1/21/2015 1 Comment How triking Began (for me - bd)...In the spring of 2010 at age 51 I was in miserable health. I weighed an all time high 230 pounds on a 6'1" frame and my knees ached so much that I asked my doctor about knee replacement. The doctors told me that I was too young and there was nothing they could do for the arthritis settling into my knees but to give me some fish bone supplement and take two Aleve a day. I began taking the medication. I mentioned to my wife that I would like to get a new bike to inspire me to begin riding. She countered by sharing one of her many questions, “You don’t even ride the bike you have now, why should you get a new one?” After the pain in my knees had subsided some I decided to begin riding my old green Trek hybrid bike to school one day. I rode the bike another day, then another day and I continued riding my bike to work day after day through the fall of 2010 determined to save enough gas money by bike riding to justify the purchase of a new bicycle. I rode all the way through to the fall of 2011. By then I had lost close to 20 pounds and my knees began to feel better. On one fateful morning while riding to work in the dark – dressed in light colored clothing and with my bike lights on I entered an intersection with the right of way on a green light, but was struck by a white pickup truck turning in front of me. This sent me to the hospital with a broken collarbone (required 11 screws and a plate to fix) two broken ribs, one which punctured my lung cavity and later resulted in what is known as a collapsed lung the next day. I spent nine days in the hospital. While there I dreamed of a safer more comfortable way to ride a bike. I went online and explored options to buy a recumbent trike. Over the next two months of my rehabilitation I hiked through the snow to and from work dreaming what my new trike would be. I traveled to Fairfield Cyclery near Cincinnati Ohio and purchased a shiny new red Trident Transport trike. I brought it home and rode it for the first time on Valentines day February 14, 2012. Within two weeks I decided to ride my trike 75 miles to Columbus, Ohio in 20° weather with a 20 mile-per-hour wind from the west pushing me much of the way. It was a bitterly cold but glorious ride sailing along at times between 25 and 30 miles an hour on the Prairie Grass trail to Columbus. Thus had begun my new love affair with riding a recumbent trike. Since then I’ve had many adventures on my trike. in the summer of 2012 my wife qualified for the International Masters swimming meet and I tagged along as support for her during the week long swim meet in Riccione, Italy on the eastern coast along the Adriatic sea. I worked out an arrangement with American Airlines to fly my tricycle over to Italy. Riccione is only 20 km from the small mountain republic of San Marino. I rode up and down along the castle walls in front of the walled city of San Marino, then packed up the trike and we drove on in a Fiat station wagon to Switzerland, Monaco, France, Andorra and Spain to ride my bike each stage of the way between sightseeing and camping. in Leon, Spain I began a 210 mile pilgrimage journey on the Camino de Santiago Compostela. My wife Michele provided support in the Fiat. We met at the end of each day in the center of the next city on the route. I rode much of the way with two Spaniards, Gonzalo and Yolanda Ainaga. Thankfully they spoke some English and helped me navigate, in particular the long trek up to the historic mountain village of O Cebreiro, a one days climb of over 800m in elevation in 90+ degree heat – over 100 degrees on the pavement. After that challenge it is was a beautiful and glorious ride sailing triumphantly into Santiago Compostela to pay homage to the relics of St. James and receive my compestela or certificate for completing the pilgrimage.. We drove further on to Portugal where I had a chance to ride along the coast. Since then I have had other adventures here in Ohio and also traveling to ride in 10 other states on my tricycle. One of my latest adventures was riding solo on the famous Katy trail in Missouri - 230 miles in 5 days from Clinton Missouri to Machens, Missouri on one of America’s first and longest rail to trail. I have big dreams of other adventures coming soon...
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