Team GB favouritism aside, GO MEG!!

Chapeau Meg!

Meg’s not in any of these photos, but there are a couple of other cyclists.  All of these athletes are inspiring

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/preparing-for-the-2012-paralympics/100361/

Incredible — heavy V!

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/preparing-for-the-2012-paralympics/100361/

Will definately be following her progress.   

She’s moving to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs at the end of the month to focus on training. At the end of August, the Team is going to London.  Races start on August 30th.  She’ll be racing in the 500m TT & 3k pursuit on the track and the road TT and road race.

Congrats!

Going with one MTB pedal is as inspired as going with a shorter crank length. Its inspired!

I am not concerned about my foot accidentally disengaging from my pedal. In most circumstances, I hardly use my left leg (except to push down on my pedal).

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

Meg, you need to join us on the Seattle Summer Cogal. I need someone’s wheel to suck. See you there? Or will you already be in London on 6/16?

Seconded, if you can work it into your training plan, you should join us for sure. Cheers!

The only question I do have is about weight differences between competitors, has the UCI in professional cycling and the olympics board set any kind of minimum weight level after which sandbags :o) or something are added. Also is the prosthetic made as light as possible or does it have to have a certain weight in order for you to feel balanced on the bike?

That is an excellent question. I use a urethane suspension sleeve with a silicon liner and a one-way valve. I wear the liner against my skin on what remains of my limb. I cringe at the word “stump.” So, if anyone uses it, be prepared to get kicked in the nuts. Residual limb is acceptable. Okay… where was I?? Ah yes, the liner. The silicone liner acts as a bit of cushioning between my body and the hard carbon socket. Kind of like a sock might do on your foot. My residual limb rests inside the socket like a foot inside a shoe. The socket is painstakingly crafted to fit me perfectly. I can run, jump, ski and bike using the exact same socket. To keep my limb inside the socket, I use the suspension sleeve. You can easily see the suspension sleeve on the photos above. The sleeve is attached to the socket and then rolls up my thigh. The sleeve is snug and when it comes in contact with the skin of my thigh, it creates an air-tight seal. Basically, the environment between my socket and my thigh becomes sealed. Think of a gaiter you might use when hiking or skiing. The gaiter attaches to your shoe and then goes up your leg and prevents anything from getting in your shoe.

Here’s the coolest part. There is a one-way valve at the bottom of my socket that allows air to leave my socket and air-tight environment but not re-enter. So that means that the air-tight environment becomes practically vacuum sealed. How awesome is that ?!! When all systems are working, my prosthetic moves in perfect harmony with my body.

As it relates to cycling, my left side is primarily used to push down on the pedals. Only ~5 inches remains of my left leg. With such a short lever arm, I cannot generate much force to sweep across during the bottom of the pedal stroke. The Achilles Heel (if you’ll pardon the pun) of my suspension system is sweat. If my thigh starts to sweat, I cannot pull up on my prosthetic because it will slide right off.

Does this answer your questions Frank?

We all have trials in our lives that test the foundation of our being. Each time I get on the bike, I am reminded of how far I have come; from the hospital bed to the wheelchair, from the walker to crutches, and then finally to walking on my own two feet. When I stand at the line, ready to do battle with what lays ahead, I am determined to do my best as a tribute to my dearest friend who died in our accident and as a means to say thank you to everyone else. I am eternally grateful to cycling and to all of you.

Normal’s just a setting on the washing machine.

What a quote. I’m remembering that one. That is solid gold right there.

Both of you are an inspiration to me to stop my bitching. We get into these cycles, and its always incredible when you see what a good attitude people facing real obstacles have.

Cheers, and thanks for the continued inspiration.

New Lexicon entry: Pull a Fisher or Fishered. “I pulled a Fisher last weekend by showing up to the start line late and winning.” Take that Delgado.

Great article Meg. Thanks for the contribution.

Yeah, a Fisher is the oposite of a Delgado. Love it.

@MegFisher

@gaswepass
I have never tried PowerCranks. I am all for geeking out whenever possible. I have heard mixed reviews- however they might be the key to a few more watts for someone with a challenging leg length discrepancy.
Has anyone here tried them? Opinions?

I think Scaler911 has a set. He is insane, the fuck. Might be cool to explore. I feel like I remember seeing a powertap on your bike, but I’m not sure. That would be half the question already.

On a side note, I am keenly interested it what leg you end up with including a bit of a performance review – such a bike nerd…

Keep riding hard and inspiring others!

Great article Meg. Thanks for the contribution.

My question is, did any one explore powercranks with you? It is a controversial topic to some, a total mechanical oddity to many, a training tool to a few. Some of the sets come with adjustable crank lengths to allow all sorts of adaptation to both different riders as well as leg length discrepancies. Hooked to a powertap wheel you could potentially look at using ( channeling one’s inner power data dork) single leg intervals and some patience to pore over data, what kind of power differences r vs l and with alternate crank lengths. Not that I think about these things …

I love London and combine that with the Olympics, how cool – hope you make it and have a great time!

Your story of bike biomechanics is great too, shorter crank, brilliant. Good luck this summer, we will be pulling for you.

Super inspirational. OK guys (and gal), I’ve been doing a bit of leg work here in Portlandia getting my contacts in the racing community involved in getting Meg to London. I think we’ve nailed down a fantastic frame builder who is being most generous to help her out. I don’t normally ask this kind of thing, but skip a cappuccino or two and hit that “Donate” button up there. Let’s get this girl to London to lay down some V on the rest of the world!

(Insert “Like” V image here) Cappuccino, pfffft. Donation made, I’m on long blacks for the rest of the week…

I spent the weekend in Montreal with the Canadian Paracycling team. There was a qualifier running at the Circuit GV that I got to watch and I got to spend some time with the coaches and get some ramp testing done too. We were looking at getting some of my team mates exposure to the paracycling program. My one friend is just getting into paracycling and he still uses his walking leg…for now. I just hope he doesn’t get sucked into another sport.

Needless to say good luck! And I know the competition is tough, I saw the Canadian team standards – insane fast!

@MegFisher

@Jonny

Who doesn’t like winning?

Exactly. Rule #70 all the way.

Out of curiosity, do the various legs mount via an interface to the same cup, or do you exchange the entire thing?

Two weeks ago, I got to watch the European Paratriathlon Championship, and I couldn’t believe the feats these guys were pulling off. I stood next to Transition in tears as they exited the water, put on their respective prosthetic, and Just Got On With It. The second-fastest swimmer was a man with no arm, and seeing the paraplegics in their recumbents, buzzing fearlessly between upright time-trial bikes… Unbelievable. The sheer willpower, the ingenious technological ideas to enable all that talent to be used, and the madness of steering a TT bike with a disc wheel, on a very windy day, on a twisty course – with just one arm.

Hey Jonny,
A running leg is a unique tool designed purely for running. It’s not very good at much else. When someone runs, they tend to strike the ground with their toes… maybe their midfoot and rarely their heel. So running legs do not have a heel.
Another unique feature of running legs is their spring-like action. When you put weight on the limb, the carbon deforms and “stores” energy. That “stored” energy in the carbon fiber is released as the person unweights the limb and propels them forward.

The action in a running leg would not be effective during pedaling. This is because you don’t want your leg to deform as you press down on the pedal. You want your leg to be stiff such that all of the force is directed through your leg, through your foot, past your cleat, and directly on to the pedal. You don’t want to lose or store any energy… you want to use it immediately. Does this make sense?

Weight in a biking leg does make a difference. Prosthetic legs tend to weigh less than a “real” leg. For instance, my real leg probably would have weighed ~15lbs with muscle and bone. My biking prosthetic weighs ~8lbs. I could probably shave another pound off of my set up, if it were all made of carbon. Also, my prosthetists could design a limb that is more aerodynamic. As you might know, as you get more competitive any advantage can make the difference between 1st place and 5th place. Who doesn’t like winning?

I hope this helps.

PS: This is picture of me racing on a track a couple years ago. I had just received the newest form of running prosthetic. That day I ran a mile in 6 min 30sec. The fastest I had ran since high school… when I had two legs.

I guess a carbon pylon would really put the ‘bone’ in ‘carbone’…

Good luck and fingers crossed for the Olympic spot, Peg Leg Meg!

@Mikel Pearce

Wow. Talk about personifying The V. Respect.

A-Merckx.

Excellent explanation of the details and challenges, Meg. Thank you! As the others have said above, you are truly inspirational. You certainly make my minor aches and pains today pale in comparison.

Fronk – thanks for chasing her and getting her to write an article.

Badass. I’d love to watch her drop able-bodied folks around Seattle. Maybe she’ll even bless us with her presence at the Seattle Summer Cogal, if she’s not too busy prepping for merry ‘ol England.

A thousand others would have never even got past the first hurdle, let alone endure so uh pain and suffering to make it this far.

It is people like Meg that make the rest us mere mortals realise just how away from the pros we really are.

Good luck with the road to London, I will certainly be cheering you on.

@The Oracle

Might make getting through an airport a tad bit harder…

I suppose it would put her out of the running for motivational speaking engagements at local high schools as well…

Might make getting through an airport a tad bit harder…

Talk about dedication to the sport! You kick ass Meg. Best of luck in the 2012 games!

Knee blisters? Those sound terrible!

Best of luck heading towards the Olympics.