Fifty Plus (50+) - 58-Year Old Cyclist, One Leg

Read all about it, includes slide show.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oneleg7-2009may07,0,5322147.story

That's pretty amazing; he's faster than me. It's a reminder that it's our will and cardiopulmonary system that sets our limits, not our legs.

I see this guy all the time riding in NYC
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-bike122706,0,3971025.story?track=mostemailedlink

Cool story. But there's this:

"I don't need the extra pedal. I'm interested in having a light bike and going fast, so I sawed the left pedal arms off the bikes," he said.

I hope somebody tells him that there are actual tools for dealing with this issue. :twitchy:

A remarkable story. I wonder if I would be able to continue cycling in similar circumstances.

It does bring to mind the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z61e1Hv6gIQ

A guy who comes into my library lost a leg. ("It was under the bed," he jokes.) Meaning that he uses a prosthetic one. Actually, he owns two. (At $57K each. Yikes!)

He's currently training for a tri. Haven't yet found a time when we can ride together.

My mind flashed to him last week when that car hit me and I watched the bumper impact my left leg. "Mine'll be cheaper than Geoff's" is what passed through there before I tucked-and-rolled.

At the chicago marathon there was a pro who had carried her special running leg everywhere, too expensive to risk leaving in her hotel room. At breakfast she would use it to hold things while she was at the buffet, like an apple and box of juice etc.

"One day I went into the pavement and broke the stump leg hip -- I broke the femoral neck right off. But I was up riding within a month or so," he said.

"I hit a truck a few weeks ago and I'm still alive. An SUV hit me six months ago and I'm still alive. Yesterday a guy pulled right in front of me and I managed to swerve around him. That happens almost daily. You're constantly avoiding people who are going to hit you."

You'd think he might choose some better routes.

Two story's-with one rider.

100 mile offroad and there was this rider with a prosthaetic lower leg. We noticed him when he overtook us up a hill.

And same rider- He was using his new leg that did not fit properly and as it was rubbing- he was only going to do the 65 miler. He had broken the Old one a month before when he had an off at a Downhill course at 45mph.

That's pretty amazing; he's faster than me.

Everyone's faster than me!

Not bike related, but I knew a guy who had a prosthetic leg AND hand. He was at a store one day asking about drapes for an apartment building, and the clerk told him the kind he liked would cost and arm and a leg. Without batting an eye (which wasn't glass, by the way), he removed his leg and hand and placed them on the counter.

"Write it up," he said.

The clerk nearly fainted. :)

The first time I dislocated my left kneecap, at age 17, I naively followed doctor's orders, including two weeks in a cylindrical cast and no bicycling or running for six weeks. My kneecap was sitting on the side of my leg for 90 minutes for the ambulance ride and X-rays.

The second time, in my early 40s, I immediately popped the kneecap back into place by myself, used a strap-on immobilizer for about two weeks, and got back in the saddle as quickly as I could. While I was wearing the brace, I tried riding my mountain bike with the left crank removed -- what a workout! I have nothing but respect for these one-legged bicyclists, even if one of them is a Scientologist.

Some of you probably know that Jim Penseyres, a Vietnam veteran and Pete's younger brother, still holds the record for a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) crossing by a below-the-knee amputee. I have seen a couple of other guys out on Highway 101 with either above-the-knee or below-the-knee prosthetics, but the guys who do it without a prosthetic completely amaze me.