Alejandro Albor, a double-leg amputee and world champion handcyclist, participated in Denver's 8 th Annual Rocky Mountain Cycling Omnium on June 6, and took first place in the Bear Creek Time Trial. This race, which is part of the U.S. Handcycling Road National Championships and also the Paralympic Selection Event, officially secured his spot on the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Team.

The 14 kilometer Bear Creek Time Trial was particularly challenging for Albor because of a dislocated collar bone. Recently, a van struck him while training in California, dislocating his collar bone and destroying his new handcycle. Although Albor is still recuperating and under medical care, he still competed in the race, using his training bike, which is three pounds heavier than his racing bike.

Albor made his Paralympic debut in Athens, Greece in 2004, when handcycling was first introduced as an official Paralympic sport. Albor took silver, despite a last-minute rule that didn't allow him to use his own racing bike. In that race he had to use the same training bike he used at the Bear Creek Time Trial.

Denver-based Disaboom, the largest online community for people touched by disability, has sponsored Albor throughout his quest to the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China.For Albor, disaboom.com is a long-awaited resource.

"Until Disaboom was established, I had yet to find a place where I could go for information, talk with others in similar situations, share ideas, and gain a sense of community," said Albor. "I am thankful for Disaboom's vision and their belief in me as an athlete and a person."

In addition to racing for gold, Albor wears many hats. He is a husband and father, a public speaker, and a builder of custom handcycles for people of all abilities. Though his free time is nearly nonexistent, he still takes time to build at least one handcycle per year for donation.

Albor started building handcycles for people when he noticed how expensive they can be ($6,000+) and realized that he could build them for less. When asked why he would take the time to do such time-consuming and demanding work, he replied, "I like helping people and giving them the chance to experience handcycling."

"We are honored to sponsor Alejandro on his amazing journey and are ecstatic he has secured his spot on the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Team," said Dr. Glen House, f ounder of Disaboom. "He is an amazing person and an incredible source of inspiration for so many people."

In addition to sponsoring Albor's quest for gold, Disaboom is helping finance a documentary film of his life by filmmaker Steven Barber of Vanilla Fire Productions (http://www.vanillafire.com/vanilla.html).

Visitors to disaboom.com can track Albor's journey to Beijing by reading his personal blogs and viewing his pictures and videos. For more information, log onto www.disaboom.com.