Tour de Flood

By Jonathon Gregg - Reporter / Photographer

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By Jonathon Gregg

Story Created: Aug 11, 2008 at 5:57 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 11, 2008 at 5:57 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - Flood recovery has slowed down many lives in Cedar Rapids but right now Tyler Smother's is cruising along.
His mother tries to keep up. "He's never gone this fast before," Cindy Smothers says.

A big crowd showed up to Cedar Lake Park to cheer Tyler on.
Tyler, who is 24 now, was born with a form of Spina Bifida, a spinal cord birth defect.
He and his family have had a relationship with the ARC of East Central Iowa for more than 20 years.
When the Arc went under, Tyler's spirit sank.

"If you ask him about it his reaction is, 'ts horrible.' I asked him if you wanna go down there, he said 'no,' one time was enough," Cindy Smothers recalls.

Enough to convince Tyler he wanted to help.
He and his family decided he would raise money by riding a lap around Cedar Lake with his adaptive bike.
They're calling their efforts "Tour de Flood."
But one lap turned into 3 and a modest goal was surpassed.

Once Tyler's story made it on The ARC's national news letter donations starting coming in from across the county.
Tyler says they've already raised more than 8,000 dollars.

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