Repost on this Special March 23

I wrote something similar to what you'll find below on August 18, 2011. You see, today, March 23, is a day that lives in infamy in the King family. That was the morning my father, Dr. Ted King, my namesake, the rock and foundation of our family, suffered a stroke. That single occurrence has been transformative and has really changed the way the rest of our lives have unfolded. Who's to say what is normal, or what the rest of our lives were "supposed" to be. Maybe that stroke was fate (on a side note, I don't believe in fate). Whatever the case, I've learned tremendously valuable lessons that really altered the way I look at life and how I operate every single day.This blow post is not a stroll down Cry Me a River Boulevard. This is simply a repost from that blog I wrote in 2011 with some updated links and tweaks to the verbiage. Over the course of my ten-year professional career I accomplished everything I really wanted to do. I traveled worldwide, I lived in four countries, raced two Tours de France, two Giro d'Italias, the World Championships, raced dozens of hallowed spring classics, and hundreds of others. I've ridden 200 On 100s, 200 Not On 100s, 3 Peaks, and countless other memorable days on the bike. Nothing, however, compares to the emotion and involvement I have for the event this October 15. (Coincidentally, 2011 and 2016 both have the King Challenge on October 15... whoot whoot!)Allow me to digress.The worst day of my life was March 23, 2003.My father, a prominent orthopaedic surgeon, an avid skier and sailor, a remarkably brilliant man -- and I'm not using hyperbole -- the exemplar pillar of the King family woke up that particular morning suffering a stroke. The lives of my immediate family were in an instant thrown into the blender and have been forever changed.While every day since that particular date presentes its challenges, Dad has done an incredible job piecing his life back together as best he can. What Dad calls his "A-Team", namely the support group around him, spearheaded without question by Mom, puts a spark in him every single day. One of the best resources for help we found is the Krempels Center. This organization is aimed at bettering the lives of adults with brain injury whether it by by stroke, traumatic brain injury, or tumor. In partnership with universities and community volunteers, the Krempels Center offers programs that engage members in meaningful and productive experiences and provides ongoing support and resources to those impacted by brain injury. As cyclists we rely on community. We relate with one another, we train together, our friends and outlets are from this group. The same thing happens among those with a brain injury. This community of brain injury survivors as well as their caregivers is absolutely incredible and unlike anything I've witnessed ever before. Cycling community included.Therefore with Dad's stroke now thirteen years old today, it was coming on six years ago that I help co-create the King Challenge, a full day family cycling event (not a race) open to all ages and abilities on October 15. (Also note the name change. After five years, we dropped a few words in the title from Krempels King of the Road Challenge, to simply King Challenge.) The entire King family is there the entire day. With three distances for any and all abilities, plus a kid's event as put on by Seacoast VeloKids, an adaptive ride for folks with a brain injury; plus there's music, food (ahem, an enormous beer garden), and an enormous expo featuring many of my career-long sponsors, the now sixth annual King Challenge promises to be an incredible event.Stay tuned because any day we are launching a revamped website, but in the meantime, registration for the event is here.And while it is certainly not required, but if you can create a team and draw one, two, twenty, or fifty or more riders to join your team, that obviously only helps the event. But the event starts with YOU so the biggest show of support is by registering (or donating to my fundraising effort if you can't make it) today.Hope to see you there.Sincerely,Ted(dy) King