WE DID IT!  On Sunday, Apollo and I made the summit of New England's tallest mountain!  
You will be able to make donations through this site until the end of the year!

Riding the Mount Washington Auto Road to benefit the ALSA

Picture
Norman on "Fire" around 1949.
On July  17th 2011 the Mount Washington Auto Road will be opened for one day to horses and carriages.  It is a tough ride with an average 12% grade for 7.6 miles to the summit of the tallest mountain in New England.

I am riding for my grandfather, Norman, who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.  ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. When the motor neurons  die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

This all means that the person I know and love is still well-preserved within a body that becomes less and less capable.  In the case of my grandfather, his speech and muscle control in his hands are going first.  The smart and wonderful person that I grew up with struggles daily to speak, eat, swallow, breathe and pick things up.  Eventually he won't be able to speak at all and won't be able to eat or breathe on his own.

The most devastating part about this disease is that we have no real idea what causes it aside from a small percentage of genetic cases; there is little to no treatment; and there is no cure.  How in this day and age we can know so little about a disease that has such profound effects on many people's lives is beyond my comprehension.

Help me support the ALSA that funds research and helps individuals with ALS, by donating today!  Click the "Donate Today" tab to donate or to sign up on my team if you are also riding the Mount Washington Auto Road!

I am riding because I can!