Biker thread

[GBA]

Leukaemia patient completes gruelling penny farthing ride across Australia

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...alth&printer=1


SYDNEY (AFP) - A British leukaemia patient rolled into Sydney after a gruelling fundraising ride on a vintage penny farthing bicycle across the Australian outback.

Lloyd Scott, 43, set out from Perth in Western Australia on October 13 on what many saw as a crazy mission to raise one million pounds (1.9 million dollars) for the British charity, Children with Leukaemia.

To do it, he had to cross the hot Nullarbor Plain on his awkward, uncomfortable bike for 12 hours a day along the longest, straightest road in the world.

The penny farthing, an ungainly-looking bicycle with a front wheel much larger than the back one, was popular during the nineteenth century.

As he reached Sydney's Bondi Beach seven weeks and one day after he began, Scott admitted he was only one third of the way toward his financial target, but still hopeful of reaching it.

"It's worth the pain because there's a very personal message from me as well, the fact that I actually had leukaemia."

The former firefighter was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in 1987.

Following a successful transplant which sent the disease into remission, he dedicated himself to raising money for Children with Leukaemia through a series of endurance events.

In a previous charity effort he completed the London Marathon in a deep-sea diving suit.

Scott said many people might find his latest adventure a "bit barmy (insane)" but it was worth it.

"I mean, someone today will probably be diagnosed as having leukaemia and they can say 'Oh, that guy who rode the bike across Australia, he had leukaemia.'

"It might instil a little bit of hope or inspiration or encouragement and that's something we can rarely give somebody else."

He said that in many ways the ride, and suffering the disease, were similar.

"Both of them are pretty slow, painful journeys and I was in hospital for the bone marrow transplant for roughly the same amount of time I was on this ride.

"At times I did think: Am I going to make it? Same as in the hospital but fortunately, like the illness, I am going to come out the other side."

[Gaius Millhelm]

A fellow cyclist! Cool :-)

What kind of bikes do you own?

My road bike is an entry-level Le Monde from about ten years back, recently decked it out with a fresh Shimano Ultegra grouppo.

My mountain bike is a GT i-Drive Ruckus that I bought last year on exitwound's recommendation :D

[Gaius Millhelm]

This time of year, EW and I both find ourselves on our stationary trainers all too often (we talk while riding our trainers almost every day, on AIM/iChat); how about you, GBA?

[GBA]

Well..........

Lets see, I got a Trek 1000 road bike I mostly ride on centuries
A Giant hybrid I changed gears and bars on that I use for touring.
Hopefully doing 500 mile around Illinois next year, for my mid-life crisis. :D
Got a Fuji folding mountain bike that I've pretty much replaced everything on that I use for grocery getting and cruising around the city, got it from Marlboro, when I used to smoke.
Then on the trainer is a Schwinn Tempo, also rebuilt, aero bars, Mavic rims, new gears. My cousin found it in the alley behind his house with the serial numbers ground off.
When I'm on that I watch TDF, Vuelta Espana and Giro d' Italia videos with the sound off and blast music on the headphones. :D

[exitwound]

A folding Fuji MTB?! Jeez, you have a death wish?!

Folding road bikes are scary enough, but a folding mountain bike -- made by Fuji, who have one of the worst failure rates of any frame manufacturers I'm aware of -- is terrifying to me!

Then again, I'm the guy who's broken over a dozen fixed-frame bikes, so go figure :?

[GBA]

Originally Posted by exitwound

A folding Fuji MTB?! Jeez, you have a death wish?!

Folding road bikes are scary enough, but a folding mountain bike -- made by Fuji, who have one of the worst failure rates of any frame manufacturers I'm aware of -- is terrifying to me!

Then again, I'm the guy who's broken over a dozen fixed-frame bikes, so go figure :?

Well, your a mountain biker, riding on trails, etc ?? yes?

I'm using mine for ghetto crusing, the only frame stress I put on it is curb hopping, and maybe too many groceries.

Originally Posted by GodBlessAmerica

Well, your a mountain biker, riding on trails, etc ?? yes?

I'm using mine for ghetto crusing, the only frame stress I put on it is curb hopping, and maybe too many groceries.

my brother n law thought there was a smooth ramp up the curb and didnt notice the curb itself when he hit it head on....flew over the handlebars and the top of his head hit the metal post of the stop sign. split his helmet in two and gave him a headache. would have split a skull otherwise.

[Funky Monkey]

Originally Posted by Nyar

my brother n law thought there was a smooth ramp up the curb and didnt notice the curb itself when he hit it head on....flew over the handlebars and the top of his head hit the metal post of the stop sign. split his helmet in two and gave him a headache. would have split a skull otherwise.

Any halfway serious rider has been there at some point. At the last Packet Dojo get-together @ exit's family's cabin in the white mountains, Gaius and Exit talked a bunch of the rest of us into riding some of Exit's spare bikes....I managed to completely shatter one of Gaius' spare helmets by crashing before we even got to the trail head!

I got right back up and felt fine....didn't even realize I'd landed on my head until I stood up and the helmet fell right off in about ten pieces!

[GBA]

Originally Posted by Funky Monkey

Any halfway serious rider has been there at some point. At the last Packet Dojo get-together @ exit's family's cabin in the white mountains, Gaius and Exit talked a bunch of the rest of us into riding some of Exit's spare bikes....I managed to completely shatter one of Gaius' spare helmets by crashing before we even got to the trail head!

I got right back up and felt fine....didn't even realize I'd landed on my head until I stood up and the helmet fell right off in about ten pieces!

White mountains, Arizona ??

[Gaius Millhelm]

Originally Posted by GodBlessAmerica

White mountains, Arizona ??

Negative; New Hampshire. Just south of Lake Winnipesaukee (you'll see it on any decent high-resolution map, it's the biggest lake in New England).