** Traumatic brain injury and major facial damage after bike crash. Got 4 h of facial reconstruction surgery out of it, and a permanent brain injury with post concussion syndrome.*
The brain injury is particularly problematic and if I succeed with the around-the-world ride I will be the first disabled person to do so. Unfortunately my disability is not recognised by Guinness Records. Besides the regular headaches my biggest issues are when I get too much visual or noise stimulation. With the visual my brain ‘slows down’ and cannot process things in real time. So I have to stop and ‘reset’ by closing my eyes. With noise it gives me panic attacks. I manage this while riding by wearing ear plugs and avoiding tunnels. Off the bike I wear noise reducing headphones. It is all about managing the triggers and the disability. Sleep is key.
Yeah, my buddy rode the Kopiko with him. Was an interesting experience, still crazily competitive. Those noise cancelling headphones must be a godsend to head injured people who get stressed by external stimuli.
I struggle with this too, I prefer walking on streets with less traffic and noise and wear ANC headphones or earplugs when I can’t avoid a chaotic environment. tbi is rough and it’s so vaguely understood
And unfortunately it gets worse as you get older as your ability to deal with stress lessens. I can say this having observed my brother over the last 40 years since his TBI.
Another round the world attempt, this time by a trans rider.
I heard about them a month or two back and followed the last bits of Australia and NZ. Absolute machine, rode a couple hundred kms with a snapped crank. Hope they get the record recognised.
Tour Divide grand depart is tomorrow morning. I don’t really know anything about anyone riding, but I like looking at pics of the bikes and gear and like dotwatching and reading updates of adventures along the way.
i’m excited to see how fast alexandera houchin goes now that she’s riding a bike with gears. i think the women’s race might get a little wild.
I hate the passive aggressive snobbery of cycling
I will be watching Joe of course, and another character I met on the Renegades Muster last year, Gary Hall. What a crap artist. " I’m just cruising mate, not competitive at all, hell no" and he ended up coming 2nd. I shared this video of Joe’s bike build a while back, I really like his approach but wonder if going to a rigid fork might have its downsides.
Yet Tarck wouldn’t exist without it
Joes gear check thingo here.
He has a junk drawer in his vest pocket, found that funny.
Hes pulled out already. Reckoned he had pneumonia.
This guy is a crack-up. Very light hearted but actually pretty damn fast. His tracker name is Moa Man. A Moa is an extinct giant bird from NZ but he is a groundsman for some boutique car shop. Rodin cars? Never heard of them… His job is a grass “mower”. Hence the pun. Sounds like hes had some bear action.
WTF. Moa Man has upper respiratory issues, maybe pneumonia. Lael has pulled out with something similar I think.
I think the dry conditions that are helping everyone to super fast are also probably making the dust a lot worse
Season of covid
Hi does anyone make a 3-4 liter fork pack or dry bag with an internal stiffener (other than Swift) to retain its shape when strapped on to whatever?