Saturday morning 120+ riders gathered in town square eager to take on the 250 mile Dangerbird. The entire field was led out by 14 year old Grace Holguin, who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect at birth. She road her red adaptive trike for the first portion of the ride as cyclist filled the streets behind her.
When her part was done she cheered on the riders as they all passed with tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face. It was a very touching moment that brings me to tears as I type this. I overheard her say that “this is the best moment of my life” and I think everyone around her was overwhelmed by her happiness. I chatted with her briefly for the podcast and that segment will be included with my interview with Cjell Mone’ that comes out tomorrow. Warning: have tissues ready.
When I got home I wanted to learn more about Grace and the “Everybody Rides with Grace” charity that she promotes. I learned that the red trike she rode that morning was a birthday present for her 14th birthday, but only two weeks later it was stolen. Thanks to the work of local law enforcement her beloved trike was returned to her in 2 weeks! Now Grace is wanting to share the love of bikes, trikes, and adaptive bikes through Everybody Rides with Grace.
Everybody Rides with Grace is raising money to purchase adaptive bikes for other special needs kids. To date they have raised enough to purchase a trike for Jacob Mancha and they have already identified their next 3 candidates! Please consider donating so that Grace can continue to share the love of cycling with others in her community.
At Bikes or Death we firmly live by the motto Everybody on Bikes, and we applaud the organizers for promoting a cycling event that is more community than competition. There is no better way to set that tone than by leading off the ride with Grace Holguin on her red trike smiling all the way.
Come back tomorrow for our next installment of Monumental Loop Week!
