van to drive to the rallies. My sincerest thanks!!
1. February 5 --- Tour de Palm Springs
Due to a urinary problem, I chose not to go to this event
Initially, I was going to go with friends, in their truck, but they decided not
to go. So then I said, "well, I can ride the 65 miles to get to my friends".
But then my problem with frequent urination started again. In Iowa there
were lots of tall cornfields to walk into, but in the desert of southern
California I'm not so lucky. Few trees & no big rocks to go behind. So I
thought about renting a pickup truck for 2 days. WRONG!! I needed
the truck for Fri.-Sat. only, but because the rental closed at noon on Saturday
& didn't re-open until Monday, I would have too rent the truck for FOUR
DAYS @ $80.00 per day + insurance. I could not justify spending $400.00
to get to a 25 mile ride. Soon, this will no longer be a problem.
2. March 6 --- L.A. /Acura Bike Tour
Thanks to the generosity of one very special person, I now
have my own
van to drive to the rallies. My sincerest thanks!!
It's not a hard ride; it's survival!
The LA Marathon/Bike Tour, with it's
18,000 riders in some
ways, is similar to battling Parkinson's disease. With all those
bikes crowded onto the same road, the challenge is not in crossing
the finish line. Instead, it's a matter of surviving the ride so one can
get to the finish line. We are all assured of finishing our ride. Some of
us will reach the finish line quicker than others. Some of us will give up
& never finish the ride, & some of us will still be pedaling, strong when
we reach the finish. This year's ride had 3 places where the traffic got
really jammed up, but by allowing myself to slow down, when I needed
slow down, I was able to negotiate the rough spots until we climbed
the hill &/or came to a wider place in the road. I have noticed that
my life's road has had few more narrow spots in t lately, but I just
I just allow myself to slow down until the road widens, then I go
back to pedaling full speed...
Here's wishing you wide roads... Parky
3.
March 12
--
ST. Patrick's Day Parade - Ventura, CA.
I'll be riding with the
Ventura County Recumbent Riders
A fun time was had by all !!
I went over to Oxnard Friday & had dinner with Kaye & Wayne. We
ate at the Hometown Buffet, so we had plenty to eat. After all, we
were having our "carbo-load dinner" preparing for our 1 mile ride
through the parade route. Would not dare to attempt such a ride
without proper nutrition.
Saturday morning we all met at the staging area in Ventura. We had
10 or more trikes in our group. Although the parade was not much over
a mile in length, we trikers must have ridden all of 10 miles doing loop
de loops. We circled everything but the wagons.
It was an exciting day for me, because about a block into the parade I
heard somebody yelling my name. I stopped & waited for this person to
catch up to me. It was a lady that I had met 4 years ago, at the Great
Western Bicycle Rally. Her son had had an accident, & was not coping
well. I remembered talking with her, but because she was so excited
about us meeting again, that I went into PD shock (I call it) & she
probably thought I was drunk. If you have PD I'm sure you know what
I mean. I was able to tell her that I would be at the GWBR again this
May. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get to talk to her again. I'm looking
forward to that. Parky
4. April ?
5.
May 27-30 – Great Western Bicycle Rally
Paso Robles, CA.
Again, a fun time had by all. I was
lucky this year, I had my own
transportation, & hotel. It was nice to make the trip in 6 hours, rather
than 10 days of riding. Cycling has remained something I enjoy
doing,
but the longer rides are becoming more of a challenge. It's not so
much the
riding as it is the camping. Seems like the ground keeps getting harder.
Even my van has thick, plush carpet in the sleeping area. I thought, with
a
good sleeping bag, it would be enough to be comfortable. But I found that
to not be true. Smartly, I brought my thin air pad. It made the hard
floor just
a little softer. My friend, Manny, was a real trooper. He drove up
to the rally
in his VW Jetta, & when he went to sleep he slept in his car with his head on
the back seat of his car, & his feet in the trunk. He said he was
comfortable,
but had I tried to sleep like that, they would have needed a can opener to
get
me out in the morning. I had volunteered to help with setting up for
the rally
on Thursday, but I think the stress of driving the 324 miles sapped all my
strength. It left me definitely, in the "off" mode. I apologized, &
went &
laid down in my van, & took a much needed nap. I felt much better
after I got up. My friends, Jody & Pauline, were there & on Friday
we went
for a 35 mi. ride. The only mistake I made was that I didn't (we
didn't) pay
enough attention to the difficulty factor of the ride. It wasn't too bad
'til
after lunch. But then the road seemed to be 80% climbing, & no shade to be
found, anywhere. By the time we got back to camp we were out of
water, &
I was beet red from a sunburn. But we had fun! I decided to
leave for home
Sunday morning. My van has no a/c, & I knew it would be a hot ride home.
For that, & wanting to beat the goin' home traffic, I left early.
6. June ? Local riding.
7. July 23 ---- 14th Annual Bert Rogers Memorial Parkinson’s Bike Ride
Carlsbad, CA.
8. Nov. 19 --- El Tour de Tucson
Tucson, AZ.
Unlike last year, when I showed up in downtown Tucson 2 hours before the
starting time for my ride, only to find that the ride that I had registered for
was due to start in Oro Valley, (21 miles north of Tucson), this year I was
prepared. I had experience ! I knew that Oro Valley, & the Ironwood
High School was my destination. The ride would start at 12:30 PM, so I set
my arrival time for 10:30 - 11:00 AM. This would give me lots of time to
locate my friends from "Power Over Parkinson's", & have time to meet, &
talk with them. I had, almost no time last year to meet anybody because
6 miles before the finish line I got sick, & couldn't finish the ride. This year
I was determined to cross the finish line in Tucson. It wasn't important as to
how long it would take, but it was important that I get there. I took my
S & B Speedster, because it is my most comfortable trike & for long rides
comfort is a must. Trike weight is also important, but pain will eat up your
strength much faster than a heavy vehicle will.
Before the ride started I was able to meet Sharon Kha. Sharon has PD, &
recently was diagnosed with epilepsy. What makes her unique is that she
rides a recumbent trike as her main mode of transportation. She completed
the 35 mile ride as a stoaker, on a tandem bicycle. A pretty gutsy lady, she
is. I also met my friend, Jim Muellner. Jim & I first met in 2003, in San
Francisco, while he was doing a cross-country bicycle (trike) ride that he
started, I believe, in Chicago, Illinois. From what he said, he is going to
do another one next year. What a guy ! Oh, did I tell you , he's 62. Good
luck, Jim.
Just recently I have learned something new about my body. Riding here
locally, I have noticed that if I eat breakfast before I go for a bike ride, I
find the ride to be more difficult than when I eat nothing. So, knowing that
I was riding at 12:30, I ate only a light breakfast, & I ate it at 7:00 AM.
During the ride I snacked on green grapes, & bananas. I can honestly
say that I felt as strong when I arrived in Tucson as when I left Oro Valley.
There were more than 8000 riders riding the El tour this year, & I must
admit that I, like many other riders, wanted to make a good showing. A
matter of pride. Well, I want to thank the rider that was riding the yellow,
2 wheel recumbent for making my day. He had apparently been trying
to catch up with me, when in the last mile of the ride I slowed down. As
he pulled alongside of me he said "Damn, I wish I had legs like yours" !!
Coming from a non-disabled rider, he truly, made my day !
Results :
In the 35 mile ride there were 928 riders.
I placed 627th, with a time of 2:59:20,
Average speed - 11.9 mph
In my age group (60 -70) I placed 50th (out of 80 entries)