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Welcome to PKUCycleAmerica
We are done. We more than accomplished our goal!
Please continue to visit our Blog. We were even on the news.
Thank you all for your support.
PKUCycleAmerica is the name of a fundraising adventure taken on by Dick Michaux and Jim Burger to benefit the National PKU Alliance (NPKUA) and PKU research. Dick’s granddaughter, Tia, has the severest form of PKU, classical PKU. Jim is Tia’s mom’s Godfather and a life long friend. We are going to bike 3,800 miles across the country over 54 days, starting by dipping our back tire into the Pacific on August 3 in Pacific City, OR and finishing by dipping our front tire into the Atlantic on September 25 in Yorktown, VA. We will post daily updates and photos to this website's blog. Please revisit often as we would appreciate your support now and along the way with your encouraging comments.
Phenylketonuria, PKU, is an inherited metabolic defect caused by an enzyme missing in the liver, making it unable to metabolize phenylalanine (PHE), one of the essential amino acids. The resulting buildup of PHE in the blood passes into the brain causing mental retardation and other neurological problems. There is a dietary remedy which is working for Tia, but it is severe and very few people with PKU manage to stay on this regimen throughout life, as they must.
Tia has been drinking a pharmacy manufactured formula since three days after birth and, if no other advances are made, will drink this formula the rest of her life. Her other food is severely restricted to limit the intake of protein to the equivalent of ½ egg per day. Everything she puts into her mouth must be measured and weighed to calculate the amount of PHE she is ingesting, because protein and hence PHE are found in nearly everything one eats. For more information about PKU, please visit “About PKU”.
The Michaux Family Foundation, a 501c3 charitable organization, was formed to direct funds to PKU research. Dr Ray Stevens of Scripps Institute has made remarkable progress in the past three years on a therapeutic that may ease some of the dietary restrictions of PKU children. BioMarin, a pharmaceutical company, is taking this therapeutic through clinical trials over the next several years.
We would like to meet PKU families who live along the route of our bike trip. Not only could we use the personal support, but we would also like to increase local awareness about PKU through media coverage. The route is summarized in “The Route”. If you live along the route and can arrange media coverage please visit “Press Information”. You may contact us about meeting by emailing dick@michauxfamily.com
You may support PKUCycleAmerica in several ways. We are trying to raise over $100,000 to support NPKUA and research. If you’d like to make a donation or you’d like to sponsor a state and have your name listed on the website while we are transiting that state or if you’re interested in becoming a guest rider for a few days and pledging to raise money for the miles you ride, please visit “Support The Ride”.
If you would like to send a check to support PKU research, please make checks out to the "Michaux Family Foundation" and mail to:
Michaux Family Foundation
10332 Main Street, #358
Fairfax, VA 22030
