[Closed] For those interested parties (one armed rider update)

Who needs a second arm when you've got balls! Good luck to him, think the fact he is back on a bike is class.

Where's the 2nd pic took? Amd where's Catty Lane?

I live in Hillsborough and am always interested in new places to play

Oh and good work for getting back out on the bike. I never think I'd have the spirit to get on with my life if I lost an arm

As Stouffer would say, respect due...

nice one!

does he use SPD's or flats?

Pieface, I think you'd be surprised what you can do when faced with it. Seriously. You have 2 choices - you sit and mope, or you get on with it. You're allowed to do the first for a bit, but then hopefully you move on to the second option.
I emailed the surgeon the other day to fill him in on the past 8 months and he summed it up pretty well - he said "somehow I didn't think Julian would be the kind of person to sit back and take it"

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=stannington%2C+sheffield&countryCode=GB#map=53.38855,-1.58573|17|4&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.38855:-1.58573:17|long%20lane,%20stannington|Long%20Lane,%20Stannington,%20Sheffield,%20South%20Yorkshire,%20England,%20S6%206

The second photo is taken on the bit of 'unnamed road' the carries on opposite Beeton Green - where that, Rod Side and Long lane meet is actualy a cross road junction. Go down that missing bitt, then turn left back along to Flash Lane and the on to Riggs High Road, head toward Stannington a bit and then drop down onto Catty Lane (the left turn between the first and second 'Riggs High Road' labels) and back out onto Stannigton Road.
It's not exactly exciting but it's a quick fix.

V8 flats, MrNutt.

Amazing, thanks for the update!

There was a guy at the Puffer this year had one arm and one leg - he did a good few laps too - on a cx bike.

f*** me!

Well done that man 🙂

Is it here?

[url] http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=427637&y=387547&z=120&sv=427637,387547&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=828&ax=427637&ay=387547&lm=0 [/url]

And is this Catty Lane?

[url] http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=428919&y=388344&z=120&sv=428919,388344&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=828&ax=428919&ay=388344&lm=0 [/url]

You have 2 choices - you sit and mope, or you get on with it.

You've hit the nail on the head there.

Chapeau Julian!

I feel respect is due, a LOT of it!
Well done fella and thanks for the update!

😀

PieFace - the second one is Catty Lane, yes. My PC is going so slow so I haven't opened the first link, but it's the track that runs down to Ronksley Hall Farm, and in fact that is where you'd turn left, at the farm.
Like I said earlier, the usual 'not very exciting' disclaimers apply...
And watch out for pedestrians and dogs on Catty Lane.

brilliant stuff!!!

Good stuff. Maybe now I'll stop whinging about my broken wrist and get on with life!

See, we told you he could do it.

Nice to see him giving it though. Total 100% respect.

Not letting the bastards grind him down!

Can I ask a couple of set-up questions - I was wondering all evening!

Does he single-speed or run a 1x9 set-up maybe? and what about brakes - both brakes feed into the same lever?

eckinspain - the bike is a GT Avalanche 2.0 - the only 'extra' is a Hopey steering damper.
He currently has 3x7 gears with both changers on the right bar. He also has both brake levers stacked on the right bar so he can squeeze both at once, but because they are stacked the back is activated slightly before the front. This was a big help in stopping him going over the bars, as you can imagine.
It's a bit crowded on the right bar but I think he's actually thinking of sticking as it is for the time being.

iseeadarkness - I know, I know and you have no idea how much that helped us both! To be honest, I think my original thread was almost reassurance for me, as well as for him. 🙂

It's great to hear that he is back on a bike. It's amazing to see and hear about people who have lost limbs and are getting back into sports. There is a guy in NZ that I met called Dave Maitland who has done the coast to coast at least 15 times and has had some really good times he lost a leg in a motorbike accident. It so put's my fitness and mind to shame!

thanks very much for the update 🙂

He also has both brake levers stacked on the right bar so he can squeeze both at once,

you know with hydro brakes you can link two or even more calipers together and run them off of 1 lever. you basicly you run a hose from the bleed nipple on a caliper to the other caliper but still have the bleed nipple on it. can mail you more details if you want!! mail in profile.

i used to ride with a guy with 2 arms but he could only use 1 of them (the other had to be velcroed on to his bars) he showed me the set up and i also had to Bleed them.

[b]amazing[/b]!!

i have been without the use of a hand recently due to cutting through tendons on my thumb, i wouldnt even attempt riding on the road let alone off road, so much respect.
but its strange/great how the mind and body adapts!

would love to see a setup of his bar controls,
just a thought maybe to make it less crowded
he could use a normal shifterpod and a grip shifter,
this means he will have instant access to both shifters

I thought I had a photo, colande, but I don't. Will take one when I get home and post it at some point.
A friend had a spare grip shifter setup they were going to fit to see how he got on, but it didn't fit. It's something he has in mind but isn't in any great rush for, which is cool.

I think if you are injured and recovering there's pain there and I do think it's not always wise to resume riding while there is pain, but with J there's no limb so I think it's a bit different.
(Althought there is the phantom limb and associated pain, which is utterly bizarre...)

Thanks for the update, TN. I recall quite distinctly your original thread on the old site.

Chapeau, indeed.

TN: The power of positive thinking...

😉

There's a guy with one arm who's done the Ruta De La Conquistadores for last 8 years!!!

Thanks for the update TN & good luck to J for his riding. He really is an inspiration to others & in particular those who are able bodied but can't be @rsed to ride their bikes.

Please keep posting J's latest triumphs & challenges on his bike 🙂

Some extra pics, esp for Hetty:

More Redmires - Stanage:

Putting his trust in strangers (SUCKER!) and getting that sinking feeling. 😉

And this is not a biking photo but I think you might like it...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1395706&l=96510110af&id=527320465

(PS: He got an email this morning, via someone on here, from a guy with brachial-plexus injury. Thanks for passing the pics to your friend. I do hope it inspires him to get back on his bike too! J found the story about how the email came about quite funny...)

Met a guy @ Mabie last week with only 1arm/1 leg. Had a serious piece of engineering for an arm, all alloy and steel. He was up for a weeks Stanes riding. He lives in Brathwaite, nr Keswick and has Whinlatter as his local.

"(Althought there is the phantom limb and associated pain, which is utterly bizarre...)"....yeah, my mum was complaing about her sore toes yesterday..lost them 4yrs ago!!!!

Trekster: J has been looking at trying to get some kind of 'biking arm' but whilst there are things available, it's fixing it to his body that's causing the problem.
Some of the prosthetics you can get are amazing though, aren't they?

Re: Phantom limb pain. J has actually found that it hurts less after he's been out on the bike - not sure if it's adrenalin or some other 'happy hormone' that does it, but it is another great excuse to go riding, eh?

Colande, here's a pic of the right bar set up.

Looks a bit crowded but I have mentioned various of your suggestions and he reckons he's quite happy with it like this, so there you go...

I had wondered, like Colande, about the possibility of one grip-shift and a normal shifter, but if the current set-up is fine then stick with it (doesn't look as cramped in the photo as I thougt it might).

Can I ask what a steering damper is? Does it just do what it sounds like it does?!! how?

thanks for the updates

Serious respect and congratulations for getting back on the horse.[bows]

TN/J, didnt see your original post just this "update", its quite amazing to see those pic's & hear the tales!
Good luck to both of you
I know you can get a thumb opperated system for rear brakes on motorbikes- may be worth looking into?

cool thanks for the pic,
very interesting, the shifters look hectic to me,
but if it works for him, it must just become second nature,

i like the look of the dual brake levers

eckinspain - the steering damper really is just what it says. If you google hopey steering damper you will get a far better description there than I can give you (remember I said I was completely mechanically inept!!)
He has actually broken it and it's held on with cable ties at the mo, so in fact he IS riding with no damping at all...

colande - I agree, it looks completely hectic to me too. I think the gripshift sounds like a fine idea but he's happy so I leave him to it. The brake levers stacked like that work really well - a lucky fluke, I reckon. 🙂

He went out again yesterday morning (he still isn't back to work full time yet) and did almost twice the mileage he had done so far, so he was slightly smug when he rang me from the top of a hill (downhill all the way home!), in the sunshine. Grrrr. 😉

He is now looking at a semi-auto clutch for one of his motorbikes. I think his recent riding success has given him the confidence that this might work too - I think until just recently he still thought the motorbikes would definitely have to go. I am a little apprehensive about this but again, it isn't up to me.

Huge respect to the man. I banged my hand last night riding in Kielder and felt useless trying to ease back to the car on fire-roads.
Shifter suggestion: I know its expensive but a Rohloff hub has a single gripshift to cover all 14 gears (which covers the full range of a normal 3x9 setup). I think someone has made a prototype rapidfire shifter too.

ir_bandito - Thanks for that. We looked at the Rohloff early on, following my original thread. The main problem with that is the price. If he had a fancier bike it might be a consideration but the bike only cost us about £350.
Hope your hand is feeling a bit less sore this morning.

Fair play that is awesome...........great to see someone just getting on with it. Please, do keep us all updated throughtout the year I'm sure it'll get many a fair weather rider out on the bike!!!

Hi folks.

Next update.
It's not that exciting but he's buying a full susser - a Felt Virtue 3 -(subject to it fitting him) on Friday. I think I *may* have just about convinced him he ought to buy a full face helmet too.
He is planning a trip round Strines Moor for the inaugural ride. 🙂

Oh yeah, and we got married on Friday!

T

8)

Oh yeah, and we got married on Friday

Congratulations.

Heres to more happy times on the bike.

congratulations! 🙂

currently i only have the use of 1 arm and the next 10 weeks are going to seem long, complete hats off for you man and his drive to just keep doing stuff whatever the situation, truely inspirational!

The pair of you are an inspiration, keep on keepin' on!

(and you looked proper lovely in that photo)

serious respect due there, love the climbing pic!
I spoke with a guy who had a below sholder amputation and had an arm with interchangeable ends, one of which was a ball end, which clipped into a socket on the handlebars (Like a lot of sat-nav mounts) and an adjustable damper at the elbow. He used a fairly long travel fork with it set with a lot of sag and felt really comfortable riding most UK trails

Congratulations to you both & may you have many happy years together 😀

Glad to hear that J is still riding & that he is now going full suss - way to go feller!

PS I'm currently at home with 30 stitches in my shoulder & my arm in a sling - the next few weeks off the rig is going to be bloody murder 😕

Congrats all the best, ride on! 😀

That is absolutely amazing, just shows what you can do with enough will power. Puts my little bumps and scrapes into perspective.

There's not that many one-armed cyclists but there are a fair few one-armed motorcyclists (we make more of a habit of mislaying limbs than most people I think). Some of the challenges/solutions are probably similiar, so it might be worth a look here:

http://forum.disabledbiker.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=1

on the NABD website to see if there's anything helpful. A thumb brake might be doable for the rear, frinstance. Might be no use at all but you never know

I guess I missed the history behind this amazing story, but all I can say is massively positive, happy vibes go out to you both. Wedding pic looks lovely, and you can't beat the number of bar / shifter recommendations you get on here can you!? 🙂

Oh, and I've just found Chris' marathon sponsorship page and donated 😉

quite amazing I wish you both all the best for the future.

Congratulations!!! Fab picture.

Hi all.

verbal-kint - at the moment a prosthetic isn't really feasible due to the height of J's amputation, but we are pushing and pushing the hospital to try to provide a stable 'shoulder' so we can hopefully get the university on the case. There are certainly some amazing riding arms about though, if you can get the bit that attaches to the body sorted...

lister - what's up with your arm? Are you definitely banned from riding or is it too painful? 🙁

crispy bacon - same question? What've you done? Sounds pretty big and painful...

Northwind - nabd website is really interesting isn't it? J has just ordered an automatic clutch for his motorbike, so hopefully he'll be back on that quite soon too. Having seen some of the one armed bikers on YouTube there's no reason why he shouldn't! (Nice terminology about bikers mislaying limbs. LOL. It is quite true though.)

vdubber - thanks for donating, most kind. How did you find the link? Chris is doing really well with his training considering he's not been much of a runner until about 6 months ago!! I'm so proud of him!

vdubber - just worked out how you found the link but for anyone else who might want to help, and in the spirit of being really cheeky, here's a link to his sponsorship page. My brother is running his first marathon on May 17th for Bone Cancer Research Trust: http://www.justgiving.com/chrisnewmanswindermerebonebreaker

Thanks.

This is easily the best (And probably the most long running!) story/thread on STW. I don't have much advice I can contribute, but I always read it through. It's just so positive....
"I can't" is obviously not in your vocabulary!
🙂

Huge congratulations on your marriage, I got hitched recently and it's the best day ever, isn't it? You are both very lucky to have each other, I can see that!
Lastly thanks for the pic, it's good to put a face to the names, I feel like I know you two somehow.

Hi TN, after some devastating news a few weeks ago yesterday I had a 'wide local excision' which has left me with over 30 stitches in my shoulder & my arm in a sling. On the plus side I'm not allowed to do any domestic chores until the stitches come out (22nd May) 😆 but on the minus side no off road biking for 6 weeks 😥

Basically I'm off work at home for the next two weeks with only day-time TV & my PC/STW to keep me company - so I apologise now if I start acting like a nob, it's the meds honest!!

Sponsored 🙂

Wow, crispy, that sounds like it has been a fairly rough time for you. (I think I can possibly relate to it a bit, by the sound of it)
How are you doing now? I mean, apart from the big hole in your arm/shoulder, if you get my drift... Hope your head's okay.
As for the meds, I know from second hand experience (no pun intended there) that some of them are pretty potent, so I reckon you could probably get away with pretty much anything! 😉

And thanks folks for the donations - it is all very much appreciated!

Smee & Trekster - The guy you are referring to earlier is a bloke called David Adams. I have just had him in my office and shown him the thread. He remembers talking to trekster at mabie and he said smee probably remembers him riding on his turbo trainer at Strathpuffer on his road bike. He rode the even on his adapted spesh. Absolutely spot on bloke.

I was pleased to be able to contribute some sponsorship money to what for me is a very real issue at the moment.

The large zig-zag wound in my shoulder will heal & fade in time however I'm not so sure the mental scars will go away quite so quickly. On the whole I'm a fairly positive up beat person (which I hope comes out in my STW persona) but after the recent events I'm having a very hard time keeping things together. One minute I'm happy as Larry then the next I'm thinking some really dark thoughts & this emotional roller coaster is doing my head in. At the moment I'm taking things one day at a time & setting small goals - not breaking down in front of Mrs B when she gets home from work being today's goal.

Mate, the brain is a cruel and clever thing. J says he can't remember most of the time during his treatment - I think I can probably recall every moment of it. If you want to talk - sometimes it helps to unload to someone outside 'the situation' - please email me. I would be more than happy to try to help, to give back some time for those who 'listened' to me...

Thanks TN I might take you up on your very kind offer to 'talk' but I don't know your email addy. Mine is in my profile tho.

you know with hydro brakes you can link two or even more calipers together and run them off of 1 lever. you basicly you run a hose from the bleed nipple on a caliper to the other caliper but still have the bleed nipple on it. can mail you more details if you want!! mail in profile.

You'd end up with serious lever travel though due to the moving-volume differences, may end up with the lever hitting the bar before the bite point is found. PRessure at each caliper would be the same too, meaning the back would lock way before the front came "up to speed" as it were.

Hi all.

Well, my little bro did his marathon yesterday - his feet are a mess but he says he feels good from the shins upward. 🙂 So thanks to all who have donated so far - he's earned that money!

Also, the automatic clutch J ordered for his little motor bike has arrived - I'm riding the bike down to get it fitted on Wednesday. I have to say, I am really nervous about him getting back on a motorbike, but it's up to him and I know he won't head out on the road until he's good and ready, but still...

The new Felt isn't ready yet though, so no riding pics yet. He is getting dead giddy about this one and was gutted it wasn't ready for the weekend. (so if you can all think speedy thoughts for the bike shop so it's ready this week, that would be much appreciated)

Also, any recommendations for a full face helmet for him? Will he be too warm in a 661 evolution?
And he's worried people are going to think it a bit overkill, him wearing a full face helmet - I have told him that's not going to happen, and even if it does, so what...

IF you crash with one arm and a normal helmet you're going to be a lot less capable of stoppign a facial impact, anyone "thinking its overkill" clearly has the mental aptitude of a 3 year old and so should be ignored! I can't recommend one as I've not tried many. I like my switchblade, doesnt seem too hot except in the peak of summer.

Thanks coffeeking - will get him to look that one up/try one on.
He has been looking at the MET parachute, which has like a very lightweight 'skeleton' chin guard but I reckon if he's going to go full face he might as well go full face. I am not sure how much additional protection that would give.

And I told him pretty much the same as you said, so I am glad I was on track and not just 'being a girl' (that's not meant in an offensive way to fellow girlies, but, well you know what I mean...)

Crikey, just read this thread, inspirational stuff - big thumbs up.

Peterpoddy - I missed this: "I got hitched recently and it's the best day ever, isn't it?"
Congratulations yourself! And yes, it really, really is. 🙂

Well done to your bro 🙂

Wow, alot of respect. 😀 Going back abit in one of the mags there was a DH'er who rides with a prosthetic leg?

I know how to do pics inline now, so here's a couple from the inaugural trip out on his new bouncy Felt. The old steering damper won't fit this bike but after todays ride he reckons he won't actually need one. That surprised me a bit. I think he quite likes the new toy, anyway.

[img] ?v=0[/img]
[img] ?v=0[/img]
[img] ?v=0[/img]

PS: If anyone's after a recommendation for a sturdy camera I can highly recommend the panasonic TZ1 after I dropped it on a rock then rode over it today... Ooops. 😉
Still works fine and it now has war wounds.

that's ace! what an amazing bloke. Hope he gets a stick on arm soon.

Hey, Samuri - you might not be too far off with that statement.
I have JUST had a voicemail from him saying the hospital limb centre is actually looking into providing him with a biking arm now - after MUCH arguing/begging/asking why etc.
I know they have to justify the costs involved but surely trying to get amputees back to what they did pre-op/injury is the aim of the game? We've had a right battle.
I need more info but it finally sounds like we are getting somewhere. This is great news, because it should give his wrist a bit of a rest (no s****ing at the back!!) when he's riding. Whoop!! 🙂

Also, he got his bike back yesterday with the new avid brakes on - he now has a back brake. Bonus!! So we're hoping to christen them up in the lake district this weekend. Yeeeeeah! As an aside, has anyone got any recommendations for steady but interesting routes in the southern lakes please?

Regarding full faces, look at specialized deviants for a "proper" one that's also very well vented.

As for worrying about other people thinking it's overkill etc, no bother there. He's riding a bike off road with one arm, that's properly hardcore! Respect.

Good to see him / you doing well. Inspirational.

I found this site - might have some useful stuff on it
http://www.mtb-amputee.com/

IA - Member

As for worrying about other people thinking it's overkill etc, no bother there. He's riding a bike off road with one arm, that's properly hardcore! Respect.

Wot 'e said