Vancouver, BC - On July 13, 2011, 70-year-old John Crouch will set out from Whitehorse to cycle 2,350 kilometres back to his home in Victoria. The solo journey will take him a little over three weeks. Crouch flies to Whitehorse on July 10^th from Victoria. John is dedicating this extreme ride to his 40-year old nephew who has been suffering with Parkinson's disease for the past 10 years.

"I wanted a challenge that would prove to me and everyone else that advancing age is no impediment to accomplishing long, endurance-type physical activities and, most importantly, I wanted to raise much needed funds for Parkinson's research and essential support programs provided by Parkinson Society British Columbia" said John Crouch.

While many 70-year-old men would be content to spend their summer days on the golf course, gardening or perhaps take an occasional stiff walk or hike, for John, it is clearly not energetic enough.

No stranger to punishing events, Crouch won the World Endurance Duathlon Championship in Holland when he was 60 and has been Canadian champion in both the duathlon and long-course triathlon over the past decade. As well, many Victoria residents will know him from his three successful guidebooks: Walk Victoria, Hike Victoria and Bike Victoria.

"We are very grateful to John for taking on this challenging journey that will create awareness for Parkinson's which is a devastating disease" said Diane Robinson, CEO. "We will support him in any way we can," she added, "and we wish him a safe trip."

Parkinson's is the second most common chronic neurological disorder after Alzheimer's. In BC, there are 11,000 individuals living with Parkinson's but this number can be doubled or tripled based on the fact that everyone in the family is affected. Parkinson Society British Columbia receives no government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of individual donors, members, corporations, foundations and the dedicated efforts of volunteers.

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