Riding for the cure.............Are we there yet?

Thank you to the following Corporate Sponsors: Centerplate, Elan, Elsevier, Horizon Fitness, Mc Donalds, Neurome, Sun Country Builders

Team 2CURE-HD website:

http://www.team2curehd.50megs.com/index.html

I have been a board member of the HDSA Northern California chapter over the past seven years. I have watched my mom struggle with the disease for almost 20 years. She just turned 56 this past October. The difference with HD is its genetic so I knew I had a 50/50 chance of inheriting the disease. I am currently 32 years old so three years ago I finally built up the courage to test. Finding out I inherited the gene was very difficult. Nothing in life has ever knocked me down so hard. How do you get back to life after hearing such bad news? I chose to find a new hobby. Xterra Off-Road Triathlons are endurance events which are Olympic distance races with a little less than 1 mile swim, approximate 20 mile mountain bike ride, and 6.2 mile trail run. The outdoors and exercise are truly healing, but it takes a while to get the confidence back. A lot of symptom searching goes on after you test positive. Why can't I remember that person's name? Why is my muscle twitching? Am I losing my mind? I made a lot of changes in my life after discovering my gene status. I decided to enjoy life a little more and try to live positive and healthy. After my results, I began to research for ways to help myself. It was amazing how most of the information I gathered involved healthy habits similar to those needed for doing triathlons. Lots of exercise, eating right, and taking care of the mind by keeping stress low. My first race was 6 months later in Saipan. I had a great time and was just glad to finish the race, but then I found out I finished second in my age group and qualified for the Xterra World Championship in Maui. It gave me just the confidence boost I needed in my life at that time. When I had tested positive all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and wait to die. The racing made me feel alive again. Soon after I returned home from Saipan, I read an article about Scott Midgett. Scott had just completed his first road triathlon. He has had HD for 7 years, couldn't drive a car, and had lost his job all because of the disease symptoms. He began exercising and eventually trained himself to the point that he completed the triathlon without falling once. He even taught himself to ride a unicycle. That was completely unheard of before. It seems the exercise actually helps regenerate brain cells! Wow, this was incredible news. Endurance training can actually save my life!
So now I embark on a new adventure to ride the Race Across America as part of a great team of individuals, Scott Needle, Renato Shaffer, and John Sylvester, affected by the disease in some way put together with the help of organizers Pam Foye-Needle and Sharon Shaffer to bring awareness and raise funds for HDSA. I am honored to represent the HD community as the only member of the team to have a gene-positive status. I know this is a challenge most healthy people would not attempt let alone someone who has tested positive. Knowing the impact my presence will have on those facing the disease and the chance to let others know our struggles is a driving force for me. Testing positive is not easy. Everyday is a mental challenge to overcome the fears of developing symptoms after facing a lifetime seeing those you love and the family you used to know fall apart mentally and physically. I will not let this happen to me without a fight. Let's ride! To purchase 2CURE-HD RAAM t-shirts: https://secure2.convio.net/hdsa/site/Ecommerce/1983844848?store_id=1581 To see the websites for fellow 2CURE-HD cyclists: http://www.firstgiving.com/john2cure-hd http://www.firstgiving.com/renato2cure-hd http://www.firstgiving.com/scott2cure-hd For more on the Race Across America: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1. To contact Bryan (Sponsorship interest, HD info, race info) bryanmedrano@hotmail.com (cell 916.997.4147)