LIVE QUICKIE BLOG

I was hooked from just the subject line: "The bike trip to miss." After all, it's not every day that you're offered to go on a five-day fully guided bike trip exploring the trails of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Tim McGrough, the program director for Telluride Adaptive Sports Program (TASP) organized this trip with Western Spirit, a Moab-based bicycle tour company to take seven select off-road handcyclists on their first-ever guided off-road handcycle tour.

First of all, as a general rule for anyone, DON'T STARE. But please, whatever you do, DON'T STARE AT PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS. I personally hate it when people stare at me. When people stare at me it makes me feel like I am different when I am really not so different than you.

I love sports. Growing up, I would watch just about any sport on TV. When I have the time, I still do. However, like many others who use a power wheelchair, my athletic endeavors were limited to being a spectator, referee, or scorekeeper. The desire to play sports has always been there, but for most of my life, that desire never manifested into anything more.

Besides improving physical form, playing sports has a positive influence on psychological development and mood, which undoubtedly favors quality of life. This, coupled with the proliferation and formalization of specific associations, federations, and regulations, makes adapted sports more and more attractive among people with disabilities, who can practice them from amateur levels to competitive levels.

Three was an important age for me. On top of receiving my first power wheelchair, I also began playing video games. Because I am a quad-amputee, using a standard controller wasn't an option for me. So my dad bought me an arcade-style controller. With that, he had inadvertently changed my life forever.