Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I know riders who are competing with varying degrees of handicaps, but I question whether they would want to advertise them to the world.  Not that any one of them are shameful, but most riders I know prefer not to remark about the handicaps under which they ride.  If I am wrong about that, then let those riders come forward.

 

Barbara

----- Original Message -----

From: Gloria Adams

To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 12:24 AM

Subject: [RC] Endurance Ride stories & juniors

Juniors are fine, but theres always some story about them in the magazine.

 

What I?d like to hear, is a rider who did a 50 or 100 mile ride with severe physical handicaps.

 

For example: disk disease (cervical or lumbar) that destroyed their disks, but before surgery, they finished, despite the pain.

 

Or,

 

Someone with severe degenerative osteoarthritis of the hip which required walking with a cane 24/7 & did not have surgery (which is worse than a knee, your knee could be cut off [I have seen this], but if you lose your hip, you lose your ?seat? on a horse).

 

Floyd Landis (who won the Tour de France bicycle race, this year 2006), has a totally trashed hip. It is crumbling into bits. He finished the Tour de France.

 

Now, theres questions that he took testosterone at the end of the race to WIN the Tour de France, & maybe he did (which is a cheating thing to do & of course WRONG!)

 

But, my point is, to ride for 115 miles a day up & down 13,000 feet total or so (even if you came in last without any drugs!!!!!!!!!), is an incredibly heroic achievement for someone who is crippled that badly (& he is, his hip is mush & trashed ? I will give links from Sports Illustrated etc that talks about his hip if you need them, but they are easily Googled).

 

That?s a heroic thing to me (maybe not ethical, but certainly a heroic effort).

 

Do we have any endurance riders who could match riding 115 miles with a trashed hip for a week? That?s inspirational to me.

 

Please read this entire post, before people start flaming about ethics in sports, etc. As I said, if he is guilty, of course the drug issue is wrong. But, that?s NOT my point. Geez, if he came in last (without drugs which is certain he could), & finished with that trashed of a hip, that?s incredible & heroic.

 

My 2 cents.