Since 2004, the Davis Phinney Foundation has invested more than $3.8 million in initiatives to support, inform and inspire people living with Parkinson’s to live well today.  Tens of thousands of people living with this disease have been directly touched by one of their fabulous programs or through the Davis Phinney Foundation’s inspirational message: it is possible to live well with Parkinson’s today.

The foundation was founded in 2004 by Olympic medal-winner and cycling great, Davis Phinney, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000 at the age of 40. While Phinney is an inspiration to the estimated 1.5 million Americans and estimated 10 million worldwide who are currently living with the disease, he is also a true cycling legend. 

As an Olympic Bronze medalist and Tour de France stage winner, Phinney has celebrated the most victories of any cyclist in American history!

From the late 1970′s until his retirement from professional cycling in 1993, Phinney achieved more wins – 328 victories in all – than any other US Cyclist. He stands amongst only three Americans to win multiple stages of the Tour de France, a feat he accomplished while riding with the iconic 7-Eleven team.

Among the hundreds of wins Phinney has achieved are the Olympic Bronze Medal (1984), a Pan-Am Games Gold Medal (1983), and four National Championship titles, including the coveted US PRO title in 1991. Fittingly, he was also one of the most successful riders in the history of the Coors Classic (the successor to Colorado’s Red Zinger Classic) winning the overall title in 1988 and collecting a record 22 stage wins.

In 1993, after almost 20 years of nearly unprecedented success as a cyclist, Phinney retired from pro cycling. His last professional win set yet another record that is still unbroken; he finished the legendary “Hotter Than Hell 100″ in Texas in an amazing 3hrs. 23 minutes. To this day, no one has ridden faster.

After his retirement from cycling, Phinney’ career continued as a well-known sportscaster for ABC, CBS, NBC and OLN. In 2000, after years of feeling not quite right, and an almost endless round of tests, Phinney was diagnosed with Young-onset Parkinson’s disease (YOPD). Finally, the years of battling constant fatigue, the mental fogginess, the muscle cramping and bouts of sudden numbing weakness had a name.

Shortly after his Parkinson’s diagnosis, Phinney, his wife (Olympic medalist Connie Carpenter) and their two children moved to Italy, in part to adjust to the disease and in part because many of their Bike Camps were based in Italy. While living in Italy, Phinney was contacted by a former Bike Camp client Kathleen Krumme who asked Phinney to lend his name to her ride in Cincinnati to benefit PD. And from those beginnings, the Davis Phinney Foundation was born.

Today, Phinney lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife of 25 years, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, and their children Taylor and Kelsey. He continues to celebrate the daily victories in his life and inspires others with his message of optimism and encouragement.

And, he will always be an inspiration to millions.

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Davis Phinney Foundation – our May 2013 10in10 Charity
Davis Phinney profile and wins at Cycling Archives
www.davisphinneyfoundation.org
www.davisphinney.com

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Help Us Support the Davis Phinney Foundation

Show your support for the Davis Phinney Foundation with one of these jerseys, running tees or with a cycling kit.

Pactimo will donate $20 and $10 respectively to support the Davis Phinney Foundation for each jersey and running tee sold, and $20 for each pair of bibs or shorts. 

Visit http://shop.pactimo.com/davis-phinney-foundation to purchase your jersey, tee or kit.

Or, make a donation to the Davis Phinney Foundation and Pactimo will match the first $500 given.

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Photo credits: Patricio Saldivia Saldivia Noack 

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Proceeds from the cycling and triathlete apparel sold through their store will help to change lives across Africa.

Transportation in the form of a bicycle multiplies an individual”s efficiency. Bicycles improve access roulette online to education, healthcare and economic opportunity by increasing carrying capacity and accessible travel distance while decreasing the time it takes to commute to and from schools, clinics and markets.

Please visit the WBR website for more information, or you can shop for cycling apparel directly on our site at http://shop.pactimo.com/help-us-support-world-bicycle-relief. We have jerseys, shorts and bib shorts for men and women.

A portion of all special edition Light Gives Heat/World Bicycle Relief jersey sales went toward the purchase of WBR bikes for the women of LGH in Uganda.

Learn more about this great cause here.