ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605130063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
STEVE AUKWARD WILL TRAVEL to Colorado this month to try out for the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes' cycling team.
Being blind hasn't kept Steve Aukward from seeing his dreams fulfilled.
Despite losing his sight to an eye disease as a teen-ager, he has become an avid swimmer and weightlifter. And he took up cycling two years ago on a two-seater, or tandem, bicycle.
"I feel dreams are ways of believing and expecting things to come out the way you want them," Aukward said. "They motivate me."
"It's one thing to dream. It's another to take the steps along the way," he said. "The dream is the goal at the end of the rainbow."
Aukward, 46, is now hoping to fulfill one of his biggest dreams yet.
He has qualified to try out for the United States Association of Blind Athletes' cycling team in the 1996 Paralympics in August. Up to 4,000 athletes with disabilities from more than 100 nations will compete in the Paralympics, which are held two weeks after the Olympic Games.
Aukward will leave for Colorado Springs, Colo., this month to compete for a slot on the men's cycling team. He'll ride with Greg Combs of Colorado Springs, a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athletes Program. Aukward will be one of the oldest athletes trying out.
"This dream is somewhat overwhelming at times," he said.
Aukward has always been a strong athlete. He was a successful weightlifting competitor in college, and he has been swimming for years.
But he didn't get into cycling until two years ago, when Roanoke Assistant City Manager Jim Ritchie approached him about riding together recreationally on a tandem. The two men worked just across the street from each other - Ritchie at City Hall, and Aukward at the Commonwealth Building as regional manager of the state Department for the Visually Handicapped.
The biking duo rode more than 2,000 miles in less than a year. They rode in Bike Virginia, a 350-mile tour across the state and into parts of North Carolina.
Then Aukward took his cycling to another level: competition. He started in small local races, with Ritchie as his pilot, then was invited to the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes' Cycling Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
Last July, Aukward competed with Maryland cyclist Charles Lepovetsky to win a bronze medal in the USABA National Track Championships. That qualified him to try out for the 1996 Paralympic cycling team.
He spent the next several months training and searching for a pilot who could compete at the national and international level.
The USABA helped to link Aukward with Combs, who helped organize the Paralympic trials,
Now, it's all training until the trials begin June1.
Three mornings a week, Aukward hits the weight room at the YMCA. Two days a week, he swims. And the rest of his training time is spent on "Eagle One," the nickname he gave to the black Cannondale tandem racing bike he'll use in Colorado.
Ritchie and two other Roanoke Valley cyclists - Billy Pearlman and Vince Seneker - are helping Aukward train. All four are members of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club.
The club has set up a fund to help pay Aukward's expenses at the Colorado Springs tryouts, and is accepting contributions. The USABA only pays for athletes who make the Paralympic teams.
On any given evening, Aukward can be seen with one of the men riding around his Raleigh Court neighborhood. Some nights, they hit the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Once he arrives in Colorado, Aukward will have to step up training. He has not yet ridden with Combs, and they will have to learn to communicate on the tandem.
Communication is a critical part of riding on a tandem, Aukward said. The pilot and his partner, or stoker, must be in perfect cadence when shifting gears or leaning to make a sharp turn.
Aukward will also need a few days in Colorado for his lungs to adjust to the higher altitude.
"It's about 7,800-feet elevation," Aukward said. "You can usually adjust after three or four days."
Aukward is optimistic about his chances in Colorado. And he has several things motivating him. His wife, Judy, and two daughters, Erin, 12, and Caitlin, 10, have been very supportive. And his 35-year-old brother, Joseph, is trying out for a slot on the pentathlon team in the Paralympics. Joseph Aukward is also blind. Both brothers lost their sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease.
Aukward credits his father, who recently died of cancer, with helping him stay focused throughout his life.
"He always told me never to give up," Aukward said.
"I really don't consider myself unique," he said. "What I'm doing is something that another blind person could do if they chose to. I'm determined. I'm focused."
Aukward knows the Paralympic trials will be his toughest challenge yet as an athlete. He'll be facing other blind athletes with willpower as strong as his own.
"There are a lot of people out there - each one of them individual - and they're all trying to make their dreams a reality," Aukward said.
Contributions to help fund Steve Aukward's trip to Colorado Springs can be sent to the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, Judy Ayers, treasurer, 5704 Knowles Drive, Roanoke 24018
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY STAFF Paralympic hopeful Steve Aukwardby CNB(right) pedals his tandem bike during training with Vince Seneker on
the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County on May 6. color