Scott Eltringham, who lives in Washington D.C., was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's disease shortly after his 31st birthday in 1999. Scott has ridden his bicycle over 25,000 miles with PD including a self-supported ride from Seattle to San Francisco and another from Boston to Bangor ME.

His first symptoms were the inability to rapidly wiggle his right fingers, and a tension in his right leg during bike riding. Several months of testing revealed that he had PD. Fortunately, the medication worked well for him for the next 6 years. Scott writes, "For me, PD is less about spasmodic movements but rather slowed movement, like moving in molasses without the sense of resistance, more pronounced on my right side. The main side effect was dyskenesia, sometimes so bad that it was difficult to sit in a chair. Due to the worsening side effects of the medication and two bad bike falls, I had to stop bicycling in September 2005: permanently, I thought."

Scott made the difficult decision to have Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery later that year. The surgery improved his life enormously, almost eliminating troublesome nighttime and morning dystonia, caused by withdrawal from the medication. An adjustment to the DBS a year later curbed the dyskenesia significantly enough that he got on his bike again on Memorial Day in 2007. When Scott had the surgery, he had an idea in his head that he would ride the Sunflower Revolution as his comeback ride in 2007. He did. "As I neared the finish, I was reflecting on the outstanding support of the other members of my riding group, Team Cholesterol, all of whom drove to Cincinnati to ride with me. Then as I crossed the finish line, the ride announcer said that we had raised more money than any of the other teams. What was already a powerful moment blossomed into a feeling so strong that it brought tears to my eyes. When I found that Davis was waiting at the finish line for my team, and it was all I could do to hold myself together."

"I do not think of myself as a hero, despite being called that by several people. My heroes are people like my wife, Sarah, and my friends and riding companions on Team Cholesterol; people who walk beside me not because they have to, but because they choose to. I think I inspire people with my attitude. My thinking is this: I could live worried or not worried; either way I'll get wherever I'm going. I know which way I'd rather spend my time. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but that's my philosophy. Part of what keeps me going is riding; both in the physical and mental sense. Physically, use it or lose it. Mentally, no matter what the PD or medication side effects are doing to me, the riding is refreshing."

Scott says that his greatest challenge is to get everything done in a day. "There are so many things to do. PD made me feel that way before surgery, because when the medication wore off, sometimes I felt like I had been hit over the head with a brick. The DBS showed me how I had been letting my world shrink, and allowed me to reopen it to all the interesting things in the world."

*Scott and Team Cholesterol raised over $7,000 for the DPF in 2007. In addition, Scott and his best friend, Jim Wade, co-authored a book of rides in the D.C. area and donate the profits to the foundation, so far totaling more than $10,000. Thank you Scott and friends for your support and being a true example of living life to the fullest!

Parkinson's disease occurs when cells in the brain that produce dopamine die off in large numbers. The imbalance between these two chemicals affects the ability to control muscle movement and coordination.