Alf Todd has an extraordinary story to tell.
It’s actually two stories but, put together, they speak to the spirit and resilience of a remarkable Langford resident.
Let’s begin with Todd’s love of cycling.
“I’ve always loved the freedom and the feeling of moving down the road,” said Todd.
He loved it so much that he wanted to share the feeling and, when his eldest son was all of 10 years old, Todd decided that the two of them would combine that affinity for cycling with a father/son adventure. After training for a few months here in Langford, they set off for a cycling trip to San Fransisco.
“We trained for it, and, after a few months, I knew we could do it. I was 36 years old at the time,” said Todd.
Four years later, Todd and his son were joined by his youngest son, who was similarly 10 years old by then, and the three of them set out to repeat the feat. They cycled down the coast to San Fransisco on a trip that took them only 11 days.
That meant that the trio was averaging almost 100 miles a day.
Now that spirit could easily have been the whole story but for the fact that, in 2007, Todd was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I knew that something wasn’t right and went to the doctor. He told me what I had, and I found out how strange a disease it is. There’s about 50 different symptoms and it can affect everyone differently,” said Todd.
In Todd’s case the disease didn’t stop him from proceeding with life and, in 2012, he and his daughter decided to repeat the ride to San Fransisco, this time joined by a couple of other riders who were similarly dealing with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.
“We did another ride with about 18 riders with us and raised some funds for Parkinson’s research. She called us Parkinson’s peddlers,” said Todd. “Then a couple of years later we rode from Port Hardy to Victoria. We had about 18 riders with us then too.”
With his disease progressing, Todd decided on a plan of action.
“When I got off the bike at the end of that last trip something said to me that I needed to make a pedal power wheelchair,” said Todd.
He met with an old friend, Jeff Lewis, and together they set to work developing something that would accommodate people who had difficulty walking. The pair decided that those people still deserved the chance to experience the joy of movement that cycling would give them
“We spent the better part of two years designing the peddler, and I can tell you that we had a lot of what we called ‘frankenchairs’ in that time,” Todd said. “I have this park behind my house, and we’d do a chair and take it back there to try out. There were a lot of problems we had to overcome.”
In the end, though, the pair developed a remarkable machine that Jeff named the Extreme Rhino pedal wheelchair.
“He liked that name. I still call them peddlers,” Todd said.
They’d moved from steel to aircraft-grade, tig-welded, powder-coated aluminum, complete with hydraulic disc brakes, and a differential that allows for sharp turns and a tight turning radius.
The true test, though, came when they made the first peddler for Mercy.
"She was a young girl here in Victoria who was severely handicapped. But she got on and took off. It was an amazing transformation and quite emotional,” Todd said.
Since that time Todd and Lewis have custom built about 40 of the units and have even shipped one to the Dalai Lama. They formed a company named Extreme Rhino and have built the units for people who are suffering, not only from Parkinson’s but from other diseases like multiple sclerosis.
“The transformation is absolutely incredible. We have had people who can barely walk, but they get on the peddler and it’s like their brain signals change and they take off,” said Todd.
Todd, who now relies heavily on a cane to walk, demonstrated the truth of that statement by mounting his own peddler and zipping around his driveway and street in front of his home with the joyful abandon of a six-year-old on their first bike.
“I’m not out to make any money on these, it’s just a chance to help people regain that sense of freedom,” said Todd. “Anyway, Jeff did a lot of the work. I couldn’t master tig welding, but he could. I provided the vision, and he did a lot of the work,” said Todd. “In the end, my reward is helping people.”
Todd also helps counsel people who have been newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s and is always ready to help those people cope with the degenerative disease.
“Anyway, when you do nice things, your body produces more dopamine and that’s good for Parkinson’s patients. So, I guess I’m helping myself at the same time,” Todd said.
Then he smiled and took another turn around the drive on his peddler.
For more information on the Extreme Rhino pedal wheelchair, visit exrhino.com.