Imagine the wind against your face as you glide down the road on a high performance motorcycle - an open view of the countryside around you, you feel free and in complete control of a machine that can take you almost anywhere…
For many – a motorcycle tour of New Zealand has always been a dream. But for wheelchair users, such a dream has never been able to become a reality until now. Finally the chance to regain one’s freedom from dependence upon others with the arrival of an exciting new open-air vehicle has arrived.
The Martin Conquest R1200R is a motorbike designed for wheelchair users. The world's first series-manufactured high performance motorcycle that can be driven from a wheelchair, it promises to provide an unprecedented level of independence previously unattainable for individual wheelchair users.
With all controls being hand operated, the Conquest is designed for people with disabilities from the waist down. Drivers can roll their wheelchairs onto the vehicle via an automated access ramp. Funding and support for the development of the Conquest included that of Sir Frank Williams, the Principal of the BMW-Williams Formula 1 Team.
Due to leave the UK on 1 July 2008, the Martin Conquest bike will be officially farewelled by CatWalk patron and Kiwi Olympic equestrian hero, Mark Todd. “It’s truly hard to comprehend what emotions you would go through if you had a spinal cord injury and the disbelief of maybe never walking again. To be a patron of CatWalk and help towards their goal of a cure is really quite special. After speaking to a number of Paraplegics and Tetraplegics they all seem to say the same thing…it’s not the chair which makes life so challenging, it’s losing your independence. The Martin Conquest enables wheelchair users to experience that sense of freedom again,” says Mark. “But what I particularly like is how cool it looks…as my wife would say – it’s better to be looked over than overlooked!”
Having generously donated one Conquest motorcycle to the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust, the CatWalk Conquest Tour - ‘Conquering Freedom’ will travel the country, giving wheelchair users all around New Zealand the opportunity to ride the bike for a portion of the entire route.
The bike will be shipped care of DHL who are behind the event and CatWalk’s cause – taking 6 weeks to arrive safely in New Zealand Beginning in Auckland on 29 October 2008 the tour will visit 38 of New Zealand’s main centres, before finishing in Christchurch on 13 November 2008. CatWalk will host the ‘Up & Away Charity Dinner’ that same night in Christchurch, where the Conquest bike will be auctioned to the highest bidder…
The CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust was founded by Catriona Williams, one of New Zealand’s leading international equestrian riders who is now confined to a wheelchair following a riding accident in 2002. “The CatWalk Team are so excited about the opportunity to bring the Martin Conquest to New Zealand – we simply couldn’t have done it without Martin Conquest and DHL. The opportunity to ride this bike has been made available to all wheelchair users with good hand and torso control so that anyone with challenged mobility can have a go.
“After a two week tour throughout NZ with support from celebrities, sportspeople and our patrons, someone will go home with this wonderful bike on the 13th of November at the CatWalk Up and Away Charity Dinner and Auction. CatWalk has a strong equestrian base but with this adventure we hope to get motorcyclists involved and we’d love for anyone with their own bike to come and cruise with us throughout NZ on our Conquest Freedom Tour” says Catriona.
She founded the CatWalk Trust specifically to raise funds to support the body of scientific opinion, which says a cure for Spinal Cord Injury will be found – and found soon. Whilst there are a number of organisations providing valuable rehabilitative support to those with SCI, the CatWalk Trust aims to challenge the current boundaries of research, enabling SCI victims to walk again.
With patrons including Zara Phillips, Mark Todd, Sir Brian Lochlore, Lance O’Sullivan, Richie McCaw and Dion Nash the Trust has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help researchers get closer to releasing SCI sufferers from their wheelchairs and restricted spheres of movement.
For more information please visit:
http://www.catwalk.org.nz
http://www.martinconquest.com
