Doc Ernie's Blog : Ernie Franz M.D. : Spinal Cord Injury, Disability, and Rehabilitation

In the late fall of 2007 the Harborview Rehab floor hosted an Adaptive Cycling Seminar.  Through a donation made in my name, I was able to help fund the seminar.  There were recumbent four wheeled tandems, various makes of three wheeled bikes, and options of foot or hand driven mechanisms.  Although this was primarily set up for those who might be riding hand cycles, I did also bring my Moots and seized the opportunity to bicycle down the halls of Harborview.  The very halls where I had pulled myself around in a wheelchair using my feet in 2004.

Being a C5 incomplete quad, in addition to my bilateral radial nerve injuries, I do not have the arm/hand strength to either pilot a wheelchair, or a hand cycle; whether on 2, 3 or 4 wheels.  So in my particular case strangely, the only option for me is to ride an upright bicycle and pedal with my feet.

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Well, perhaps you are thinking this all seems too easy, or why did it take him so long to just advance to cycling on his own.  You will have to believe me, it was not easy, though I had plenty of motivation to succeed, my spinal cord injury and general lack of balance and strength meant several falls were inevitable.  Though Keith and I finished Chilly Hilly 2006 without incident, soon after that I was to experience quite a number of low speed falls.  Being however an "experienced" cyclist, I always managed to land on my left (non-drivetrain) side, protecting my bike, yet causing a couple of left hip & elbow bruises along with a few head bangs. 

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By early summer 2005 I began thinking with my wife and PT what we could do for the one year anniversary of my trauma.  Soon a plan was hatched that involved my bicycling past the scene of the crime on the day of the life changing trauma, this time to make it home!  Problem was, I had not yet ridden a two wheeled bicycle on my own.  By late July, it was time to give it a try.

Keith Heinzelman, my PT, and Kelly Campo, another PT whom had known me for a long time, came over to our house to figure out how we could get me on my mountain bike.  We were unsure how my balance would be, what my leg strength would be like, how braking and shifting would work.  On that memorable day I kept my gait belt on so Keith could run alongside me and remain attached somewhat to me, as a father would with his child, as I attempted to balance and pedal.

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Two and one-half months after my discharge from the Harborview Rehab floor, Keith Heinzelman and I set out to ride the Chilly Hilly 2005.  With a huge amount of emotional and physical support we were accompanied by friends, family, church members, Seattle Symphony members, Bill Davidson framebuilder from Elliott Bay Bicycles, and Josh Golden my PT from the Harborview Rehab floor.

The day was a bit foggy and cool, but it was dry!  Off we went....

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Bicycling has been in my blood ever since I was a kid, but I became more serious about it in my college days at Indiana University, home of the Little 500 annual bicycle race and the fantastic movie Breaking Away, filmed while I attended IU.  Although I never came close to finishing on a podium, I did dabble in both mountain bike and road racing from time to time during my Emergency Medicine career.  When I was struck in 2004, beyond commuting by bicycle, I had been doing frequent training rides and a bit of racing; logging around 4000 miles in the twelve months prior to my injury.

When asked by a counselor while laying nearly paralyzed in my hospital bed what I loved about cycling, I remember saying it was feeling the wind in my face, the tension of the crankarms pulling on the chain, the sound and feel of the road underneath me, all the while spinning with my heart rate around 160-165.  Speed.  Efficiency.  It just all felt so right, a sweet spot in a complex life, a break from the chaos of the ER, a sort of Chariots of Fire experience, such that when I rode I felt God's pleasure.

What follows then is the story of how I came to get back on the bike....

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