In this episode, Jamie and his guest Rune Vethe discuss the Bike to Barcelona project (aka Tour de Parkinson’s). This June (2023), Rune will be joining a group of cyclists, including 9 people with Parkinson’s, who will ride their bikes from the UK to Barcelona. They will cover 1,600 kilometers (almost 1,000 miles) in just over 2 weeks. They will arrive just in time for the start of the Parkinson’s World Congress, and they will also be met by a couple of other teams leaving from different locations.

Also in this conversation, Jamie and Rune discuss Rune’s journey with Young Onset Parkinson’s disease, his DBS surgery, and how he has used exercise and advocacy to fight back against Parkinson’s since his diagnosis. Rune has been a strong advocate for many years. You will hear about what Rune has done to help people with Parkinson’s in Norway. They discuss how Rune went to the World Parkinson’s Congress in Montreal 2013 where he met people from Rocksteady Boxing, which led him to start a project to bring the program to Norway. Rune is now a Rock Steady Boxing Coach.

Rune has also participated in past cycling projects for Parkinson's patients. One of his current projects, called ZWAP, which stands for “Zwift Against Parkinson’s,” is a group that meets online to ride virtually together. Rune and Jamie discuss how they met through indoor cycling on the Zwift platform, and how cycling can benefit people with Parkinson's disease.

You can follow the Bike to Barcelona journey here: https://wpc2023.org/page/bike

ZWAP - https://www.zwap.no/t-en

The Parkinson's Fight Club Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkinsonsfightclub