HappyHeart.org Community for a Cure

Welcome to HappyHeart.org, your community for a cure. I am Joseph Flanigan and this Web site supports my fund raising efforts to cure diseases like multiple sclerosis. This site is about my story, the support community, and includes portals to the organizations doing the research work for a cure.

HappyHeart.org collects no money. Rather, this site provides links to the official organizations that do the actual collection.

Two great articles about this year's ride with Alexi Grewal joining Team HappyHeart.

Pedaling for His Partners. by Sean Star of the Reporter Herald
Involvement is Key to MS Ambassador by Jeanine Spellman for Mind and Body Connection.

Announcement: The 2012 Colorado Bike MS is on the weekend of June 30th. This year I will ride with Team HappyHeart. The co-captain for the team is Alexi Grewal. Please join us to help fight MS!

www.nmss.org/goto/happyheart
www.nmss.org/goto/alexigrewal
www.nmss.org/goto/josephflanigan.CO

News:

2012

June 24: Reached team fun raising goal of $5,000.

June 17: Father's Day. Denver Century Ride. Fell again.

April 6: Mind and Body Article - Interview by Jeanine Spellman

March 10: Fell again breaking right arm.

Feburary 1: Alexi Grewal agrees to co-captain Team HappyHeart.

January 20: Signed up for Bike MS and started Team HappyHeart.

January 15: Decided to ride the Bike MS. I will not let MS steal any more miles from me.

January 1: The Colorado Bke MS 150 will be June 30th and July 1st.

2011

December 15: Starting to get healthier. Bad MS year.

August 12. My custom MS bike debuts.

August 11: Ok to ride short distances.

June 29th, I fell while riding on a bike trial in Fort Collins. I broke my left arm and had a enormous hematoma on the left thigh. 4 days in the hospital. No riding for 7 weeks.

Try: Joseph's Honey Brittle

Watch this video from MS Global. I am the one being pushed uphill by Tyler Hamilton and then again by two other ride leaders. At MS Global 2010, my conditioning improved that could climb most of the hills. On one of the hills I was struggling, Tyler came up from behind to help me by pushing. I said to Tyler, "No pushing". He didn't but he did talk me up the hill.

This the front cover image from the 2010 Colorado MS150 Rider Handbook. I was surprised to see my picture among the riders.

Last year, while at a MS meeting I was talking about me doing the MS150. Many people with MS cannot ride. For those who attended the meeting I asked them to be my pedal partner for my ride. At the end of 2009,30 MSers signed. I retired that helmet. For, 2010 the new helmet has many pedal partners. I ride because I can, and I ride for those who cannot.

Joseph Prepares for MS 150.

Joseph Finishes Colorado MS150

One of the projects that HappyHeart.org is sponsoring is the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis. ACP provides a critical service to MS research. This non-profit organization collects and banks blood samples and personal data from people, including me, with MS and makes them available for use by researchers looking for a cure by discovering the cause of MS. 100% of the money raised goes to support ACP's mission.

The Accelerated Cure Project uses the services of FirstGiving.com as the offical agent to accecpt donations. The link to Joseph's Charity Ride contribution site is http://www.firstgiving.com/happyheart. Please use this link to access the donation page.