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Sunday, February 1, 2009
Longest handcycle ride:world record set by
Ryan Nichols
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, USA -- Ryan
Nichols, a quadriplegic, has traveled 776 Miles in
11 days, from S.L.C. Utah to Huntington Beach, California
during the "Invictus Tour" -setting the world record
for the Longest
handcycle ride.
Photo: Ryan Nichols covered up to 70
miles a day and propelled the vehicle using a hand crank.
He described his hands and triceps as having only about one-third
usage, but his shoulders and biceps are at full strength.
"I pushed with my shoulders and pulled with my biceps," he
said. (enlarge
photo)
"Invictus
Tour" ride was for the benefit of two charities
which help physically challenged athletes and disabled sports
programs — The Challenged
Athletes Foundation and the Goodwill
Fitness Center of Orange County. 100% of the contributions
raised will go directly to the charities.
Ryan
Nichols said he was inspired by a motivational speaker
he met when he was injured in 1993. "Maybe someone's watching
this who is going through something challenging, whether it's
physical or emotional, and can see the same way that art impacted
me. Or maybe a little bit of that can rub off on them as well,"
Nichols said.
A car accident paralyzed Ryan
Nichols 15 years ago. Nichols and his fiancee had
just mailed out their wedding invitations when tragedy struck.
He was involved in an accident where his car rolled and he
was thrown out.
A few months later, he saw a story about Art
Bert, a fellow quadriplegic, who was propelling his handcycle
from Salt Lake to St. George.
The two became friends. "I said one day, ‘I'll
get stronger and more able to do it. I want to do the same
ride.' He challenged me. He said, ‘You should do the same
ride but go farther,'" Nichols said. 
Ryan Nichols:"This wheelchair
push will serve as a tribute to him and as an act of appreciation
to my family and friends who support me in accomplishing what
I once said I would do—Invictus Tour 2008". (enlarge
photo)
Art Berg set a record by pushing his race
chair 325 miles back in 1993. He died in 2002.
Ryan
Nichols works as a pharmaceutical representative.
His company outfitted him with a van, and at age 37, he has
learned to live independently. He is basically self-sufficient,
living alone and enjoying life in an apartment about two and
a half miles from the beach. 
Now, after nearly two years of training,
Ryan
Nichols repeated his friend's journey of 70 miles
a day. And then he rided farther -- on to Huntington Beach,
Calif.
(enlarge
photo)
The experience has taught him just "how
many people out there really care," Nichols said. "People
just came out of the woodwork (to help)."
Ryan
Nichols: "Everyone has trials in
this life," says Nichols, who became a quadriplegic 15 years
ago. "Some are just more visible than others."
Related world records:
Longest
stationary bike riding-George Hood sets new world record
Largest
gathering of wheelchair users on ice-world record set by Leanne
Grose
Back
flip in a wheelchair -world record set by Aaron Fotheringham
Heaviest
Plane Pulled by wheelchair users-DBFA sets world record
Oldest
person-world record set by Gertrude Baines
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