By Shane Dingus
In January 2007, the PIO where I work asked if anyone had any ideas for EMS week. Having recently read an article about the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, I suggested that we send someone from our service to participate.
His next question was who we could send — and I volunteered to go. The PIO told me that I as didn’t cycle, there was no way I’d be ready to take on such a ride with only four months training. But being a typical EMS provider of type A personality, I said “Oh yes I can — and I will do it just to prove it!”
Over the next four months, I trained for the event by taking spinning classes in the gym and come spring I obtained a road bike and started pedaling. In May, with my bike attached, I drove to the Hotel Roanoke, Va., which was to be the finishing point for the ride. The next day, I flew on to New York City with a one-way plane ticket.
When I arrived, I went to the post office and mailed my case, used to carry the bike on the plane, back home. So there I was my first time in New York City with no return plane ticket or vehicle, just my luggage and my bike. There was now only one way to begin my journey back home — to pedal. A week later, having completed the ride, I realized I’d taken part in the most memorable event of my career!
Usually when I talk with people about the bike ride they will say “600 miles on a motorcycle isn’t bad.” Their response is a lot different once I’ve told them that we do this on bicycles. Some people say there is no way they can ride a bike that far. We tell new riders they need to train to ride about 75 miles at 12-15 mph. But here is the thing: if you want to be involved with the ride but can’t or don’t ride a bicycle, that’s OK as we can still use you!
Role of the ‘Wingmen’
There are unsung heroes of the Muddy Angels known as the “Wingmen.” When we ride into an area or while through a town you will see people gathered. They may be there specifically for us or possibly they were just walking through town as we came through. Either way they will wave, clap and cheer on the riders. This makes you feel good and pushes you to keep pedaling.
Route details for 2010 May 15-22 Northern Route: South Portland, Maine/Bennington, Vt. to Washington, DC Day 1: South Portland, Maine or Bennington,Vt. to Nashua, NH Southern Route: Paintsville, Ky. to Washington, DC Find out more at Muddyangels.org. |
The group that doesn’t get the recognition of riding is our Wingmen! They are our support staff, the special people that give up a week of their lives because they want to help out but don’t ride. Now I say this with the utmost respect — if the Wingmen didn’t do their job we could not ride.
They get up earlier than the riders. When the riders pedal out, there are already Wingmen along the route. When the last rider comes in, there are still Wingmen out. While riding, our Wingmen provide food and water at rest stops. As riders pass along the route, they will cheer and encourage them to keep going. If a rider has a problem or needs help, it’s the Wingmen that stop to help or pick the rider and bike up to take them to the next rest area.
Preparing for the ride
I do not want people reading this article to think they can just get a bicycle and come out and ride. When I started riding I had no idea what went into a road bike. So I went to a local bike shop, Larry’s Cycle Shop Inc., and talked with them about the ride. When I explained the concept of the ride to them and why I was riding, they were more than willing to help me out. First we had to discuss my riding style and preference. That was a short and easy conversation. My experience was zero so therefore I had no riding style.
So we started from ground up with setting up my bike. I actually borrowed a bike from a friend, took it to my shop and they began setting it up for me. This was my first insight on cycling. The shop actually let me use a demo bike on my first ride, which was better suited for me than the one I borrowed.
This was great when it came time for me to buy my first bike as I had by then ridden several different makes. The guys in the shop were telling me about pedals, clothing, hydration, and energy. Being a newbie at all this, they had to explain each part in depth. Now that I have completed a couple of rides I have learned a great deal and now their instruction makes more sense.
Several people talk about the special shoes with pedals that lock you onto the bike and are scared they would not be able to get their foot out in time and fall over. From experience, I can tell you there will be a time when you don’t get your foot out and you just fall over. This has happened to almost everyone when they first start riding with these types of pedals.
Clothing decisions
As for clothing, I was NOT a fan of wearing spandex! But after the reasoning behind wearing spandex was explained, and how folds in shorts can cause blisters, I became in favor. Let’s face it, when talking about a fold in your shorts rubbing on your seat, causing a blister in a body region that is sensitive to say the least, I quickly came around to the idea!
Hydration is easy enough to understand — sweating fluids out equals taking fluids in. Energy on the other hand took a little to understand. While pedaling you burn calories so you must take carbohydrates in to balance this out or you will hit a wall. Hitting a wall is where you have used more calories than you have taken in. Last year I used a heart rate monitor that calculated calorie usage. That was an eye opening result. I was averaging 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day. All of this goes into play when you are pedaling every day for six days straight.
I certainly don’t want any of this information to discourage someone from attempting the ride. I can tell you this straight from my own experience: When you ride into a town and meet a family member of someone that has died, and they come up hug you and thank you for riding on behalf of their loss, any of your pain simply goes away. I think of it like this — my pain will stop, but while the families that have lost a loved one will learn to cope with the loss but, their pain will always be there. That’s what drives me to pedal on and keep going.
Check out more details on the event at Muddyangels.org and make plans to join us. You can be a rider or a Wingman, ride for one day or all six. But if you come out and ride for one day I can tell you that you will not want to leave — you will want to continue on to the end. Once a Muddy Angel, always a Muddy Angel. Come out and experience it for yourself!