WELCOME TO JOE VOLFMAN'S PAIN CAVE. HIS RACING medals dangle from a coat hanger hooked to the ceiling in the garage of the Springfield, New Jersey, home he shares with his family. A blown-up image of a forest dominates the nearest wall, and Joe's stationary Top End Force RX handcycle sits on the floor. The bike connects to a wooden stand bearing an array of cycling stickers, a flat-screen TV, and a phrase in block letters inked right into the wood: Don't Ever Stop! A tangle of cords stretches across the floor. Joe approaches the bike in his wheelchair, wearing a Rapha EF Pro Cycling kit and a sweatband across his forehead.
The first challenge is getting from the chair to the bike, a complicated and well-rehearsed dance between Joe and his mother, Liz. Joe lifts himself out of his wheelchair and rotates his upper body onto a wheeled office chair, which Liz then slides over to the bike on the floor. As Joe rolls across the floor, he lifts his feet, with great effort, so they don't drag. At the bike, Liz lifts Joe again as he heaves his legs over the bike frame, straddling it. Then Liz lowers him into the seat, which she has covered with a towel for cushioning and to absorb Joe's sweat. Once Joe is seated, Liz straps his ankles into place beneath the TV display-where the front wheel would be, if one were attached. Then she straps Joe into the seat, around his waist. The bike frame is duct-taped with microfiber cloths, and Liz wraps terrycloth towels around Joe's calves so Joe doesn't cut himself on the bike's frame or spokes. He's likely to emerge from the pain cave battered and bleeding anyway, but he's used to it. The entire setup takes 20 minutes.
Once he's in the bike, Joe turns to his mom: "Right on," he says.
この記事は Bicycling US の Issue 04, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Bicycling US の Issue 04, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
ONE MAN'S OBSESSIVE CRUSADE TO Take Down Zwift Cheats
Indoor cycling and virtual racing are booming, and so are the ranks of digital dopers abusing the platforms.
WHAT I LEARNED WHEN LOST IT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE
A lifelong roadie tries singletrack for the first time. It did not go as planned.
THE UNLIKELY HERO WHO RECOVERED OVER 200 STOLEN BIKES IN ONE AMERICAN CITY
It was a sunny day in the summer of 2022. There were some things I had to move into the house, so I left the garage door open. I was gone less than 15 minutes.
YOU CAN BE MORE THAN JUST A CYCLIST
I'VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE FOR SPORTS, starting with the usual team ones such as football and baseball. But that faded in favor of more individual pursuits. Watching my dad roll down the driveway to go for a ride, I wanted to do the same. The bike was my first taste of freedom, a freedom to do it my way.
THE RIGHT SADDLE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I WAS, AT BEST, A TWICEa-month cyclist.
HOW TO SAY GOODBYE TO THE RIDER YOU USED TO BE
CYCLISTS OF ALL LEVELS GO THROUGH various phases or eras over the years they spend in the saddle. For the vast majority of riders (myself included), these things happen privately, without fanfare.
BIKES MAKE THE WORLD A MORE INCLUSIVE PLACE
LIFE'S A BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE THAT COMES in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CYCLING SCENE, ANYWAY?
I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INVOLVING myself in a few populous and dramatically different cycling communities.
CHOOSE GEAR THAT INSPIRES YOU TO HAVE FUN E
EVEN THOUGH I TEST LOADS OF CYCLING gear for a living, sometimes I get locked in on particular items and find it difficult to enjoy competing products, even if those products have obvious advantages.
WHY YOU DESERVE A CUSTOM BIKE
Custom. The word evokes passionate opinions about what constitutes a custom-made bike and who gets to ride one. There's this idea that they're wildly expensive pieces of functional art meant only for the fittest, fastest riders.
