboard bindings.
In the water I had an instructor, Brian, help me into the cage and then he helped me stabilize until the boat took off. I had a tough time starting, it took a couple tries and then I got it. I was up, skipping along at about 17mph. The sit-ski that I had was quite stable and the ride was effortless. It all came back to me, like riding a bike. I carved outside the wake then cut back, slowly at first then I started getting comfortable.
I cut out and back hard this time. I caught air on the wake and came down a little sideways. I swerved a bit then went down face first, water up the nose.
I had not realized how much I missed that terrible burning feeling in my nose...WOOHOO! I got up again and repeated the thrill, this time I cut a little harder and got a little higher, awesome...
I am stoked to discover boating sports again and I will definitely be back for more this summer. I am going to try a different ski, a more high performance ski that will allow me to edge a little more and cut harder...stay tuned!
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