Parkinson&Sport

Always together, from sunrise to sunset.

“Bike riding for Parkinson Italy 2021” (second part)

We shared everything, every day, from the morning stretching, in Pavia we did it in a flowerbed on a roundabout, to the dust of the dirt roads, to the storm that chased us for an afternoon but that our protector Davide Lot, from up there he wisely directed to just give us a refresher. Surprise birthday festicciole, ping pong challenges, music, songs and dances, the kiss on arrival in their land of the Venetians Stefano and Davide. We sat down hungry in long tables of cyclists and motorcyclists, we smiled at the joking moments of our young people who this year have added sympathy and playfulness.

Who we are? And Toi, Toi, Toi.

We turned on the color and moved the energy of all the places we have been, from Turin to Venice with the pink of our shirts and with the slogans we used to charge ourselves: Who are we? I PARKINSONAUTI and TOI TOI TOI, imported from Holland by our Comet Star Samantha Vizentin.

 

Those who know our disease know that in the evening, often, our batteries are low and the energy latent, but in those days, also thanks to the strength of the group, and this is one of the most surprising aspects, we beat Parkinson’s. together, managing to find reserves where we had never looked for them. I confess that, at times where it happened, we stole moments of rest from the fast pace of the daily schedule.

A strong and united group

Each year the dynamics that develop in the group are new and surprising. We have overcome the difficulties and the fatigue, and I guarantee you that, even if they passed away as if nothing had happened, we have encountered some, but we have not been stopped by anything, indeed every obstacle has strengthened and united us.

 

This aspect of travel as a metaphor for life has generated new certainties and convictions in each of us, providing us with new tools and strategies to better face the personal journey in the company of our guest. I am sure that from today we will be able to use that wealth of experience, whenever we need it.

 

No cell phone at the table?

Shares experienced during dinner, which I wanted to stimulate, overcoming shyness, confidentiality and resistance to speaking in public with a microphone in hand. 

Despite the tiredness, someone’s eyes that closed and some hostile attitude, when at the beginning of the dinner requisitioning everyone the mobile phone, they brought out personalities and emotions, creating the best ground for the birth of new friends and a group, which he was able to integrate the newcomers right away and while doubling in numbers he was structured strong and united.

 

Milan and Piazza Duomo

Entering Piazza Duomo in Milan was as exciting as last year’s Piazza San Pietro in Rome, two clear and warm memories exactly like the sun that greeted us on both occasions. We entered the center of Cremona, Casale Monferrato, Modena, Ferrara and returned to Pavia in Piazza Castello, exactly where last year we started the Bike riding 2020.

 

A scary pink stripe.

The first day’s transfer to Turin was particularly exciting for me, from the hotel to the Parco del Valentino where the departure was scheduled. 

Several times I had imagined the group of pink shirts moving in front of me, it was easy, still having the images of the sip of the year in my eyes, but when we first left the hotel, I realized that 25 was much more than double the 12 and at the first traffic light I think I arrived there in apnea, then seeing them stretch out on the tree-lined avenues of the city of Savoy opened my heart and I started to breathe again.

100 km. per day

Some of us who started cycling for a few months, in the early days, thinking we were not fit enough, had chosen to alternate half days on a bicycle and half in a camper. But then, motivated and reassured by the fact of being in a group, and by not wanting to lose even a meter of our adventure, they broke the delay by moving their limits with willpower and even cycled for 100 km. per day.

You will find out who these champions of determination and many other curiosities are, in the interviews on Thursday evening.

 

Giulio and Silvano

I dedicate a special mention to my friends and members of the board of the Italian Parkinson Associations Committee . 

the President, Giulio Maldacea, 49 years and 16 of illness with 2 back surgeries, and the Secretary, Silvano Chiartano 72 years, 16 years of Parkinson’s on the shoulders and various other difficulties, who were with us for a stage the first and two the second, also reaching goals never reached and unthinkable. We will also hear them in the interviews on Thursday.ù

Continue with the third and final part next week.

Here you will find the first part: Traveling together hand in hand

Friends, supporters and sponsors.

Meanwhile, I want to thank: members, friends, supporters and sponsors, without whom all this would not have been possible. Thanks to them, we were able to support all the expenses of the pink caravan, asking parkinsonauts only for the annual membership fee to the Association and a deposit to confirm their participation.