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An Amputee and a Mountain Bike
January 06 I had an operation on my ankle to lengthen every tendon to allow me to put my foot flat on the floor, this was a left over from a large accident I had in 1983 which left me as a RBK amputee and my left leg having loss of muscle and joint movement. After a second operation to treat the arthritis in the ankle and lots of physio it was time to sort my fitness out.
I started at Redbridge Sport and Leisure Centre as the people where great and it was fully accessible, after 4 months I was talking to a friend at work about getting fit and he said “why not get a mountain bike, you love the countryside?” I laughed thinking to myself yea right like I could do that.....
But it had started me thinking, perhaps I could, I used an exercise bike at the gym.....hmm maybe.
I bought my mountain bike a month later with no idea what I was actually getting but luckily enough was steered very well by the shop I bought it from.
The first ride wasn’t very interesting consisting of a ride up the road to the local park once around and back home (about 1.5 miles) I was tired out and very sore, but buzzing from the feeling of freedom.
That ride immediately showed I needed to make some changes as the back of my knee where the socket had dug in was a nice red sore mess. I needed something to stop the need to bend the knee to much, lots of internet searching later this turned up.
This helped massively and solved the problem almost totally although has it’s own drawbacks as we’ll see soon.
I’d also been trying different ways of keeping my feet on the pedals especially the prosthetic one. I tried normal pedals...bad, toe clips which where ok till you needed to stop and get the tin leg out quick then I ended up on the floor then a suggestion from a mtb forum was to get some GOOD quality flat pedals and a pair of 5:10 Impact mtb boots. WOW what a difference, the soles of the 5:10’s are made from the same rubber as rock climbing shoes and they stick like a limpet, problem solved.
For a good 3-4 months I was a happy bunny going further and further around the park then venturing to Hainault forest which had........HILLS, this is when you find out how unfit you are again after all that time on the flat. During this period I’d signed up and been chatting on a cycling forum (www.uk-mtb.com) and the guys on there had been and still are incredibly helpful and supportive, a group of them went every weekend to another nearby forest called Thorndon Country park and after lots of prodding and cajoling finally got me to join them.
They kept to a much easier route than they normally did and also kept the pace down but boy oh boy was it hard work especially as it was deep winter and the mud was 6-8inches deep in places and I’d never been off the fire roads before.
I didn’t do bad but it showed up two things. The first I still wasn’t anywhere near as fit as I thought I was and the swing crank once you get properly off-road was hitting every root and rock and making going extremely hard, also because of the way it works you lose power on that leg as well.
I bowed out halfway round finding the going very hard but more due to being totally exhausted, finding my way back was interesting going the wrong way at one point and finding myself face to face with a 25 foot deep V gully covered in mud and roots, I cycled down then got off and proceeded to spend a good 10 minutes getting up the other side then sliding all the way back down in the mud and finally getting up by holding onto a fence and pulling myself and the bike up an inch at a time. By the time I got back to the car I was so past exhausted it wasn’t funny and covered head to toe in thick mud, but DAMN had I enjoyed myself or what. This was the start of a slippery slope I’m still on.
The realisation dawned that I needed to take the swing crank off if I wanted to get off-road to any great extent so one afternoon took the bull by the horns, well my spare leg anyway and took a saw to it. I cut it 4 inches shorter and also cut out the back of the socket with a Dremel to allow the knee to bend further and the various tendons in the area to work unhindered. It was amazing, so much more comfortable and quite a bit more power as well.
This was what I ended up with
Needless to say my prosthetist Laura was none to happy and I got a good tongue lashing, but now months down the line the legs been lengthened back to normal with some other tweaks being made and we’re both happy
The next month was great fun out and about all the time in the mud and rain but two big issues I still had where getting up hills and getting off the bike.
Hills, the problems here is power and the ability to stand and pedal. With the pedals in the 6/12 position the only way to move forward is to push with one knee and pull with the other till the pedals are in 1/7 then you put your weight into it. For a BK it’s very hard to do this and for an AK impossible on one side so on anything slightly steep I would just run out of steam without the ability to stand and power up the last section.
Off I go back to the internet hunting for a solution and finally found the Rotor.
This is geared so the power pedal is always in the 1 position when the other pedal is at 6, this allows you to always be putting power into a stroke. After this was fitted the difference was amazing, I could now get up hills I previously walked and could stand and pedal for short periods allowing me to get over tough obstacles. In all honesty this one item has made more difference to my cycling than anything else and is the one thing I would NOT give up even if I had to give everything else away.
Ok, getting off and on the bike how hard is that? Well on the road or in the park it’s not, but once you start getting to do off-road area’s no matter easy they look it becomes a problem. If you have the seat adjusted as it should be it’s quite hard for an amputee as you can’t point the toes on the prosthetic leg to keep in contact with the pedals, this gets really stupid if you on an off camber slope.
I mentioned this on the uk-mtb forum and said wouldn’t it be great if someone made a seat post that went up and down so I could click a button before stopping and the seat would drop. The immediate responce was “have you looked at the Gravity Dropper?”
Well blow me down its exactly what the doctor ordered. Short time later it was installed, solved the problem totally and has been superb ever since.
Roll forward 6-8 months and I’m out 2-4 times a week doing things I’d never have thought I could of over distances I could of only dreamed about and loving every damn minute of it, well apart from the huge muddy puddles full of horse poo, as it tastes awful.
Now before I end with a list of all the bits I’ve found useful I’d like to thank a few special people who’ve helped me greatly.
Trent, for always pushing me but knowing when not to
Luke and Tony at Triton Cycles (http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/), for putting up with my constant upgrades and being a really great couple of blokes always willing to help
www.uk-mtb.com, to many people to mention who all helped me get going with support, suggestions and endless patience with my noobie questions
Laura, my prosthetist who’s always patient, understanding and doesn’t mind trying something a little different.
Hope you found this useful and please if you have any comments or suggestions drop me an email rikk@golum.co.uk
............Rikk
Flat Pedals
Something like these that are large and have a lot of pins to dig into the sole.
5:10 Impacts
http://www.stif.co.u...o...ten&cat=211
http://www.fiveten.com/
Swing Crank
http://www.highpath....cial/index.html
Rotor
UK Supplier
http://www.velotechs...o.uk/rotors.htm
Manufacturer (lot more info here)
http://www.rotorbike...06/rotorgen.htm
Gravity Dropper
http://www.gravitydropper.com/
Pump
Having to pump a tyre up on the trail can be a pain as we’re not very good at crouching so take a peek at this pump :-
You basically stand on it and pull the rope handle like starting an outboard motor, pumps very quickly and no need to crouch or sit on the floor as you’d do with a normal mini pump
http://www.cyclaire.com/bikepump.html
Ergon Grips
The grips they do are fantastic for stopping numbness and tingling in the hands/fingers and as most of us use either crutches or a stick at times it affects us more.
http://www.ergon-bik...rips/index.html
Lifeventure Towels
These little things are superb, pack down really tiny but absorb so much sweat and dry out in no time at all. I always carry one on the bike and stop for a dry off every 40-60 mins and finds it helps massively. You can pick these up in most hiking/outdoors shops like Milletts.
http://www.lifeventu...ibre-towels.htm
X-Static Liner Liner
These are liners that go in between your stump and the normal silicon liner, they soak up sweat and stop rashes/infections/smells due to the sweat.
I used to stop every 30-60 mins depending how hot it was to dry off, now most of the time using these I either don’t stop or at most have one change halfway through. They are so much more comfortable and my stump dosn’t look like you fingers do when they have been in the bath for an hour anymore
Apart from the Rotor these have made the biggest impact on my cycling since I got them recently.
http://www.kingsleym...mp;advmode=True
UK Supplier.
CHANECO®
Chris Hanley & Partners
4 Kilvey Road
Brackmills
Northampton, NN4 7BQ
United Kingdom
Tel: 01604-709999
Fax: 01604-700057
Dermasalve
Great general purpose cream for the end of the day, very refreshing and soothing.
http://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/
Sheabutter
This stuff is the dogs and I’ve not found any better moisturizer, a friend’s wife told me about this as it’s the base ingredient in every expensive moisturizer but unrefined it’s all natural with nothing extra.
The stuff lasts for ages, a must try and even if you don’t like it give it to the wife she’ll love it
http://www.sheabuttercottage.co.uk/
Bodyglide
This is a lubricant/protectorant for the body, idea is you get a sore spot/blister you pop this on and it stops the chaffing in the area, not had a chance to try it as since moving to suspension liners I’ve not had any.
http://www.wiggle.co...n...e&cat=cycle
Adaptskin
Only just started trying this. Specifically for amputees, check the site out.
https://www.adaptlab...m/adaptskin.htm
And lastly for anyone who’s interested my injuries where :-
Left tib/fib compound fracture
Left Femur compound fracture
Left hip 1/3 of ball broken off
30% muscle loss on left side due to injuries
Right below knee amp
Right femur fractured
Punctured lung
For 20+ years I’d been walking on tip toe due to the muscles and tendons in my left foot shrinking till the operation mentioned at the start.
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