Catalyst Sports

It’s been a while but I’ve had some long days at work and just haven’t had time to post.

The Catalyst Sports organisation is one of my best finds ever. I’ve talked about Catalyst before – this is the group with which I am able to rock climb. The group affords people with disabilities to enjoy/participate in different sports that we would not be able to under normal circumstances. I started rock climbing in 2018 and we would meet every Wednesday night for indoor climbing and I was even able to participate in one outdoor climb that was an amazing experience…but then, covid came along and everything shut down, including the gym. Rock climbing was out, at least for the hour. Mid 2021, the gym re-opened and eventually Wednesday night rock climbing resumed but at the time, I wasn’t comfortable yet. It was around that time that meh boy J started cycling and I remembered that the Atlanta chapter of Catalyst has a cycling program – I looked into it.

They offered hand pedaled and foot pedaled bikes and I was able to rent one on a monthly basis if I wanted. I thought about it and as much as I wanted to use the foot pedaled, I decided it might be best to go with the hand (a little back story – there was a time when I felt comfortable using a stationary bike in the gym and then I had 2 falls after using it (the last one resulted in a black eye) and that was then end of stationary bike use). Fast forward to 2021 and I decided that I’d rather be safe than sorry so I went with hand pedaled. The issue that I knew I could have is that the bikes are low so getting on and off by myself would be close to impossible BUT maybe I could ask my personal trainer to help me and we could incorporate bike riding into our weekly routine – I had a plan. Well, u know what they say about the best laid plans – sigh, altho I did get a chance to ride in Piedmont Park one Saturday. As it turns out, a few months later, Catalyst started monthly group bike rides and I was able to take advantage of those – for $10, I could rent a bike and ride with a volunteer or 2 on one of the bike trails in the area.

It was while on the last of those rides where I was really struggling with the hand cycle – u see my left arm is spastic too and (especially) when I need/want to use it, it tends to lock up so I don’t have the arm span that I have on the right side. That day I was REALLY struggling and it was getting me upset so I told Brad, the volunteer who was with me to forget it – I had taken soooo long to ride 1/4 mile, and he suggested that I try a foot pedaled bike. I was skeptical because at the end of the day, I would still have to function at home but I figured what the heck; I’ll give it a shot. Well it turned out that it was the best thing; I took 15 minutes to ride the same distance that took 45 on the hand cycle. I was ecstatic – hey, it’s the little things – and I refused to think about what the situation might be at home. When I eventually got there, I took it easy and happy to report, I had no drama; I’ve already signed up for next month’s ride and can’t wait to get back on to see how far I can go. On that same day, I found out that they were getting ready to launch the kayaking program and I can’t wait to try that out even tho I’ll probably have the same arm challenges, but we’ll see.

Anyhoo, I’m in Trinidad as I write and I have Mackeson to drink and good food to eat so I gone so but first…a few pictures.