ORIGINS pt. 3

I love this picture of my brother Gary and I that was taken probably around 1965ish.

My first bike is a schwinn banana bike …..what a classic !

I’m not sure what Gary was driving at the time but I am sure of this, His little legs were always moving as fast as he could move them to always try to keep up with his big brother.

We built a race track and we would have bike races in the woods behind our house in the hot summer sun in Iowa.

It wasn’t about winning….it was about trying to win.

Thinking about those days reminds me of a story I heard a couple of years ago from National Geographic.

It has to do with not just racing, but finishing the race.

One of the most grueling of all bicycle races is the Tour De France. A contestant in that event, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, describes it in a National Geographic article titled, “An Annual Madness.” The race covers about 2000 miles, including some of France’s most difficult, mountainous terrain. Eating and drinking is done on the run. And there are extremes of heat and cold. To train for the event, Lassalle rides his bicycle 22,000 miles a year. What kind of prize makes people endure so much hardship and pain! $10,000? $100,000? No. It’s just a special winner’s jersey. What then motivates the contestants? Lassalle sums it up: “Why, to sweep through the Arc de Triomphe on the last day. To be able to say you finished the Tour de France.”

Now some 40 years later, Gary and I are still racing at break neck speeds everyday we wake up to accomplish the things God has purposed us to accomplish with our lives on this earth.

I dedicate this blog to the BIGGEST LITTLE BROTHER on the planet. He is a true inspiration. He is someone I learn to love and appreciate more as time passes. He is a true competitor with life and to runs the race set before him with great desire, determination and dignity.

He has been like that since the beginning of our back woods bike races back in Iowa.

cycling

SPINNING

Getting used to the bike again by using a trainer.

Spinning is a great way to ride your bike without having to actually go anywhere.

Its a great way to exercise especially with music from the ipod.

Speaking of the ipod.

We all know we are living in an “I” society …. “itunes” “iphones” “ipods”

Here are three “I” experiences I really enjoyed yesterday for a full 30 minutes.

IPOD + ISPIN = ISWEAT.

It was great to burn off about 430 calories yesterday on the bike trainer. It is not the 1200 to 1500 hundred I was used to on a normal Mtn bike ride….but still it is better that being laid up on the couch.

Go to http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm

this web link will help you count calories burned during a variety of exercises.

The goal is to work up to 90 minutes on the trainer by my first physical therapy session September 9th.

After 9 weeks of virtually no real exercise it really felt great to sweat.

cycling, Life experiences, what I am working on right now

PROGRESS

Quick ankle recovery update.

SEEING PROGRESS IS GREAT!

This week I was able to start driving for the first time in 8 weeks.
Started walking with a cane and got to lose the crutches.
Put the cane away yesterday and started walking with no sticks (nice to have two free hands) I can actually get my own coffee in the morning now.
Start physical therapy next week with the sports medicine guys.

Only problem so far is a chlorine rash from the swim therapy that attacked the new “baby like” skin on my right foot…..man it burns.

So at this point no bike shoes yet.

ENJOY YOUR BIKES!

cycling, Mountain biking, what I am working on right now

FROM THIS TO THAT

Now that Mr. cast is off my right leg I can start some bike therapy.

This morning I am really excited because I set up a bike trainer some friends let me borrow for the next month or so.

Steve and Cindy over at Highgear Bikes have always been willing to do what ever it takes to help people in our community. Yesterday they provided me with one of their personal top of the line indoor bike trainers.

I have know these awesome people for about five years and about a year ago it was a great joy for me to perform their marriage ceremony up in Jerome.

As you can see, I have taken off the XTR clips and replaced them with the conventional peddles. I need to go from the clips to the conventional because of the ankle injury….SO going from “THIS TO THAT” is fine as long as it gets me to the place I need to go.

Thanks Steve and Cindy of Highgear Bikes for the help.

http://www.highgearbike.net/

Can’t wait to get back on the bike.

cycling

TOUR TIME

The 2008 Tour de France is the 95th Tour de France. The event is currently taking place from July 5 to July 27, 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour will enter Italy on the 15th stage and return to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which will be reached in the 21st stage.

Over the past few days I have been watching a six disc dvd set of the amazing 2005 Tour De France in which most people know that Lance Armstrong won his 7th Tour De France race.

While watching the dvds, I kept seeing another American riding in the pack up front with Lance. The rider was Floyd Landis who ended up placing first in the 2006 Tour De France, but later was stripped of his title due to a high testosterone/epitestosterone ratio after stage 17 .

This past April during the 2008 Whiskey off road mountain bike endurance race, I was able to meet two great bike riders.

www.epicrides.com

On Saturday night I met and shook hands with Floyd Landis at the awards ceremony in which Floyd was awarded 3rd place at this years 50 mile level.

Floyd is pictured in the front row middle

Another great bike rider I was able to speak with Friday night at our orientation was Nat Ross.

http://www.fisherbikes.com/team/riders/ross

http://forums.mtbr.com/blog.php?do=showjournal&j=146

I purchased a mountain bike from Nat this past Spring.

It was great to be able to speak with one of the top mountain bike competitors in the country.

Thanks to Steve and Cindy at High Gear Bike Shop for the twelve hours of inspiration.

The DVD’s are great!

stevelummer.com

Category Archives: cycling