Be good, do good: Century Ride
As my colleague Pete Ciuffetti wrote earlier this summer, Credo Reference recently instituted a new program challenging Credo employees to “Be Good, Do Good” both for our own health and for the good of others.
For my “Be Good, Do Good” I decided to get back on my bike – I had, once upon a time, spent a great deal of time cycling but in recent years let my lovely bike gather more dust than it deserved. To give myself more incentive to ride regularly and to push myself harder I decided to find and train for a 100-mile, or “Century” ride.
My criteria were pretty simple: a 100-mile, one-day ride here in New England that raised money for a cause I believed in. When I heard about The New England Parkinson’s Ride I knew I had found the perfect event. The ride takes place on September 12, 2009 and starts and ends in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The ride offers three routes: 30, 50 and 100 miles – each a one-day ride. I’ll be doing the 100-mile loop with my youngest brother, Josh. Together we are hoping to raise over $1,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
My maternal grandmother, Helen Goldstein, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she was 68 and had been suffering from symptoms for a few years already. She was an amazing woman – creative, spunky, fashionable, energetic and oh so smart. Over the next 16 years the disease took more and more of her away from us until her passing in January 2005. I miss her every day and I do this ride to honor her spirit and memory.
Parkinson’s is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder affecting 1 in 100 people over the age of 60. At present there is no known cure. The Michael J. Fox Foundation, beneficiary of my ride, is working aggressively toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s and improving the lives of Parkinson’s patients through research grants. To date they have funded over $149 million in research.
To learn more about the Michael J Fox Foundation, or to sponsor my ride, please go to http://www.teamfox.org/teamfox/blaine?faf=1&elid=2580208498
Image “bicycle“, from the Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, on Credo Reference.
