The first Fri evening in September just about sunset I turned the push-rim off the road into a hay field and raced the last 100 yards to the 5k finish. The next morning an hour before sunrise I was back in the hay field as 2500 runners a dozen balloons and a hundred or so cyclists were gathering for the sunrise and the starts of the various events of the Bird in Hand morning. By Saturday afternoon I was back at work.
Sunday Morning, I am back at my desk ready to work on the race letter I started in May, however, on my desk are three clipboards worth of issues I need to address after spending the last day and a half away. Over the last few years, the Business has been an all-consuming endeavor. As I should be approaching retirement, the business is growing faster, and I am working harder and more hours.
But that is not the story.
The Bird in Hand half Marathon is my toughest race of the year. The roads are hilly some roads are dirt and rocks. After dodging horse poop for 12 miles, I turn onto the buggy path. This year the constant rain softened the path and thickened the hay. With just a little over a mile from the finish, I hit the wall. Most of my forward momentum stopped as my tires started sinking into the soft grass, I would gather the strength needed to reach the finish.
The story I want to tell is my journey onto that muddy Amish buggy path.
Living in the Slate Belt, we all knew how to turn two pieces of slate and some rubber rings into a sport. Living next to a country fair got me involved in Tractor Pulling and competitive watermelon eating. We tend to stay in familiar surroundings. So, any chance that I would find my way from Tractor Pulling into road sports would require planets to collide.
My hip problems started in my early 40’s. I started feeling old long before I was ready to act like it. My surgeon’s recommended I put off surgery as long as I could, however, as I was nearing the end of my 40’s it was getting painfully clear that surgery would be sooner rather than later. On a ski trip, I saw an odd hand-powered tricycle on a Utah road; it gave me an idea. I was never a small person. However, road biking and skiing kept my weight under control. Because of my reduced activity level, I was approaching 300 pounds, and couldn’t reverse the weight gain. When I came home from Utah, I started searching the internet for that odd 3-wheel cycle.
Without the internet finding a handcycle would have been impossible. I eventually found a used handcycle online and sent a $1300.00 certified check to an address in Wisconsin. My fingers were crossed that in a week or so a large box would arrive. When the box arrived in early 2005, I assembled it and completed a very labored 1 ½ mile ride around the township park. By mid-summer, I was riding 3 or 4 evenings a week, and my distance grew past 13 miles. That fall I saw a TV interview with a Handcyclist that was participating in the Steamtown Marathon.
The Wisconson Handcycle 2005
Most of those who know me see me as someone who regularly ventures outside of a comfort zone, however, for me it isn’t as easy as you might imagine. From what learned online about Handcycling I figured I was the only person riding a Handcycle that wasn’t a wheelchair user. The Steamtown racer doing the interview was using a cane that got me curious. I contacted the race director explained my situation and was invited to enter the race. The next step was to inspect the course and consider if I could complete the race. I looked at the course talked to the other racer, rode the infamous mile of mulch, however, one steep hill and the demons in my head would stop me from entering the 2005 race. I would kick myself for wimping out however over the next year I would add some more hills to my training. The 2006 Steamtown Marathon was my very first race. I completed the Steamtown Marathon course, and with my finishers medal and, tee shirt, I headed home. It was exciting; I challenged myself set a goal and achieved it. With my finisher medal framed I kept riding and continued to lose weight.
For Race number two I would need to confront the demons because this would be a big step way outside my comfort zone. I had found the United States Handcycling Federation web site. The races listed were scattered all over the country however in 2007 there was a race in Arlington Va. I gathered some courage and contacted the USHF director and explained my situation. The Director mentioned a beginner class that USHF was running in Arlington for first-time racers.
On an early Saturday morning, Barbara and I headed for Arlington. When I introduced myself to the director, he mentioned that since there was only two of us registered for the beginner class, we would race with the Big Boys in the National Championship race. After driving all that way, I was past the point of no return. I was introduced to the other first-time racer, and after a few warm-up laps Roger and I would line up at the back of the field.
This was a criterium or a ¾ mile fenced-in course on the downtown Arlington streets. Entering the course was so far beyond my comfort zone we will call it the “twilight zone.” The fences were lined with sponsor banners on one side and spectators on the other. Roger knew and pointed out some of the other racers. This group of racers contained many of the best Handcyclist’s in the country. These were names I recognized from my internet searches. My thoughts were how to avoid being run over or interfering with the other racers.
The race was timed for 30 minutes, and at the end of the 30 minutes they would open the fence and let us out. During the race, I was lapped by the leaders several times I saw crashes I lapped a few racers myself, and by the time they opened the fence to let us out, I was hooked. Any thoughts that the race at Steamtown would be my last race vanished.
Those closed course head to head shoulder to shoulder criteriums would become my favorite format. For a few yearsBarbara and I would travel up, and down the east coast racing with the friends, I made in Arlington. Adaptive racing has changed. However, the races are still out there
This Oct will be my 12th Steamtown Marathon. Over the last dozen years, I have raced 50+ marathons another 25 or so ½’s with the push-rim and more than 100 other races that covered Criteriums, to neighborhood 5k are I have raced through occupied buildings, on airport runways, boardwalks, dirt roads and a lifestyle mall. I have raced from South Florida to Vermont and as far west as Indianapolis. I have raced with the legends of the sport and helped the first-timers at their first race.
Yes, that Handcycle sighting in Utah was a life-changing event.
OK, so what have I been doing and why haven’t I been writing. Work the last few years has cut deep into my training, and the increased stress has reduced my ability to focus on writing. I also don’t want to bore you with the 5th of this race and the 7th of that race.
The season started in early January with a new race in Reading was sponsored by and benefited the I am Able Foundation. Chris Kaag and his I am able Foundation provide adaptive racing gear like Handcycles for those who can’t afford them. Chris was also one of the competitors at that 2007 Arlington Criterium.
April starts the spring distance season I was registered in three 10+ mile races on three consecutive Sundays. The last of these races was my first Philly Broad Street Run. The Broad Street run is the largest 10-mile race in the country. The Race starts in the razor wire district of North Philly and ends in the Navy Yard in South Philly. Behind the dozen + adaptive racers were 40,000 runners. Broad Street is very flat and very fast with money. It was 10 miles of head to head racing that ended with a 1-mile sprint to the finish with a rugby chair for the middle of the pack. I was sure I finished out of the money but, ended up with a nice check for 3rd place male masters.
The rest of the summer was more work than racing. The Ice Cream race ended but. I found the 4th race on an airport runway. As a veteran airport runway racer, runways are not as flat as you would imagine. September starts with the fall distance season and 3 ½ Marathons in 4 weeks
Last weekend was the Rock & Roll ½ in Philly. For the weeks leading up to the race, I had wished I hadn't registered for this race. Racing in Philly is just a logistical nightmare however once you line up on Ben Franklin Parkway and watch the sun rise over Billy Penn Philly has the greatest start in Road Racing, I then remembered why I registered the day after last years race. What about next year? I already registered.
Adaptive racing has changed over the years in Philly I would be the only racer using a push-rim. US track and field considers the push-rim as the recognized adaptive machine for road racing. However, USTF allows race directors to use discretion in allowing handcycles and other adaptive equipment in races. At Philly, I would be outgunned by Handcycles, Recumberant foot powered tricycle and Push Chairs. (A pushchair is a racing chair with a severely disabled person being pushed by an individual or team.
The Sprint, This is a very very bad habit I picked up in 30 years of ski racing. In Ski racing, the starter counts down, and at the go signal, you GO! In Philly, I WENT, as I was flying down Ben Franklin Parkway the spectators that bet on me thought they picked a winner. The lead I had on the handcycle, and the rest of the field must have looked impressive for the first ½ mile. After the sprint, I settled into the middle of the pack
It has been an incredible journey over the last 11 years. It would have never happened without that chance sighting on a Utah road. Quoting Yogi Beera one of the great philosophers of the 20th century.
"When you get to the Y in the road take it"
When was the last time you tried something new.
It’s no longer about the race it’s about the event. The people I have met and the places I have been will be the subject of the next letter.
Rob
1 comment:
Go Rob! You are an inspiration for all. Keep on sharing your thoughts in this blog.
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