Father Breaks Cycling Record To Honor Daughter’s Fight Against Lupus
Paradysz sets 416.09 miles as new 24-hour ride record at PA Velodrome
Breinigsville, PA (April 26, 2009) – In just 22 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds, amateur cyclist Chris Paradysz bested the 24-hour track record at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, going on to establish a new record of 416.09 miles (669.63 kilometers) biked in 24 hours. The previous record of 391.29 miles (629.72 kilometers) was set in 1980. Paradysz undertook this daunting physical challenge to raise money for the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, one of the nation’s leading lupus organizations. Paradysz’s 19 year old daughter Allie suffers from the disease.
“I wanted to do something that required mental toughness and physical endurance” explains Paradysz, “because that is what it takes to live with lupus every day. I did this to honor my daughter and the other brave people with lupus.”
“This was an amazing accomplishment and a testament to a father’s love for his daughter,” said Margaret G. Dowd, executive director of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation. “Lupus is a young women’s disease that often goes undiagnosed. It has been over 50 years since a new treatment was approved for lupus. Research money is urgently needed. Extraordinary efforts, like Chris’s ride, bring needed attention to the disease and help raise research funding.”
Paradysz, age 47, cycled as a teenager. But, until he began training for the 24-hour ride attempt last summer, he had rarely ridden a bike in 25 years.
To make a donation or read the blog detailing his training, go to www.lifewithoutlupus.org.
About the Valley Preferred Cycling Center
Valley Preferred Cycling Center, the most prestigious professional cycling track in North America, is located in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.thevelodrome.com.
About the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation
The S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, headquartered in New York City with a West Coast division in Los Angeles, is the country’s preeminent nonprofit organization providing direct patient services, education, public awareness and funding for novel lupus research on the national level.
About Lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.), commonly called lupus, is a chronic and potentially fatal autoimmune disorder and one of the nation’s least recognized major diseases. For more information about Lupus and S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, log onto www.LupusNY.org