In 1994 I Rode My Bicycle 20,000 Miles and lost 50Lbs!
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 11, 2009 05:59AM Registered: 11 months ago
Posts: 936
I once rode an English three speed bicycle to work when I lived in Arizona and worked at Luke Field. I had visions of riding to work each day and reaping the rewards of better health and saving the cost of fuel and the expense of owning and maintaining a car. Going to work was fine, but the return trip almost killed me. After a day in the Arizona sun, I began the ride home traveling into a brisk wind and had to struggle to make headway. It didnt help that the wind was so hot and dry that I quickly became dehydrated. I arrived home exhausted and half sick and never rode the bike to work again.
I did ride it around the Phoenix city streets a bit and enjoyed exploring the area on two wheels. Bicycles have always been a part of my life and some of my fondest memories have been of two wheeling along under my own power and the feeling of freedom the experience evoked in me.
I stopped in a bicycle shop in Phoenix to look for a small part and browsed through the odds and ends there to see what wonders I might see and after chatting with the owner a bit, headed out the door. As I exited I saw an older gent, I was in my early twenties and everyone looked older to me, locking up an old balloon tired bike outside on the sidewalk and noticed he had his pant leg secured to keep it from getting caught in the chain.
I commented that the old bike looked to have some miles on it and he chuckled and replied that he had ridden this bike and others like it all over the world. He said he had ridden all over Europe, The full length of Africa and the Americas and was still riding! He then slapped his leg and said that these were his heart pumps and he figured that if he could keep riding, he might live forever!!
I never forgot the meeting and from time to time over the years since then I would ride a bit, but never really got serious about riding. In 1994 I decided I needed to start riding again to regain some physical strength and flexibility that had been slipping away with age. I bought a Trek mountain bike and starting riding as often as I could. After a hundred miles or so I decided I would rather ride a road bike, because I was tired of other riders running off and leaving me in their dust! (Especially one little old white haired woman on a nice road bike!!!)
I bought an aluminum Trek road bike and a whole new world of biking opened up for me. I rode over two thousand miles that year and dropped fifty pounds of excess fat from my middle-aged frame. I would start my work day with a fifteen or twenty mile ride and every weekend I started early and had from fifty to over a hundred miles behind me when I put the bike away for the day! For me there is nothing to compare to the feeling of watching the world pass by while bicycling. Toward the end of that year my wife made a comment about my being away all the time and that perhaps my working hours (income) were being affected too.
The next year I rode only about eight hundred miles and the next less than half that. It was about then that I started noticing that there seemed to be an absolute truth related to bicycling and it was that sooner or later a rider takes a spill, often with tragic consequences. I interviewed many of the riders who had ridden as I had and found that many if not most of them had fallen or had had been hit by cars! I had experienced near misses, but as yet had not fallen or been hit, but I started to feel that it was only a matter of time before I crashed.
I learned that my insurance would pay my bills for two years should I be incapacitated due to a work accident, but that they were going to thumb their nose at me if I had an injury due to bicycling! That day I hung up my wheels and havent ridden since. Remember the fifty pounds I lost? I found it and more when I quit riding!
In the time between that day and today (April 6th, 09) I have encountered many excellent bikers that have related tales of accidents and injury that have confirmed for me that my decision was the right one.
About four years ago a little old lady hit two bicyclists maybe six miles from where I sit writing this. One rider died and the other was hurt and the little old lady was arrested later for leaving the scene and she swore she didnt know she had hit anyone. I had ridden that stretch of road regularly in my travels.
Another rider cruising down a hill out in Lyme, Connecticut swerved his lovely titanium road bike to avoid a deer and ended up thrown over a stone wall where he was found by a passing motorist who saw the bike in the middle of the road with a wheel still spinning and stopped to investigate. The rider underwent months of surgery and recovered well enough to get back on a bike again. I had ridden down that same hill, but had been lucky enough to miss out on the deer encounter.
A friend/customer of mine, a retired hockey player was riding along with no helmet and his cap blew off. He grabbed for it as he was rolling along at perhaps twenty MPH and the next thing he remembers was picking himself up on the side of the road. He limped back to where his favorite cap lay and as he bent to pick it up realized he was badly hurt!
He had an injury to his leg which he ignored thinking it would heal and after traveling around the country for several days to met scheduled commitments, landed in the hospital being treated with the worst infection of his life and career. It was a toss up whether he would keep the leg a few times there. He still rides, but wears a helmet now. I have ridden that road.
On the same road a bit farther down at a stop sign, another acquaintance was slowing for the stop and collided with a deer. Both were stunned and momentarily frightened, but un-injured.
Long time rider and friend could be seen riding every day after his retirement and I envied him greatly until I asked him one day about the device he had in his mouth. I could see the thing when we passed on the road and couldnt figure out what it was. He told me that the previous year he one day found himself in terrific pain, facedown on the road and he had no memory of how he got there! That spill sent him in for several surgeries for re-setting a broken collar bone and his jaw had to be reconstructed and wired together until it healed and then he had thousands of dollars worth of dental work to return to normal life. He now wears a mouth piece to protect his jaw against future injury while he rides every day. (I saw him a few days ago and I didnt notice the mouth guard!)
One last tale and Ill give it up before this treatise becomes a book! An older lady I work for has a son that has been riding for most of his forty years both as a healthy pursuit and in competition. Needless to say he rides often and knows how to ride well and safely and yet he has been hurt worse casually riding than he ever was during competition. The last time, a lady drove in front of him and never saw him until he sailed over the hood of her car; wreaking havoc to his collar bone and an arm and this is not the only such incident he has had.
Beware dear reader!! People do not see bicyclists, especially when they are riding facing traffic!! (Illegal in some states!) I almost hit a biker myself a few years ago, because he was traveling toward me on my right as I was trying to turn right onto a busy street. I was watching to my left for an opening in traffic and pulled out barely missing the guy! I nearly got a jogger in the early morning light one day last year the same way! I watch for this religiously now after these two near-misses! (Near-hits?)
Use this information dear reader as you may. A word to the wise is -----------------
Cupajo
I am sure many people are hurt but if you are going to do
Posted by: Royal [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 11, 2009 07:17AM Moderator
Registered: 4 years ago
Posts: 13,734
only things that are completely safe, you are going to have a mighty boring life.
I have scuba dived for many many years and never really had a problem but if I wanted to google a bit I am sure I could find many divers that have died.
I think riding a bike is much like any hobby. Learn how to do it, wear protective gear and go for it. I would not ride a bike in heavy traffic. I would not ride a bike down here in the Waterford area, at least not on the roads but I feel safe up in Roscommon. A car will still injure me but there is much less traffic up there.
Millions of people enjoy biking and never get injured but the few that do will sure make you alert.
I ride my scooter all summer long and it is not safe compared to riding in a car but I like it and will continue. I used to ride it down here but no longer do because of the traffic. They are hard to see too
_________
Re: I am sure many people are hurt but if you are going to do
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 11, 2009 07:49AM Registered: 11 months ago
Posts: 936
Locally most of the roads have fairly wide shoulders and can be ridden fairly safely during the quieter times of day.
I learned to ride when and where the traffic flow was in my favor and never had a problem.
I understand your point of view and most of the riders I know feel the same way, as you know from the story.
For my piece of mind I decided to avoid the possible consequences of getting hurt, by not riding and have been OK with that.
I have many other things to engage my sense of adventure that are less risky!
May you continue to safely enjoy your pursuits my Friend,
Cupajo
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 05:57AM Registered: 11 months ago
Posts: 936
Working as a plumbing repairman for many years has offered me a wonderful opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people from paupers to millionaires. Some of these folks are colorful characters and worthy of writing about for their enthusiastic way of meeting life head on.
One such fellow was Bill, the son of another Bill who was himself an adventurer that used to virtually live in the Alps and with his outdoor loving wife guided tours of hikers and skiers through that wonderful setting. The son Bill lived in Essex, Connecticut and was an entrepreneur developing a vehicle for commuting across the open water of places such as Long Island Sound, the Flarecraft.
This lovely craft was designed to use the principle of ground effect to fly a yard to ten feet or so over the water on a cushion of air. It had a wonderfully stable ride and traveled at speeds that made them ideal for fast commuting. It could be flown for brief periods at altitudes allowing the craft to skip over obstacles. The model he was working on is one of many concepts that have been developed and are being used in various parts of the world. (Google Flare Craft on the internet) Some of them have two or more engines of many horsepower and intricate computer controls to enable the craft to speedily deliver commuting passengers and/or cargo safely to their destinations.
Bills concept was along the lines of a fast water taxi with up to six passengers and was much more flexible because its smaller size made it easier to get in and out of virtually any standard boat launching area. It was powered by one prop engine and built of light weight composite carbon fiber materials. Its controls were cable and pulley with no expensive computer assist. He built and was testing a four passenger model and the craft
had logged many hours of successful flight.
Bill allowed an aircraft pilot with years of test piloting to his credit to fly the craft. The handling was different from that of regular aircraft and the test pilot with no experience in this craft crashed it near the mouth of the Connecticut River. The pilot survived. The project collapsed with that crash and the world lost a marvelous creation to this mistake in judgment.
The last time it was seen in public it was as a pile of scrap in the rear of a local automotive repair shop and what was once a lovely vehicle such as dreams are made of was reduced to nothing more that a novel conversation piece! Bill had offered me a ride in the dream vehicle, but somehow I never managed to have that experience to share with you, so Im offering you all I have to share in this piece of writing and the pretty picture below.
Cupajo
I ride my bicycle around here a lot [at least a lot not in winter. : ]
Posted by: Mikie [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 08:52AM Registered: 4 years ago
Posts: 5,373
Cannot let a few accidents deter me. : But I would not ride in a larger town
fair winds
Mikie
________________________________________
"A dog is better than me, for she has love and does not judge"
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Yipes! bike riding appears to be just as dangerous as riding a motorcycle.............
Posted by: Kelley (Texas) [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 09:44AM Registered: 4 years ago
Posts: 5,649
It seems that I have to constantly be on guard because folks for some reason just do not see you. I did not know that riding a bike would be just as dangerous. I have had several close calls, the worst being when a tractor trailor truck changed lanes and missed me by inches...I still do not know how I escaped that one! Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
________________________________________
"Try to live up to your dog's opinion of you!"
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Re: Yipes! bike riding appears to be just as dangerous as riding a motorcycle.............
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 10:22AM Registered: 11 months ago
Posts: 936
Hey Fred, (I see other folks callin you Fred so I'll press my luck and do it too!)
For a year or so I rode a BMW touring bike 30 miles to work and then back in all kinds of weather. In one week I almost got hit twice. I got run off the road to avoid a head-on collision about three blocks from home.
My headlights were always on and I wore a helmut and road gear when weather wasn't too hot. Both near hits were during sun shiny, clear days. In the first I was passing in the fast lane and the driver decided to join me and nearly sideswiped me off the road.
The one near home led to the bike being offered for sale and its subsequent theft I described in another post.
A long time motocross rider wrote a long time ago that he would continue to ride as long as he could manuever a bike, but he had stopped riding the highways because it was too damned dangerous! Personally I agree.
Best wishes for a fine Easter Friend,
Cupajo
Cupajo, I try to avoid the Interstate Highways and other major highways..........
Posted by: Kelley (Texas) [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 10:34AM Registered: 4 years ago
Posts: 5,649
as much as possible when riding to old towns, ghost towns, or historical sites for taking pictures and doing research. I ride the Farm to Market roads as much as is possible, but that opens up another can of worms...deer and snakes. Of the two, I probably dislike the snake encounters the most because they will stretch out and sun themselves on the road. I don't dare run over one because I fear that they will reach up and bite me. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
Re: Cupajo, I try to avoid the Interstate Highways and other major highways..........
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a Message ]
Date: April 12, 2009 11:03AM Registered: 11 months ago
Posts: 936
Hey Fred, I cain't say as I blame you about the snakes. One of my earliest flashes of memory was of a time when my family was headed somewhere and suddenly everyone bailed out of the barely stopped car dragging me along. I can't remember the details, but someone had seen a snake in the car and decided discretion was the better part off valor and vacated the vehicle as quick as possible!
A asked Mom about it one time and she was amazed that I remembered the event, because I was still in diapers (Leave it alone Royal ). The snake turned out to be non-poisonous.
It mystifies me that I have no fear of snakes today when I consider how many of my family were afeared. I am watchful and duly cautious, but never afraid.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2009 07:01PM by Cupajo.
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