On June 22, 2024, Kevin, a cyclist living with Parkinson’s, summited Haleakala in Hawaii. He’s believed to be the first person with Parkinson’s to summit Haleakala, a summit dubbed “the longest paved climb in the world,” on a bicycle. It’s 36 miles and 10,023 vertical feet. He accomplished this feat in 5 hours, 36 minutes.
Here’s his story, in his words:
I was officially diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014 but had already shown signs for a while. The doctors told me that, most likely, I wouldn’t be riding a bike for very much longer and tattooing was most likely going to end soon for me as a profession. At that time, I had been tattooing for 25 years. I didn’t know anything else.
I had just gotten married to my high school sweetheart, for the second time! We had our son who was only two years old. During our first marriage, I had stopped working and that put a strain on our marriage. I was going through a lot of denial and depression around my symptoms and didn’t know what to do.
Looking back, I think I didn’t take time to grieve, and although I did go through some depression, as I’ve always done in my life, I just kept going. In the end, it finally caught up to us as a family. My wife wasn’t ready for it. She didn’t sign up for it. It’s a very hard disease to deal with. You can marry someone and say that you’ll be with them through richer or poorer, for better or worse, but this is a gnarly disease and not everyone is made to be a caregiver. Inevitably, we got a divorce, which was another stressor and led to another bout of depression. But I did go back to work for a few more years and continued to ride. I finally had to retire from tattooing two years ago, but I’m still cycling! The doctors now say, “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it…”
”If your mountain is to walk around the block or even just get out of bed, no mountain is too small.
I started racing BMX when I was 12 years old and moved onto motocross in Southern California and downhill mountain biking and cycling back in 1999. Since I was a kid, I’ve always had a Harley or something with two wheels.
The Haleakala climb was an idea I had over two years ago, and I wasn’t sure if it would even be possible. But as I kept riding and training, I felt that 2024 was the year that I would attempt it. In the beginning, it was about Parkinson’s, but as I got closer, it became more about everyone and their struggles. Hence my rallying call: “What is your mountain?” The message wasn’t about only Parkinson’s; the message I was hoping to get out was that although I was attempting to climb a mountain, it was also a metaphor to push people to climb their own mountain, whatever that might be. What I was trying to say was you don’t have to go up 10,000 feet over 36 miles. If your mountain is to walk around the block or even just get out of bed, no mountain is too small.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always pushed the limits, whether that was in BMX, motocross, scuba diving, bodybuilding, and cycling. That is nothing new. It’s been a process with Parkinson’s. On that mountain that day, the people that surrounded me were an affirmation of what true wealth is. My son Myles, Paula, Dan Burris, Carl Brooks, Josh Gallardo, Glenn Higa and hundreds of people cheered for me from all over the country. These people believed in me to do this for a good cause. The love they showed in giving their time and spending some of their own money—you can’t put a price on that.
The best part of connecting with the Parkinson’s community through this climb has been the positive messages. It’s been overwhelming, not just within the Parkinson’s community but all over. Getting to meet people from all over the world that have Parkinson’s, watching them on their Instagram and how they handle it. I never thought in my life that I would be an inspiration for something like this and to have people say that I am is awesome!
Thank you and Aloha from Hawaii,
Kevin ❤️🙏🏽
