Nelson, 74, riding for Parkinson’s Foundation determined to complete El Tour’s 102 miles

Vance Nelson is a 74-year-old who is determined to help make a difference through cycling and, well, to himself.

He’s a cyclist who has Parkinson’s; he was diagnosed in 2017.

“I’ve had my ups and downs,” he said.

But, he’s still determined to prove he’s capable of riding – and the 102-miler, no less.

He’ll be riding for the Parkinson’s Foundation. He’s already raised more than $1,000 with three weeks left before the ride.

He’s no stranger to cycling, given he’s been riding since the 1970s while in college. He picked it up again in the late 1980s when a group of friends got together and started.

Back then, they did a ride from Seattle to Portland that covered 200 miles over two days.

Now, it’s the El Tour de Tucson, where he’ll make his second attempt at the 102 miles.

“They had to turn me towards home at the 60-mile mark,” he said, saying he didn’t make it to the cutoff time, so he had to do the shorter route.

This year, he has a friend coming in from Washington state to help push him. It’ll be his buddy’s first effort, “so it’ll be a lot of fun for him,” Nelson said.

What did he learn last year?

“How hard it is and how many hills are involved,” he said. “I’ve been trying to train a bit more on the hills.”

He’s already logged more than 1,100 miles to get ready.

Ironically, it was the 102 miles that peaked his interest. He had seen “blurbs and stuff” about El Tour and told his wife (Deborah), “I wonder if I can still do 100 miles.”

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After all, it had been more than 30 years since he had done that type of cycling event.

“She didn’t encourage me to sign up, so I signed up and then I told her,” he said.

Now, “she encourages me all the way,” he said.

“She’s been talking my praises all the time,” he said, “giving me encouragement because she’s a retired nurse and she knows all the medical stuff I’ve gone through. She and I are a team. We go into these doctor’s appointments together. She nails down all the information that I can’t see to grab hold of.”

That, of course, is important given the seriousness of the disease. Nelson said he has tremors in his right hand and gets a little ‘stupid with my walking” but his medications “help make me function a little better.”

He has the possibility of being part of a small stem cell study where new stem cells are introduced to the brain to stimulate new production of dopamine, the substance Parkinson’s robs.

“Cutting edge stuff,” he said.

He said cycling helps because the “exercise helps create more dopamine in the brain and keeps me going.”

He works out three times a week, and one of those days he plays ping pong.

“We have some spirited games,” he said.