March 19/05 11:35 am - Murray Drew Update, Claire Buchar on Dutch Team, Birthday

Posted by Editor on 03/19/05
 

Murray Drew Update
Courtesy Pat Leask

Just a quick note to bring you up to date on Murray, as I saw him a few days ago. I had a great couple of hours visit with him just last week (March 10, Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been busy). He is, of course, in G.F.Strong working hard to get back whatever motion he can. The first thing I noticed was that he can now hold himself upright, he has some control of his trunk (upper body) and is able to lean forward about 30 degrees and then back to sitting position and is no longer falling over sideways. He can almost touch each finger of his left hand to his thumb and, more to my amazement, he can lift his right leg (the bad one) off the foot rest of the wheelchair! Not very high, mind you, but it is a start, as the last time I saw him there was no movement at all. He still has good movement in his left leg. Oh ya, he also complained of a sore butt! Which I guess must be a good thing that he can feel it!

One of his favorite things to do on the weekends (limited staff for physio) is wheel up to a wall in the gym that has a set of pedals mounted, get strapped in and do some "Riding". Sort of a wall mounted wind trainer. How long he will be at G.F.Srong I have no idea, nor does he, but I expect it will be for several months still.

Many of you have been wondering how "The Murray Fund" is doing and, I am sure, wondering if your (our) donations has made a positive impact. I can tell you from talking to the family members it has, big time. I cannot express on behalf of the family how thankful they are for all your kind help, it has taken a lot of the worry out of travel and day to day issues, allowing them to focus on Murray. After I left, I went out for dinner with his son and had another great visit. Murray is blessed with a very close and caring family, and he needs that now.


MerlanDuo-Be One Team Presented

Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands - In the theme park 'De Efteling' new team MerlanDuo-Be One was presented yesterday.

One of the main reasons for the high potentional of this team is the fact that both main sponsor MerlanDuo and Be One Bikes have decided to support the team for 4 years. MerlanDuo is a Belgian company specialized in sleep comfort products like sheets, blankets, pillows and complete beds. The connection with the riders of the team is simple; they ride on their Be One bikes and rest in their MerlanDuo bed. Be One bikes has a lot of experience in sponsoring a team. Therefore the combination is the perfect ingredient for a successful team.

MerlanDuo-Be One consists of both cross-country, downhill and four-cross riders. The team also set up a development team with young riders with a lot of potentional. In this group are world champion on the road Marianne Vos (Ned) and new super talented rider Bjorn Brems (Bel). For downhill and four-cross the team is led by Bas de Bever (Ned) who is focussing on four-cross races this year. He is accompanied by Belgian champion Nico Vink (Bel) and Canadian rider Claire Buchar. Buchar, a top 15 rider at the Worlds, is also member of Warwick Patterson's Be One Canada team. Both teams are working together with their commitment towards Be One.

In cross-country MerlanDuo-Be One provides a small national team and three riders that will be riding cross-country on a more international level: Jelmer Pietersma (Ned), Rudi van Houts (Ned) and vice-champion of Belgium Jimmy Tielens.

Team MerlanDuo-Be One will be riding the Sea Otter Classic (USA) as its first international event.


Happy Birthday To...

Kris Sneddon, today.