Handbike passion

Roberta Amadeo is the athlete from Como who is handbike world champion in 2019 and 2021, a two-time president of Aism, and above all a woman whose charisma and strength are felt at every meeting. We are curious to know how her sports passion that has led her to climb international podiums in the discipline she loves so much came about. How did the love for handbike come about?

I am sporty in DNA and in fact already as a child I practiced judo competitively. Then I had to stop because of physical problems that I discovered over time were due to my illness. In fact, in 1992 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and I had to shelve sports because of problems related to my disease and the firm stance of neurological doctors with respect to training and fatigue. In fact, one of the most cross-cutting symptoms of multiple sclerosis is fatigue. Not fatigue that can be resolved with a good night's sleep, but a central fatigue that doctors said was difficult to counteract when it was also associated with physical fatigue. Later, thanks to new studies carried out by the AISM and its Foundation, the wind turned and they tried to assess when training could somehow work positively on the fatigue discourse as well. In this context, by chance, on June 2, 2010, I read the news of a handbike race in Bregnano organized by the village team and told my nephew when he wanted to come with me to take some photos, a great passion of mine. I came home with a proposal from President Carlo Ricci to join the team. After two months I went to tryout and today, 13 years later, I am training as when it was the first day. Where are we with handbike in Italy?

In recent years the movement has had an explosion and today there are more than 400 athletes. It should be considered that handbike is an expensive discipline, starting with the competition bike, which has really high prices. Fortunately, some clubs like ours have bicycles left by some athletes that are used for testing and training. What about the Como movement?

In the province there is only one team, TEAM MTB "BEE AND BIKE" from Bregnano, which practices para-cycling. We are 9 athletes, coming not only from Como, but also from other provinces. When does this activity engage you?

I am followed by a trainer and train 6 days out of 7, on average 2 to

4 hours a day. Some workouts involve me doing 60, 70 and even 80 km a day. On the other hand, there are days when I do more specific workouts on short distances and then there is all the work in the gym. There is a lot of talk about inclusion and TEAM MTB "BEE AND BIKE" in Bregnano is a great example of this with its opening to able-bodied athletes. Alberto, an athlete on the Bregnano team, tells us about it. Initially I used to follow my wife Grazia to the races," Alberto tells us, "to take pictures and give her assistance during the competition. Then I asked myself, why can't I try it too? We found out that in Europe there was already the possibility for able-bodied people to do handbike races so I tried it, had fun and after asking the Federation for the possibility to do it, since 2017 I have been participating in national competitions. The first in Italy?

Yes - Roberta explains. Alberto was the first able-bodied person in Italy who decided to compete with so-called disabled athletes. Some people are not very happy about this opening, which instead, in my opinion, is an opportunity to raise the level of comparison even more." Grazia, from the Bregnano team, also tells us about her experience. I have been following my husband Alberto during bike and mountabike races for a long time, and for 5 years I was in charge of the CSI cycling sector. However, at some point I felt like having fun and competing. I lost a leg in 1978, but that was not why I put of sports. Alberto and I started with the tandem, and for a while I practiced cycling using a special bike that is modified according to people's handicap. During a race, however, I fell and since then I cannot stay in the saddle for more than half an hour. From that moment my experience with handbike began. Now I have the world champion's bike in my hand - she smiles - very high performance and I can't do anything but have fun! You can feel a relationship of great complicity between Roberta, Alberto and Grazia, which goes far beyond the competitive spirit. We have a lot of fun together," Roberta admits. "That said, it is important not to forget the commitment that is necessary to put into the sport. Competitions can go either way, the important thing is to have a clear conscience. Multiple sclerosis will always be a nuisance but it will never be an alibi. Determination, openness, sharing and passion. These are the ingredients of a truly winning team, as demonstrated by Roberta, Alberto and Grace.