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'I'll be his legs,' dad says

One man's marathon bike ride is his way of giving back and honoring his son.

By SUSIE WOODHAMS, Times Correspondent
Published November 16, 2007

Brandon 

Elias Feliciano's eyes twinkle and his pencil-thin moustache stretches wide with a grin when he shares tales of human triumph - even when they're about people he only knows through YouTube video clips.

"Oh man, have you seen the one of Dick and Rick Hoyt?" Feliciano said, shaking his head before telling of the more than 900 marathons, triathlons and road races in which Dick has competed with his disabled son Rick in tow.

"You've got to watch it. He's pulling his son in a little raft while he's swimming this triathlon. If I ever meet that guy, I'm going to give him the biggest hug."

Then there's the video of the break-dancer who was born with arthrogryposis, a rare muscular disorder that affects one in every 3,000 newborns, including Feliciano's 6-year-old son, Elias II.

"This Lazy Legz Luca, his story got told on TV," Feliciano said. "His legs are hanging straight down and he's on crutches, but his upper body is so massive, so muscular, that he can do all these break-dance moves. I showed Elias. I said, 'Look at this! Look what this guy can do!' "

Little Elias is more interested these days in whether his dad is going to win the 200-mile bike race he has been training for with predawn trips to the gym.

"It's not that kind of race," Feliciano, 32, of Brandon tells his son over and over.

Pedaling for a cause

By entering Tampa's Ride Without Limits this weekend, Feliciano hopes to raise awareness and money for United Cerebral Palsy and Achieve Tampa Bay, where his son has received physical therapy almost since birth.

For a man who never thought about owning a touring bike until three months ago, the event will be as much a labor of love as the Hoyts' marathons and as much a testament to overcoming disabilities as Lazy Legz's break-dancing.

"It's our way of giving back to organizations that have helped us for all these years," said Heidi Feliciano, who will be cheering her husband at rest stops along with Elias, brother Tyler, 11, and sister Cadence, 1.

The Felicianos have celebrated their own triumphs since Elias was born with his arms, hands, legs and feet severely contracted. His thigh bone also broke during birth.

He has had two surgeries to stretch foot and knee tendons, 50 pairs of hand braces, 20 leg casts and countless hours of physical therapy - enough progress to allow the curly-haired Elias to play chase with the neighborhood kids using a red motorized wheelchair that he controls with his shoulders, chest and limited use of his hands.

Son, dad grow

In kindergarten at Symmes Elementary School, he writes his name with a pencil between two fingers that's guided by his chin. He colors with his toes. And don't even think about challenging him in PlayStation football.

"Kids come over and he just spanks 'em at this Madden game," his father said. "They get mad because he's doing it all with his feet."

"Papi, watch this. I'm gonna juke him," Elias said, pushing the controller's buttons and joystick with his big toes as the wide receiver on the screen stutter steps into the end zone.

Yet Feliciano marvels as much at how his son's disability has helped him grow from a directionless young father into a successful businessman and volunteer who spoke to a Florida Senate committee in April about the needs of disabled children.

"We were living in a two-bedroom trailer with broken air-conditioning, making maybe $150 a week doing side work, when Elias was born, and I was scared," he said. "I thought, 'I can barely take care of one child and now this?' "

Feliciano soon started a car-detailing business, which led to his current job as district manager of Dealer Profit Systems, one of his sponsors for the bike race.

Wonderful wheelchair

While Elias learned to control parts of his body through therapy, Feliciano saw his son's confidence and independence grow as he learned to use a motorized wheelchair at Achieve. Feliciano asked Medicaid to buy one for their home. The answer: Add risers to toilets and elevators to his bed instead. He was denied a second time because it was deemed impractical for their two-story house.

"So I sold the house and bought one with an open floor plan and they still denied us," Feliciano said.

He tried once more for the $30,000 machine, this time giving officials a video of his son maneuvering a wheelchair borrowed from Achieve to do simple things like use the bathroom by himself and get in bed.

Finally, he won.

"The difference between me and other people is that other families get exhausted dealing with Medicaid," he said. "I didn't quit."

Nor does he plan to quit during the two-day bike race.

"I'm going to put a picture of my son on my handlebars and remember why I'm doing it," Feliciano said.

"I'll be his legs."

If You Go

Ride Without Limits

What: A 200-mile biking challenge broken into 50-mile segments in the Tampa Bay area Saturday and Sunday. Riders pay $85 to enter and must get at least $500 in pledges for United Cerebral Palsy and its affiliate, Achieve Tampa Bay. Elias Feliciano's personal goal is to raise at least $3,000; his team hopes to raise $10,000. To donate, volunteer or see the route map, go towww.ridewithoutlimits.org.

When and where: Day 1 starts at 7 a.m. at Lake Park in Lutz and takes riders north to the Suncoast Trail, east through Pasco County to San Antonio, and on to the Withlacoochee Trail before ending at Saint Leo University, where riders will camp for the night. Day 2 continues south and west again, ending in Lutz.

[Last modified November 15, 2007, 07:13:29]