Riders battling challenges on and off the bike kick off Solvang time trial

The survivors of cancer, car accidents, paralysis and other serious challenges are rolling down the starting ramp for the Solvang time trial at the Amgen Tour of California Friday. Before the pro men and the pro women take the stage, a select few other cyclists will race the clock.

Among them will be:
-Jordan Rapp, a pro triathlete who was pummeled by a hit-and-run driver while out training and would have died had a marine not found him
-Matt Bigos, a former motocross rider who was paralyzed for months before willing his way back into health and then into cycling
-Shad Ireland, a dialysis patient without kidneys who has completed an Ironman Triathlon

Other celebrities and VIPs such as Chris Boardman will be riding the course, too. But these three in particular are participating as a way to tell a story — and to celebrate being healthy and on the bike despite the odds.

Overcoming paralysis
In 2003, Matt Bigos was riding in his buddy’s Corvette when it hit a tree. He was paralyzed from the chest down for nearly nine months.

“I spent three months in the hospital — six weeks in ICU and then another four weeks in rehab,” Bigos said. “I grew up racing motocross, which I did for 11 years, and during then I did some cycling for training. But it wasn’t until 2007 that I started riding a spin bike to help regain mobility.”

Now, Bigos races UCI paralympic World Cups with other disabled athletes. He was recently in Sydney and is soon headed to Spain to race. But he also competes in standard regional races, too. Last weekend he did the Cat. 3 and then the P/1/2/3 criteriums in Ontario, California.

In paralympic World Cups, Bigos said, riders are classified in five categories, similar to USA Cycling’s number system but for physiological conditions instead of skill level.

“We have five different categories for athletes that ride regular bikes,” said Bigos, who is categorized as a 2. “I have a spinal cord injury. I have no Hamstring or glute strength. When I ride, it’s all quads. A 5 is a below-the-knee amputee. A 4 is someone missing a hand. These guys can still race at the top level, though. For example, Jiri Jezek is on a Romanian continental team and he was top 20 GC at Romandie last year.”

Category 4 and 5 athletes race together at paralympic events but are scored separately. Similarly, 1, 2 and 3 riders race together. Race officials categorized riders.

“Some double-below-the-knee guys or moderate cases of multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy would be a 3,” Bigos said. “A 2 is an above-the-knee amputee, or a bad case MS or spinal cord injury. A 1 would be someone with really severe neurological conditions. Or somebody like this Canadian kid, who’s a double-above-the-knee and missing part of one of his arm.”

Overcoming being hit by a car
Jordan Rapp is a professional triathlete who has won Ironman Arizona and Ironman Canada. Last year Rapp was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left for dead, but luckily a Marine happened to see him, stop and save his life.

“Years ago, I remember seeing that they allowed some people to pre-ride the time trial course. I thought that would be really cool,” Rapp said. “This year, sponsors and friends kind of facilitated my entry, and of course I jumped at the chance. I thought, what a rare chance. If nothing else, it will be a good workout.”

Rapp says that after a slow recovery from being smashed by a car, he is back to almost 100 percent now. As for how his time would stack up against the pros, however, he declined to venture a guess.

“I do the local SoCal TT series around here for triathlon training,” Rapp said. “But bike race time trials tend to be a little more technical than the local TTs. I remember last year Tony Martin talking about the LA TT course, saying it wasn’t technical, but you saw the amateurs riding the course and some of them had a foot out through some of the corners. There is definitely a world apart from somebody who rides 30,000 miles a year. It’s an entirely different class of bike racing. It’s daunting, even for somebody like me, who ride a bike with aero bars a lot, but not like that.”

Overcoming kidney failure
Shad Ireland is a fairly unique cyclist in terms of physiology – he has no kidneys.

Yet Ireland has been riding and racing, and over two years he is planning to ride key stages in from all of the world’s biggest bike races. He’s already completed an Ironman. This year he rode stages 2 and 4 of the Tour of California.

In order to live, Ireland plugs himself into a dialysis machine every other day for five hours, as his blood circulates into the machine and back into his body.

“My Take on the Tour project is a 24-month initiative,” Ireland said. “My goal is to ride all the grand cycling tours, the toughest stages. Give me the toughest stage and I’ll beat it. I’m quietly riding the stage, usually not on race day. I’ll never be a Category 1 rider, but I believe I can ride the toughest stages. My vision is to inspire and engage people and provide resources. Even if the average person rode 30 minutes, three times a week, they could lose 60 pounds in a year.”

You can follow Ireland at www.takeonthetour.com.

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