Chasing the Last Checkered Flag!

Art and I have for the last few years tried to find ways to define how we older athletes are living and thriving like no other time in our history. I’ve written articles trying to explain in some way how and why we are doing the things we are doing.

Art sent me the article you are about to read for two reasons, one it touches me in two areas, I am an older athlete and I’m also a Hospice volunteer. I’ve been a Hospice volunteer for ten years now and I can tell you one of the many misconceptions about Hospice is that it’s a death sentence. Yes in order to be eligible for Hospice care you must have been diagnosed by an MD to have six months or less to live. You must also have reached a point where you are no longer trying to cure the illness. Sadly a lot of physicians (For lots of reasons) do not recommend Hospice until the very end when it becomes a scramble just to make the patient comfortable.

Hospice is about comfort care, making the patient comfortable by managing their symptoms. Comfort care is about making the patient as comfortable as possible allowing them to live life to the fullest extent they can. Statistics show that people who go on Hospice tend to live longer. (Longer than six months many times)

In the article Wally has been told there is nothing more they can do for him and when he becomes a Hospice patient he discovers a whole new way to live out the rest of his life.

There are lessons for all of us in this article.

Doug 21J

 

Hospice Racing Is an End-Of-Life Celebration

When lifelong cyclist Wally Ghia found himself in hospice care, he embraced the time he had left in the saddle to inspire others in his situation

By ian dille November 1, 2016

 

The letter from the hospital read, “There is no longer anything we can do for you.” 

The words read like a death sentence to Flavio “Wally” Ghia, 74. An avid cyclist, he’d been a masters state mountain bike champion in Arizona, and had managed regional bike racing teams sponsored by bike companies like Diamondback and Ritchey.

And he’d battled major health issues through it all: necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria that nearly took his leg; a fall from a mule, resulting in a debilitating head injury and nerve damage; and congestive heart failure that required him to intermittently use an oxygen tank to breathe. He wasn’t ready to stop living. But when Ghia was introduced to hospice care through Durango, Colorado’s Mercy Hospital, his perspective shifted.

“They told me, ‘We can take the pain away,’” says Ghia, who felt like hospice had saved his life. 

For Ghia, hospice care wasn’t just about waiting for the inevitable, but about embracing the time before it. To that end, Ghia—who spent 57 years employed in product marketing—is working to start and promote a new cycling team named Hospice Racing that helps hospice residents live meaningfully.

"My honest belief is that if I raced, there are others out there who might just say, 'Hey, I think I could walk a 5K.' I’m not that terminally unique."

In September, Ghia competed in Salida, Colorado’s Banana Belt mountain bike race—relying heavily on painkillers and knowing he had little time left—for his new team. Bicycling spoke with Ghia about his life, Hospice Racing, and what it means to live. 

BICYCLING: What led you to the start line with Hospice Racing?
Wally Ghia: It started as a dark joke, a way to lighten the mood after I went into hospice care. My friends Joan and Peter picked me up from the hospital and said, “Hey, you could race for Hospice Racing.” We made up a snarky tag line, “Burying the Competition,” and I had some stickers printed up. We gave them out at the hospital, and people loved them. I thought, maybe I should actually do a race. 

I called my friend Shawn Gillis, who owns Absolute Bikes in Salida, and he said, “This isn’t a bad idea.” At that point we changed the tag line to “A Happier Ending,” which is how I really feel in my heart. 

How did the race go?

I made sure that I was about two hours into the morphine before the race. That was for pain management, and was on top of some of the other things that I take.  I had two people holding me up on the start line, one in front, and one on my left side, in case I fell over a little bit. Well, I ended up on my ass. So Shawn ran and got this old beat up beach cruiser tandem. He said, “Get on the back, stick your feet out, and don’t pedal.” We went about three miles that way. 

After the race, the winner, Nick Gould, a professional racer from Durango, he came up and asked to take a photo with me. At that point, I had my oxygen tank and mask back on to help me breathe. 

 

Why do you think people connected with what you’re doing?

You’re not just sitting in a room, you know? There was no deception of me being a racing guy, okay. But I got to show up to the start line, and do something that I have loved for 39 years. That’s a long time loving something. I had someone tell me recently, “I’ve never seen anyone as happy in dying as you.” Hospice equals death. It just does. Friends of mine have stepped aside. They think you’ve got a black cat running around you. But you don’t. Hospice isn’t about dying. It’s about living.

Why now? Over my career I’ve designed and marketed everything from deodorants to douches. I know how to frame things. I just want to do something that’s worthy at the end here. I called my friends up 10 years ago and apologized to them for being part of a design world that fed them poison. When I designed Jell-O 1-2-3 in the ‘60s, I asked them, “What does that ingredient mean?” They told me, “We don’t know.” That always sored me. That was the same as getting that line in the letter, “There’s nothing more we can do.” 

That’s one of the reasons I’ve tried and tried and tried to do things with an end game for cycling. As long as I can do this, I will do it. 

What’s next?
I’m preparing to do my second race. Nick Gould, the pro who won the race in Salida, is also a personal trainer, is helping me train and has expressed interest in growing Hospice Racing. 

I ride outside four days a week, and walk or ride the trainer the other three days.      

Hospice did an incredible thing for me, and I want to match that with Hospice Racing. Taking away the pain with the things that I’ve had, it’s like a miracle. I know it sounds so simple, but yeah, it was the pain. If I can tell that story through my story, that’s worthy. 

Plus, my honest belief is that if I raced, there are others out there who might just say, “Hey, I think I could walk a 5K.” 

I’m not that terminally unique.

Reprint from Bicycling magazine

Huskyyama....Say What?

2016 Husky FC350 part 2 and the birth of the Huskyyama

Since I installed the Rekluse, FastWay back and down pegs and the Scotts steering Damper, I’ve changed the handle bars and the mounting position all in an effort to make me feel more comfortable on the bike. Changing the bars and the bar position and height were done to help with my right hand cramping and forearm pumping up, mixed results so far. One thing I did notice after changing the bars the bike felt as though it was easier to turn with the flatter stock bars maybe it’s just a leverage thing.

I’ve also raced in two International Old Timer Moto Cross events, one Idaho and the other in Glen Helen. After struggling with the suspension set up I was able to concentrate more on how to ride the bike. It’s a lot different than the last two bikes I’ve used for moto cross. The first one was a 2012.5 KTM 450SX-FE and the second was a 2016 Yamaha YZ450FX. The Husky is different in more than just a few ways; it’s probably at least fifteen pounds lighter than the KTM and over twenty pounds lighter than the Yamaha. (And that’s after I was able to take 11.5 pounds off the Yamaha) Couple that with a high reving 350 that makes 450 power on the high end, the Husky is light enough that it dances around and acts more like a two stroke in that way. When you’ve ridden two very stable bikes (Especially the Yamaha) it takes a while to adjust to that trait. The 350 doesn’t pull on you like a 450 and the difference between the engine vibes is a lot. As they say in all the magazines you have to ride more aggressively, something I’m actually enjoying learning to do. The bike does all the positive things the magazines write about.

 

But, I’m still not completely happy with the suspension set up and have found myself researching alternatives to the 4CS forks. At Glen Helen I spoke with a couple of riders who had their 4CS forks converted to KYBA internals from the Yamaha SSS forks and they raved about how well they worked. The other alternative is using Yamaha front forks. Having the forks converted is the easiest way but is rather expensive, about seventeen hundred bucks I’ve heard. With the Yamaha you need to find a set of SSS forks (2010and newer)

One rainy weekend I took the front end off my YZ250FX and put it on the Husky rode it around my house then took it off. What I found is it certainly would work, my only real concern was the fork tube of the Yamaha was like a few thousand’s of an inch smaller than the 4CS at the bottom triple clamp and required just a little bit more snugging up to remove that initial clearance. (They tell me either a piece of graphic’s material or strip from a soda can will take care of that) Since I didn’t ride it on a track I can’t tell if that would have any effect on the flex chararstics needed in that area. The easiest way to make this change is use the entire front end off the Yamaha, brakes and all. Some will say that you will lose the better braking offered by the Brembo brakes; I’d say this is true. (Actually I’ve been a little disappointed in the front brake on the Husky; I am going to bleed them first and if that doesn’t help then try different pads) What I found was if you just wanted to use the Yamaha forks and use the stock Husky wheel and brakes is the Husky brake caliper’s attachment plate has a bolt pattern of 3 1/2 “apart and the Yamaha is 3 1/4” and the Husky wheel is wider than the Yamaha’s. If I wanted to use the stock brakes and wheel I would have to overcome those issues, which I think can be done but not easily.

I decided to go for the complete front end and started searching for the individual parts or a complete front end. I lucked out and found a complete front end off a 2013 Yamaha YZ250F for three hundred dollars; yeah that’s right, I had to drive to So Cal to get it however. I took my wife’s Hybrid Ford that gets terrific millage.

Turned out getting the complete front was a good thing. While the 2010 and on forks have the same lug offset and length in 2014 they changed the diameter of the axle and the front wheel is larger to accommodate the larger axle. So you have to make sure you have the correct wheel. (I think you can change the bearings out)

I gave the forks to Bucky at SBB to cleanup and re valve, got all the new parts and pieces, oversized OEM rotor, new brake pads and new tire.

Installing the forks required a shim the bottom triple clamp, as I said the Yamaha fork tubes are slightly smaller than the 4CS forks. I used some graphics material around the tube and that took care of the clearance. (My question will be will that have any effect on the fork tube flex required) I bled the front brake and finished installing the wheel; all that’s left is to go ride it.

First ride was at Est at the Sierra Old Timers MC toy drive and ride day. I went out on the smooth vet track first and immediately felt in secure. The front end was very twitchy and wanted to knife in the corners, so my first impression was oh no. I had set the fork height at what I thought were the same as the 4CS forks but the bike acted as if I had pushed them way up in the clamps. I dropped the forks and went out again, this time it was much better. I dropped the forks a little more adjusted the clickers a little and with that spent the rest of the day feeling more and more comfortable. A couple of things by the end of the day became apparent I had much more confidence in the front end and was jumping farther than I was with the 4CS forks. And the other thing the forks were not transmitting any harshness back into my hands (Typical of well setup KYB SSS forks) and was my primary reason for installing them. Also I didn’t notice any flexing or anything unusual in the forks, although I’m not sure if I’m good enough to detect if they were flexing other than something obvious. Earlier in this article I had talked about changing the bars etc. trying to find something that would help the cramping and pumping up of my right hand. Well changing the forks seems to have solved that problem. I was not expecting that and points out the harshness of the 4CS’s must have been contributing to that.

Once I got a setting I felt comfortable with I just rode, but I still have more tuning to do. Clickers, height and in particular the bottom triple clamp, I’m not sure how tight they need to be and I say that only because of the graphics material I used as a shim, as you know they typically are barely tight. (I’ve installed a couple of pieces from a soda can to try next time I ride) The front brake with a Yamaha OEM oversized rotor worked very well and I didn’t feel like I gave away much in the braking department.

Had the opportunity to ride my bike a few days after my initial ride. As a tinker I couldn’t help myself and made some small changes but immediately discovered the first time on the track they didn’t help. I quickly changed them back and once again enjoyed the rest of my ride. Ran a whole tank of fuel through it, so at this point I’d say I have a pretty good base to work from.

Stay tuned for part 3 after I’ve spent more time on the Huskyyama.

Doug 21J

The Epic One

 

A couple of friends of mine Scott and Stan laid out a 22 mile course up at place called Chalk Bluff, or Burlington Ridge or a couple of other names it’s known by. It’s about 20 miles up Hwy 20 from Nevada City at about 5000 foot elevation and is known for its tight switch back, back and forth trails. There are numerous places where you can actually see the rider behind you because of the trail layout. It’s primarily a 2^nd and 3^rd gear riding area, no real pushing and shoving kind of ride just some nice moderate elevation changes. There’s one section that has many names, I’ve heard it called 14 turns, 16 turns and this day I heard it being called 19 turns. Depending on if you’re going up it or down it, it’s either up, 14, 16, or 19 turns or down 14,16 or 19 turns. I never have counted them, always too busy trying to ride it not count them.

Scott and Stan know the area very well. They both have helped layout and maintain the trails in that area for years. Scott’s idea was to layout a course and invite a bunch of his riding buddies and their families up for a day’s riding a pot luck dinner and cap it off with a night ride over the same course. I don’t know how many riders were there my guess would be somewhere around fifty. I heard there were 25 riders who were going to ride the night course.

I didn’t get up there until around noon and hit the trail about 1PM, by that time most of the riders were starting to arrive back at camp finishing up their ride. It was an epic ride, the weather was just about perfect, no jacket needed and the trails were about as perfect as they can get. The area had been soaked with quite a few inches of rain a few days prior, but steady sunshine had dried it out enough that there were very few water puddles. In fact I didn’t really need to wash my bike maybe under the fenders, but that’s all.

By the time Barry my riding partner and I started the trails had some nice berms and it was easy to follow the trail. Well we did get lost a couple of times, no big deal though and found our way back on to the course. Barry and I stopped several times mostly so I could adjust something on my bike. This was the first ride on it since I had taken it apart and gone through just about everything. We had big grins and kept telling each other, it doesn’t get much better than this. It’s interesting I had just met Barry before we took off and here we are sharing this ride and grinning from ear to ear, goes to show you, you don’t need to know some forever to enjoy the moment, just a shared passion.

I ended up riding 31 miles because I missed the left hand turn back to the camping area. I was in a grove and at the time was riding by myself having left Barry behind and had no one to key off in front of me, so I just kept going until I came up on the back of a few riders who were just starting out on the loop. Oops, I had to turn around and backtrack. Very slowly, I averaged 13mph and had a top speed of 38mph which isn’t too bad believe it or not for that kind of riding. By the time I got back to camp the majority of riders were sitting around with a beverage in hand re-hashing the day’s ride.

Not long after I got back, around 4pm, everyone started cooking, heating up whatever they had brought then began setting their offerings down on some folding tables. All this magically appeared no one was in charge barking out orders it just happened. One minute there was nothing and the next the tables were full of pot luck food. The food was excellent. That usually happens when people bring pot luck, you end up with someone’s specialty. The deserts were also great. I had eaten a plate full and was going back for seconds on desert table and noticed there was now twice as much variety of foods as when I had first gone through the line, amazing.

My wife Chris and I had to leave just before dark, we had to get back to take care of all the critters we have. But the big bond fire was roaring to life and people were beginning to gather around it, the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping. And the night ride lay ahead. 

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Thank you Scott, Stan and all the other people there who made this a truly epic day.

21J

Sure Can...A New Idea!

Sure Can

A friend of mine gave me this can to try, because I have a weed whacker, a leaf blower, two riding lawn mowers, a small tractor with a front loader and several rear attachments for it. I also have a power washer, oh and four motorcycles. So it seems as though I’m always pouring fuel into something and my friend Art thought I’d be the perfect guinea pig to try this new design. Someone is forever trying to invent a new improved mouse trap. If we never tried something new how would we know if it’s better than what we’ve been using?

The first thing you notice about the can is where the spout/drain is located. Instead of being on top which requires you to lift and tilt a can in order to drain it, it’s on the bottom at the side of the can (And totally tucked out of the way) which means no lifting and tilting, I kind of like that idea. But how will it work in a practical application?

As I said I have lots different kinds of equipment to try it on. First of all the quality is very good. It has big markings showing liters and gallons on the end making it easy to read and it has some nice hand holds especially on the bottom making it very easy to grab the bottom. The other thing I noticed was when holding the container by the handle it felt very comfortable and balanced. I only put two gallons in it at first, my thought was it would be much easier to handle for the first time, which it was. My concern was how easy it would be to fill things essentially from one side at the bottom, turns out it was pretty darn easy. I had no problems filling my power washer and the two riding lawn mowers I have, each of the mowers has a different type of filler. I also filled one on my motorcycles which also worked well. Not having to tip a can and dealing with weight is a huge plus. 

So what are the negatives and questions? When you tip the can and pour you can tip the can back when you’re almost full and avoid overflowing. Not so easy this new way, you’ll need to anticipate this and release handle to stop the flow, as the fuel will continue to flow until the nozzle has drained. Not a big deal but will require a little getting used to. The release handle on top for safety purposes has a release mechanism that must be pushed forward in order to depress the handle allowing fuel to flow through the nozzle, releasing that safety is difficult to do with only one hand. You can take your index finger and release it, again just takes a little while to figure that out and with practice will become second nature. The fuel flow is great and begs the question is it legal in California. If it is that is a huge advantage as anything else you can purchase in this State is made to be very awkward and flow like molasses. For those who only have the one gas can and must fill it up, I’d say dealing with a full five gallons won’t be a big problem since you don’t have to tip it to use it.

I must admit I was skeptical when I first looked at the can, but now that I’ve use it I like it and I’m not going to give it back.

Doug 21J

2016 International Old timers MX event in Boise

 

We we’re off to the land of the big potato for round # 9 in impressive fashion we caravanned. Carmen Ogino, Derek Currie, Kevin Stewart and me followed each other nose to tail. Carmen in his big ass motor home with his 2016.5 KTM 250SXF FE hanging at an odd angle from the back of his motor home, Kevin rode with Carmen having rented himself out for the weekend as Carmen’s pit bitch. Derek in his Chevy diesel pickup with two 450 Honda’s in the back, his logic for bringing two bikes was in case he needed to use one for parts, he didn’t. And me in my Ford diesel pickup with my 1987 Lance camper setting in the bed slightly at an angle because my wife had hit one of those speed at speed when she used it, lifting it just enough, even with tie downs so when it landed back in the bed it was slightly askew. And towing behind hiding the slightly angled camper was my enclosed motorcycle trailer. 

I hope there aren’t any cops reading this because we flew across the Sierra’s and desert at speeds well above the posted limits, especially me towing a trailer. We spent the night along the side of the road in Jordan Valley some seven hours into our journey.

Arriving at the gate entrance to the track around 11:15AM the next morning our caravan joined a long line of others stretching out to the highway waiting for the gates to open at 12:00. The parking at the track is flat along with rows of terraced parking. We set up on the top terrace and had a great view below us and of the freshly mown hay fields across the way and with our Sierra Old Timers pop-ups proudly on display. Practice started at 1:00 and for many of us the first disappointment of the weekend. The track had been plowed deep and lots of water put down, so it was sloppy, wet and ended up very rutted.

However Friday evening is the clubs traditional Idaho baked potato fest with a wide variety of toppings, which sort of made you forget about the track conditions and remember one of the many reasons you show up for this event, good food and the comrade.  I forgot to mention the weather was just about perfect as well.

Since I’m retired I don’t roll out of the sack until well after the sun has risen.  With practice at 8:00 and my group the second practice and the one hour time change I was up way too early for me. It was going to be another beautiful day and when we got out on to the track we discovered a well groomed track that offered the prospect of a fun days racing. At the riders meeting there were many smiles all around from those of us who had experienced Friday’s track. Riders who had showed up for Saturday’s practice and race were puzzled by our dire report on Friday’s practice track. 

Kevin (Carmen’s pit bitch) took a boat load of pictures which we will have up on our Facebook and the club web site soon. Kevin concentrated mostly on club members of which there were quite a few; it’s interesting because we now have a number of members who live in other states. He followed Carmen in the 50+ Intermediate class, Paul Park and Brad Peters 40+ intermediates, Mark Kastner and Craig Christian in the 50+ master class, Duane Quick and Bart Kellogg in the 70+ expert class, Derek a 60+ intermediate, and me all alone in my class. 

First and foremost everyone had a great day; we were all safe and had good races. Someone at the parts counter at Carmen’s local bike shop gave him mineral oil for his clutch instead of brake fluid (oops) so needless to say he struggled a little with some clutch problems and on a sandy loamy track you need a good clutch when ridding a 250. Carmen’s wife called to tell him a rattle snake was in their backyard. They called a snake guy who found a total of three rattlers. Paul and Brad had by far the best racing of the day. They swapped the lead back and forth for most of both moto’s, Paul admitted to being a little whipped at the end of the moto’s Brad won both. Mark and Craig both started on the same gate in the 50+ masters. Mark who just gets faster as the weekend goes along won the 50+ class easily but was a fair distanced behind the forty year olds, the second and third moto’s saw Mark closing the distance. 

I didn’t get to see much of Duane and Bart’s races because I was on the line with my race next. It looked like they pretty much held the same distance between them each moto with Bart having the edge. Derek suffered from poor starts and a crash in the first corner of the first moto, but kept the smile on his face and had good scraps with a fellow 60+ intermediate. I had a mixed bag a poor start in race one and a hole shot in race two. I reversed the order on Sunday, but it didn’t make any difference I had no competition in my class and was probably half to three quarters a lap ahead of the second place rider each race. (I still took the trophy home)

Saturday evening is the clubs dinner and as usual was excellent. I was disappointed because there wasn’t any desert this year something happened to the dessert maker, but I was saved, Carmen’s wife had sent him along with some carrot cake that Carmen shared.  Saturday evening’s weather was awesome and it doesn’t get any better when renewing friendships and hashing over the day’s racing. Everybody I talked with enjoyed the track, wait that’s not true Don Tocker from BC liked the old course layout. But he never unloaded his bike all weekend, as he was driving into Boise he remembered he hadn’t purchase medical insurance. (Remember he’s from Canada) Last time he was here he knocked himself out and ended up in the hospital. The evening ended with a hint of rain during the night.

It sprinkled a little Saturday the night but only enough to turn the dust on the vehicles into a mess. The morning was cloudy but the temperature was perfect. Sunday’s track and racing was as good as it was on Saturday. Carmen struggled a little more on Sunday with the clutch and stamina. Brad and Paul picked up right where they left off on Saturday swapping the lead. As I said before Mark just gets faster as the weekend rolls on and actually beat one of the 40+ masters and was much, much closer to the others. Again it looked like Bart and Duane were the same distance apart as Saturday. Gary Chase who rode Saturday on a borrowed bike figured it out Sunday and was the class of the 70+ expert field. Interesting side note, Bart, Ed Perrington, Gary and one other rider who all rode in the master’s class for years decided they wanted to ride in the 70+ expert class because they only wanted to race two moto’s on Saturday instead of three. Gary is the one who lobbied for a 70+ masters class so they could still ride three moto’s on Saturday, interesting how a little age can change your perspective.  Derek faired a little better on Sunday amazing what better starts can do. We all ended the day safe again, some of us took home awards and some didn’t but we all had a very enjoyable weekend.

Coming back we caravanned again, Carmen and Kevin, Derek, me and Paul in his brothers borrowed 4x4 ford towing an enclosed trailer. We stopped in Winnemucca for dinner and stayed the night in Fernley. Sitting around the table at dinner that night we all recounted our races and commented on others and talked about how sometimes it just doesn’t get any better than this.

 

Doug 21J  

PS We were all jealous of Carmen and Kevin his pit bitch for the weekend.