Stefano Ghidotti, president and founder of the Association “Parkinson & Sport” and Simone Masotti met during an interview. Their beautiful friendship was born immediately: together they to realise their dream into a project – the first of three bike trips along the Via Francigena, starting 5 September for nine days and a total of 791 km.Here how Simone explains their initiative:

“My name is Simone, I’m 44 and for fifteen years Parkinson’s has been keeping me company. I have always had a passion for cycling and after the diagnosis I have been using every day to move and to play sports. Four years ago I was implanted a neurostimulator. During the first year it was not easy but then thanks to the bike I was able to resume normal daily activities.

Last year I crossed all islands of the Kvarner Bay in Croatia by bike with four friends. A few weeks after I met Stefano for an interview on his Facebook page Parkinson Sport and we started preparing future projects. A bike trip through Italy, meeting with various Parkinson’s associations along the route, meeting friends and members at each stage to talk about sports and movement. We immediately liked the idea! “

That is how “Bike riding with Parkinson for Italy” project was born. To cover all Italy, from north to south and from east to west, we will divide it into three trips, one per year. This year we decided to travel from Pavia to Rome along the Via Francigena, a route which we will follow for 9 stages.

It is a bicycle trip bringing a message of hope and fighting Parkinson’s via sports.

Consult further details about the project on the website “Parkinson & Triathlon”