Bicycling

Dave also enjoys bicycling. He has ridden an old Peugeot UO-8,  a Trek 2500, a Cannondale R600, and most recently a recumbent through the Ozark hills and ’hollars. The 2006 total miles totaled 2,500, a personal best. 

He recently completed the 2006 MS-150 (his seventh), a benefit ride to help raise money for people with multiple sclerosis and their families, and Dave was brave (dumb enough?) to go on day two amidst severe thunderstorms. (This was probably because Dave skipped day 2 in 2005 when the weather was pretty much the same!) If you will sponsor Dave in the MS-150 by donating to the Multiple Sclerosis Society you will get a (at least one) free Bromeliad or other tropical plant. Click here to go to the plants page. 

Mary has recently started riding again after many off-years.

Linda now has the triathlon bug and is training for a half-ironman! She recently bought a Cervelo tri-bike complete with the aero bars and she's flying low across Kansas. Danielle, Linda, and a co-worker of Danielle's won the Downtown Orlando Ladies Team Triathlon in 2006!

Unfortunately on October 2, 2001 (just two weeks after the MS-150) while on one of his standard training rides, Dave was struck head-on by a car. The bike was smashed on the front of the car and Dave did a superman imitation, his cycling shoe cleats having been ripped from the clip-in pedals. After flying over the hood, bouncing off the windshield and roof of the car, he finally came to rest later about 20 feet behind the car in the ditch. Fortunately (?) the car was a small sporty model with a front end shaped like a ski-jump. Of course Dave was wearing a cycling helmet that limited his head injuries to a concussion. His  left forearm was shattered (a distal radius fracture) necessitating surgery to install an external fixator and six titanium pins. The fifth metacarpal bone on his left hand was also fractured and the medial collateral ligament (MCL) was damaged in his left knee. Four front teeth were broken off. There were several chunks of carbon fiber that punctured his right leg and road rash was everywhere. His left ankle was sprained and there were blood clots in his left leg. If you think you can stomach some pictures click here (be warned, they aren’t pretty). Dave spent two full weeks in the hospital and took four months of physical therapy on the knee and wrist.

If you or anyone you know cycles (certainly your children), please insist they wear a helmet! The only safe way to ride is to ride as if you are invisible! Given the numbers of poor and impatient drivers around, you might as well be.

Click here for some cycling links...