Texas Man Embarks On Extraordinary Journey This March

This Sunday, Mikail Davenport, a 58-year old native Texan, will set out for the ride of his life, cycling over 900 miles across our state.

In a month. Without using his legs.

Davenport contracted polio at age two, and in his early teens underwent a long series of reconstructive surgeries. The same debilitating muscular disease that afflicted Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, and Sir Arthur C. Clarke forced him to wear a steel leg brace for most of his life, until two decades ago, when the onset of post-poliomyelitis syndrome (PPS) rendered him wheelchair bound.

With mobility restricted but spirit undaunted, Davenport joined the BlazeSports Austin Track Team in 2000, competing in successively longer races. Shortly after completing the 2002 Motorola Marathon, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Following a successful operation—a third of his lung was removed—and one of the fastest recoveries we've ever heard of, Davenport went back and finished the 2003 Motorola Marathon.

Now, with several other endurance races under his belt, including the 6-day, 267-mile Sadler's Midnight Sun Ultra Challenge in 2003 and the 7-day, 350-mile Capitol Ride in 2005, he'll spend this March riding in what he's dubbed the "Legless Lizard Tour de Tejas." The 938-mile path runs along portions of I-10 and Route 90, beginning in El Paso and ending up, 25 days later, in Beaumont. He'll be hand cycling an estimated 40-60 miles per day, with wheelchair in tow.

It's all an effort to "put a human face on disability issues in front of the [state] legislature," reads the official website

“All in all, the disabled are no different from able-bodied people,” said Davenport to KEYE TV. “And that's the key.”

Austinist wishes Mikail and his team the best of luck next month.

[Legless Lizard Tour de Tejas]
[Disabled, Not Unable.org]