Things Are Rolling Along

Seattle On a Ferry

I'm less than a month away from my big trek and I have some route updates for you. First I want to share this really cool sponsor brochure that my cousin Amanda Predmore made for the ride. I think it looks fantastic and want to send big thanks to Amanda and her business, Emaugo Creative. You do really great work Cuz!

Okay, onto some route plans. None of this is concrete yet. I'd like to get some feedback from locals and people who have ridden in this area and then modify as needed. Barb Chamberlain at Washington Bikes was nice enough to send me some existing routes which I have used to guide most of my ride. Here are the three I used to help map the trip: Red-Bell 100, RSVP, and STP. The daily maps I link are not exact turn by turn directions, I've tried to make it close but it's not perfect. It's mainly an overall idea of that day's route.

Day One, August 13:Port Angeles to Anacortes ~17 miles with four hours of ferry travel

This day is pretty straightforward. I'll catch the ferry in Port Angeles to Victoria BC then take the Lochside Regional Trail to Sidney BC. Once there, I'll catch a ferry to Anacortes WA where I will spend my first night in a hotel.

Day Two, August 14:Anacortes to Arlington via Big Lake or Anacortes to Arlington via Conway ~41 miles (depending on route)

I could use some advice on this day. I'd like to end my day in Arlington but there's a couple options to choose from. First, I need to get from Anacortes to roughly Avon, I know the Tommy Thompson Trail will work for the first 3 miles but I'd be interested in thoughts after that. I know there's a 3 mile section on the 20 and a couple miles on the 536, hopefully these are doable in my chair. Once I get near Avon I need to decide if I want to take the eastern route or the southern route to get to Arlington. I've linked both routes above and I'd appreciate any on the ground knowledge of these options.

Day Three, August 15:Arlington to Woodinville ~38 miles

This should be a lovely day since much of the ride will be on the Centennial Trail. Snohomish to Woodinville looks pretty clear-cut but if any locals in the area have suggestions I'd love to hear them. Looking forward to staying the night with my good friend Ian in Woodinville, him and his wife recently had twins and I can't wait to meet these little ones in person.

Day Four, August 16:Woodinville to Renton ~32 miles

The first part of this day should be lovely. Start for a few miles on the Snohomish River Trail and then over 10 miles on the Burke Gilman Trail. Not sure how it will be through Seattle, I'll be talking to some friends who recently completed the STP (Seattle to Portland Bike Ride) to get the lowdown. Ending in Renton where my road crew will pick me up and deliver me to another good friend Kenny's house in Sumner where I will spend the night. I'll then get a ride back up to Renton, so to start where I left off the following morning.

Me and Johnny

These four days should get me just under 120 miles along my journey. Which should be over a third of the way. It's possible, even likely, that I won't be able to keep up the pace. If that's the case, I'll just be dropped off the following morning to wherever I stopped the previous evening. I'll have shorter days coming up where I could catch up to my schedule. I'll be adding the rest of the trip soon but will more or less be following the STP. All feedback and suggestions are welcome.

The Ride

Todd-and-I-by-water

Here’s the plan. I’m setting aside two weeks. August 13-27, 2016.  I intend to travel Washington state from north to south.  Along with a support crew, I plan to navigate through the state on multiuse paths and roadways, all the while posting about my experience on social media. The idea is to find out firsthand and share with the public how accessible our state is for nonmotorized users, specifically people in wheelchairs. I'd also like to help a worthy cause.

I live in Port Angeles, Washington, so ideally, the Port Angeles to Victoria ferry would be the best way to start, then pass through the San Juan islands to Anacortes. The north section to Seattle has not solidified, and I welcome all suggestions. South of Seattle, the STP (Seattle to Portland) is the likely route unless I get better ideas. Our state is chock full of avid cyclists. I'm hoping to tap their knowledge and support for this adventure. In addition to my support crew I will have ridealongs.  More ridealongs are welcome. I travel at a maximum of 7 mph. My wheelchair range is about 30 miles per day. I will have a spare chair with a full charge for days which need to go longer. I’m hoping to end each day’s ride with a visit to a craft brewery. I enjoy a good beer.

Where possible, I plan to use multiuse paths. There are many areas however where bike paths are not available. In these cases I will be restricted to shoulders on roads and highways which are far from ideal for wheelchair or bicycle travel. I’m hoping that my ride can bring awareness to the lack of trails and bike paths to our otherwise very accessible state.  This brings me to the beneficiary of my fundraising. I’m teaming with Washington Bikes, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, an advocacy organization for safe roads and bike paths in the state of Washington. We are accepting donations and sponsors for the ride for my expenses, with all excess going to Washington Bikes. Sponsors will be mentioned and thanked via social media, radio and this blog. There will be daily posts along the way. Many riders are forced to use their vehicles rather than ride because there is no safe route. An increase in bike paths would benefit much more than wheelchair users.

Stay tuned… The planning is stepping in to high gear.

Introduction

Ian (at left) with his mom, Teena.

To start this blog off right, I guess I need to tell you a little about myself.  My name is Ian Mackay.  I was born and raised in San Diego, California.  In 2001 I moved to Goleta, California and attended Santa Barbara City College.  I had many interests in my early college years. I began as a business major, ended up getting an Associates degree in communication before delving into sign language for a year. Soon after, I took a field botany course and realized that my true interest was in the field of biology. I ended up moving to Santa Cruz, California and enrolled at Cabrillo College. I took almost nothing but science courses for the next few years and then transferred to UCSC.

I was fortunate to live near campus where I could bike to school and use a vehicle sparingly. Cycling was one of my preferred hobbies as well as table tennis, craft beer, nature photography, and bluegrass music. There was a wonderful bike path that went up the large hill to campus and one of my greatest joys was riding down that path daily after school. On June 4, 2008 when I was 26 years old everything changed.

I remember it was a beautiful day  and I was coming home from a study group on campus. Like every day on my ride home I was going fast down the bike path enjoying the wind in my hair. However, on this day, unbeknownst to me, there was some sand on one of the turns of the path that made me slide out and lose control. I was wearing a helmet, which most likely saved my life, and went headfirst into a tree. I never lost consciousness but soon realized while crumpled up next to that tree that I could not move my arms or legs. I was helicoptered to the nearest emergency room and was informed soon after that I had sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI).

I was able to call my family and tell them what happened. Both my parents dropped everything and immediately drove to be by my side in the hospital. Hours after the crash, swelling in the spinal cord continued to cause me to lose sensation and movement in my chest and shoulders. I soon lost the ability to breathe and was intubated and put on a ventilator. The next couple weeks are a blur. I had a long surgery where they reconstructed and fused my spine, dealt with multiple respiratory issues, and started to try and come to terms with the fact that I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life.

Once I was coherent enough to talk to a doctor they told me that I had damaged my spinal cord near the C2 vertebrate. I was now a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors performed a tracheostomy and installed a tube in my neck that I would breathe through using a ventilator. I was devastated to say the least. I had never known anyone with a spinal cord injury and had no idea what to expect and how I was supposed to live with this now useless body.

I was fortunate to end up in a hospital that had a very good SCI rehab unit. I spent two months there learning how to survive as a ventilator dependent quad. I was fitted with a power wheelchair which was controlled using a sip and puff, which is a straw that is sensitive to air pressure and can send signals to my chair. My parents were taught the ins and outs of caring for a quad so that we soon could leave the hospital and go home.

Home turned out to be Port Angeles, Washington. Getting me here was tricky and some home modifications had to be made but we eventually got settled and found a routine. The first year was brutal. I spoke little because I was uncomfortable with the speaking valve required to talk with a ventilator. I watched way too much TV and was basically mopey. I'd lost everything that I was accustomed to. I'd left my home and my friends, my school and my job, been removed from the life that I loved. I was lost, getting deeper and deeper in the dumps. Luckily  I have an incredible family that overlooked my lousy disposition and continued to support and encourage me.

Just about one year after the crash I regained enough diaphragm movement to breathe without a ventilator. This was such a huge gain. I could speak again and no longer had the stress of ventilatory failure. It was awesome. It was the beginning of me deciding to learn how to live as a paralyzed man. For the next few years I did just that. I met fellow SCI survivors who were a tremendous help. They told me to suck it up and get on with life. I saw joy and happiness in their lives and knew it was possible for myself.

Ian chats with cyclist Nancy Kohn on the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Two years or so ago, I rekindled my passion for being outdoors. The catalyst to this was getting a cellphone that was both dependable and accessible by me. Once I had a phone I could go outside and not have a caregiver or family member always by my side. As long as someone was on call I could go and start exploring my community on my own. We live blocks away from a wonderful bike path called the Olympic Discovery Trail. I soon found I could go further and further on this trail where I would see wildflowers blooming, birds migrating, and see stunning views of the Olympic Mountains. I loved it out there and soon found myself putting 10, 15, 20 miles a day on my chair. I downloaded an app called Strava which tracks your distance, route, and speed using GPS so that I can keep track of my rides. I've put nearly 5000 miles on my chair since then and am a well-known feature on the trails near my home.

This leads me to the present and why I started this blog. I'd like to take a lengthy wheelchair ride and perhaps benefit a good cause at the same time. Stay tuned for details.