This year saw the racing events expanded, with the addition of a true downhill event, featuring the Adaptive Sports' Center's 4-wheel "gravity machines" which are wheel chairs dedicated to downhill racing. Also new this year, was the opportunity for all disability groups to race off-road, which is an expansion of the main event: The hill climb and cross country handcycle races at CBMR, which was contested on the amazing One-Off Handcycle, designed for serious off-road work by Mike Augspurger, who is also a co-organizer of the event and sponsor.
Handcycling is a great way to help wheelchair users to improve overall health and fitness, loose weight and generally enjoy getting a sense of freedom from hitting the road again. It's also pretty addictive, once you get your own handcycle and get into the habit of regular exercise it's almost inevitable that you're going to start thinking about racing or attempting a marathon.
Challenge Alaska, organisers of the famed Sadler's Alaska Challenge are getting set to make an announcement about the 2009 extra special 25th Anniversary race known for being the world's hardest wheelchair and handcycle race.
"Former" quadriplegic Aaron Baker is hitting the road, in style. The world youth motocross champion and professional biker who broke his neck to join the quad club in 1999 has gone on to defy the odds and make a remarkable recovery. Able to walk with a cane, the paralysis still affects him physically (technically he is still a quadriplegic, with severe muscle weakness) but not to the extent that he had feared when lying in the dirt after a crash, with no feeling below his neck. Or indeed to the extent that his doctors told him, their diagnosis was that the quadriplegia and paralysis would be irreversible.
One of the most accessible ways of keeping fit in a wheelchair is handcycling, the cardio benifits are only outweighed by the sense of freedom brought by being able to explore further than you would in an everyday wheelchair. Plus you can go fast, we like going fast.
Summer 2008 marks the 24th anniversary of the world’s longest, and toughest wheelchair and handcycle race. Previously called the Sadler’s Ultra Challenge or the Midnight Sun Ultra Challenge, the event now known as The Sadler’s Alaska Challenge is regarded as a must-do for crazy people.
Referred to as “the holy grail” of wheelchair and handcycle racing, each [...]
Sunday, September 7, 2008
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