The Tacho’d Endo
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Taco v – a wheel bent over on itself, in the shape of a taco
Endo n – the maneuver of flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike; short for "end over end"
Greetings! – p.1
Spinning My Wheels – p.1
Cutler’s cyclizm – p.3
Ross’ Raiders for Heart – p.4
Ponderous Ponderings – p.5
A-V Club – p.5
Inside Joke – p.5
Parting Shot – p.5
Final Thoughts – p.5
Greetings!:
Welcome back to my Taoc’d Endo! Miss me? I did.
This issue is solely dedicated to cycling and in-particular, my charity ride I take part in every summer, the Pedal 100 for Heart & Stroke.
Article time …
Spinning My Wheels:
As many of you who know me are well aware, I take part in the Pedal 100 for Heart & Stroke and this is my ninth or tenth straight year doing so. It has been both an enjoyable and rewarding, experience.
I have ridden it with friends and gone solo. I rode it on my friend’s nice light racing bike, my old and heavy mountain bike (with smooth tires for commuting) and now on my hybrid, with added aero bars (a hybrid for those not in the know, is a road bike frame and sized wheels, with mtn bike handle bars). And I’ve completed the 100km and 160km routes, but due to my knee issues (more on that later), I don’t plan to take part in the 160m kroute in the near future … unless the mood strikes me – I am riding with others now and it’s not fair to them when my knee blows out on me and I have to drop from 30+km/h to maybe 20 km/h that I’m not riding too great a distance (120km seems to be my knee’s usual comfort limit – last year, I was suffering by 90-100km in).
And I have met some interesting people during these charity rides.
My buddy and I raced with a few young ladies whom my friend and I dubbed the Power Puff Girls (after the cartoon characters) – they spoke not a word to us, but we took on the three of them, their fancy bikes and their attitude on and showed ‘em up … well, at least I did. We dropped my buddy and I had to back to find him. Though these three spoke not a word to us, I respect their skills and dedication. They rode very technically and were on a mission and didn’t seem to mind two guys racing along with them, drafting and being drafted for about 15-20 minutes before I found that my riding buddy had been dropped off the pace more than a few kilometers back.
On a more inviting note, I’ve been asked in mid-ride to join a few speeding groups (cruising along at 35-40 km/h instead of my 20-25km/h), being helped along by these groups during my solo runs of this ride – we would bid each other farewell at the rest stop and off they’d fly; them just grabbing food and drink and taking off, as I sat for a moment to eat and drink refreshments. That was really fun, actually, to have a couple of those guys wave me in, and then we swoosh along, much faster than I was before, tucking in and experiencing the joy of drafting in such a big pack – to stop pedaling and coast at that pace, getting sucked into the draft of the riders in front of you is kinda cool … but not for everyone.
You get to meet people and chat with them and hopefully find someone you can work with and enjoy the ride.
What you don’t want is a wheel sucker … A few years ago, I had this guy in his mid 40’s (it’s important to know for later) who wanted to ride the 160km route with me (met up at the first rest stop, 35km in). I agreed and we pedaled along and chatted, getting to know each other – he was from Hamilton, has ridden a few organized rides in Hamilton, Toronto, Paris, Niagara, among other places in the province and even Buffalo (he’s a bit of a name dropper in the bike event sense), and had this lovely, expensive road bike he had recently purchased. Then after about an hour, he stopped riding beside me (had never really pulled in front more than a couple times) and kept tucking in behind me, only coming out to ride alongside again. Long story short, I ended up hauling him for basically the next 80km, when he wasn’t rolling beside me, chatting. Even when these two women showed up and wanted to race with us – he was eager to join their invite, so I obliged and kept the pace with the girls on their triathlon racing bikes (me on my hybrid that year) and towed him along again for roughly the next 30km as we sped along.
Before I go on, let me add that I have a messed up left knee. There’s a bursa on it came from getting smacked hard by a foam sparring stick one summer (17 years ago), at a karate camp (hit me so hard, I dropped down – I never drop down) and then a little tear cartilage from a ski accident 11 years ago (I turned left, but my ski dug in the snow and stuck in place as everything else kept turning – that didn’t feel do grand either, as I recall).
The bursa hasn’t fully gone and never will – it’s too hard and is pushing the knee cap up and out to the side, so I am constantly strengthening and stretching it to keep it from moving too far out of alignment. It can be a bit painful for the outside muscle sometimes, that wants to stay unstretched – it’s the nature of muscles to want to revert back to that smaller state they were before you starting working out. That’s why you see athletes constantly stretching – to keep things as they’re trying to make them.
And the small tear in the cartilage aggravates the knee by moving about inside the joint, causing fluid to rush in to keep the joint safe – which is essentially swelling to the point sometimes where there is too much fluid inside the joint, making it hurt like the dickens. And cartilage never heals, but in this case, it isn’t bad enough to operate – it’s not impeding my life in any way, except that I can’t take part in any jarring to the joint sport like soccer or deep compression activities, like recreational rowing any more (too much aggravation on the joint), which is too bad, because I enjoyed it that summer (gots meself a bronze medal to prove it, too). After about four to five hours on the bike, fluid build-up inside starts letting me know the end is near … sometimes very near.
So there it is – one messed up knee, getting beat on from inside and out, but not from cycling. I can’t even sit with my knee bent up for too long. Oh well.
Anyway, at this point, as we’re racing with the two ladies on their triathlon rigged bikes, me on my hybrid, towing the guy from Hamilton, my aching knee throbbing with just about every pedal stroke. There was only about 10-20km to go and I didn’t want to spend the next little bit crankin’ out the pain, so I slowed, almost to a stop and waved the guy around me. He quickly questioned, as the girls were speeding away and I replied that my knee was cooked and I wished him well. He wished the same back and chased after the two younger triathletes. I then settled in and enjoyed the ride to the finish, cruising along, sighing and enjoying the scenery again, as the pulsing pain in my knee subsided – not all the way, just enough for me not to grimace with each stroke.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, racing along sometimes, but as many of you know me, know I also do enjoy my solo rides (going out for hours at a time) and even though I can be competitive, I am also a laid back kind o’ cyclist and really do enjoy meeting & getting to know people as we cruise along, which I’ve also done on hikes. I have no malice to that guy who stayed in my draft all day – his choice to believe he was riding equally with me and those women. I still enjoyed the ride and his company when we chatted; it helped the day go by. I don’t mind towing people along, just so long as they’re not too lazy about it and take their turn, if they’re able – that guy might not have been able and that’s fine, too.
It’s all part of the little life lessons we learn as we go along. Some of us get sucked into the draft of what’s going on in front of us, while others almost seem to hold their line and/or prefer to get out in front and lead the pack.
Find your position in the peloton and ride along with it, but don’t be upset about someone else’s place in it. They may only be doing what they can – they’ll find their spot, whether they know it is, or not. Therefore, I am no longer committing to the 160km route anymore. My left knee doesn’t appreciate that so much. We’ve talked and I respect what it has to say, so we’ve come to a compromise and 100km is just fine – I can ride longer and farther some other day, when it doesn’t impede anybody else.
CUTLERS’s Cyclizm:
There are plenty of joys involved with cycling and plenty of rewards, as well as inspirational people, such as this young man here …
Cycling is a great activity, with growing popularity, despite what some people think – there are more bikes on the roads now than ever before, so when out there please keep an eye out for those of us who are out enjoying the day just like you, we’re just doing it on two wheels … That’s right, I said it – cyclists do it on two wheels.
There are more bike lanes and more buses with bike racks and more trains with special cars (or sections in cars) for bikes out there because of the demand for it. Cycling is on the rise and that’s a great thing.
It’s great for your health. It’s great for the environment. And it’s great for how much, or how little gas you fill your tank with.
I am just very fortunate that I live close enough where I can bike to work. Anything up to an hour, I figure is my limit – if others can drive an hour, I can bike an hour.
And you don’t need to commute like you’re racing the Tour de France. You can just find the type of bike and the kind of pace that’s good for you and go as quick or as fast as you are comfortable with. The point is to get out and enjoy what cycling has to offer.
Europe is so far ahead of North America in this regard, even before cycling became important over there because of soaring gas prices. And yes, you think we have it bad here with our gas prices? Head over the pond, see how much Europeans pay and you’ll be perhaps a little more understanding why the cars over there are so much smaller … and guess what, the small cars are on the way over here, too, with the three cylinder ready to make a comeback …
But that’s an article for another day.
Anyway, as people who’ve listened to me attest, I like to praise the bike and all its bonuses. My first year commuting, I dropped about 30 LBS in one summer. But if that’s not what you want it for, then take it for what it is for you – embrace it and enjoy it. I know I did and still do.
Lake to Lake Classic and Pond to Pond – On Sunday, June 19th (Father’s Day), join over 1000 people as they make their way from either Lake Erie to Lake Ontario in the big 50km classic, or join the kids and newbies up at Brock University, by Lake Gibson on down to the same finish in Port Dalhousie.
Ross’ Raiders for Heart :
Fliers for the Pedal 100 for Heart & Stroke are now ready for pick-up!
I would like to ask you to consider joining myself and a few repeat offenders to come on out and ride with us.
However, regardless of how much farther you read, if you do not ride or volunteer, I ask if you would care to sponsor me for my ride.
It’s a beautiful ride through Niagara Wine Country, starting and finishing at Henley Island, in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines.
There are four routes to choose from (30, 60, 100 & 160 km). Be a part of my team and ride the most suitable length you feel most comfortable with in lovely, scenic Western Niagara. I’ve cycled the 160km route before and would love to ride the distance that most suits what I feel I’ve earned, but as I’ve explained, my bad knee didn’t favour it last year, so I’ll just stick to the 100km length.
And afterward, we will toast the event with a glass of local Niagara wine after the ride!
I have ridden this charity event now for the last nine years, which is a part of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.
I would love to take your money … for a good cause. I’m also part of the route planning committee, so yes, I am more than just a rider and fund raiser – this cause is very important to me.
However, if you are not interested in riding and would care to sponsor me for this, please let me know.
However, if you are not interested in riding and would care to sponsor me for this, please let me know.
Heart disease and stroke have affected both sides of my family tree and so, I do what I can, in what little way I know to make a difference.
If you can’t ride, then prehaps volunteer - be a part of this beautiful ride through the countryside. But ride whichever one best suits you and maybe challenge yourself to increase the distance next year, if you like, of course.
Either way, please let me know. I’d love to see you involved somehow.
Ponderous Ponderings:
“Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." – Mark Twain.
A-V Club:
These are just some of the inspirational pieces of videos and/or music that make me wanna either hum along softly or crush the pedals when I’m out for a bike ride.
And yes, I was a member of the A-V Club in grade school and I thoroughly enjoyed it, too. I had fun going from class to class setting up the equipment for the other kids.
As I say to everyone I see on a bike, “Enjoy the ride!”… But not like them.
Inside Joke:
From a fill in the blank questionnaire …
I like cycling because – it keeps me off the street.
Parting Shot:
And before I go, here’s a brilliant bike cover to protect your investment from the weather of the day …
Final Thoughts:
And remember, should you find yourself in a situation like those in the A-V Club video, don’t forget to call, “Bicycle Repair Man!”
He’s also good for keeping Communism off the face of the Earth!
Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down!
Cheers!
S. Ross Cutler.
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Have a nice day and enjoy your ride!
RH+ Positive Productions
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