Black Diamond trails

Jul. 01, 2000 By Eric Tabb

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Bigfoot

I know, you're probably thinking "So what, this is just some old guy who happened to get introduced to the joy of riding at a late age". While true, that isn't even half of the story. You see, Bob has some minor defects that would have your average old man sitting in his rocking chair watching re-runs of "Dragnet" all day long. To get a better understanding of what I mean by defects, lets start at the legs of this 6'6" tall old man. He has some sort of stupid nerve damage and can't feel anything below his knees. When he walks, he has to use a cane and wear these silly, Forest Gump-looking shoe inserts to give his legs some stability. You would think this alone would keep him from riding, but when he puts on the boots, you would be suprised at how well they actually allow him to hobble around.

Bob and son Dave

Moving on up to his back, we learn that Bob has had his share of back fusion operations over the years. This translates into very limited movement during everyday activities like bending over. Whoops, wipe off that smile and forget I said that last line, Bob wouldn't like it. Not to be outdone by his lower body, Bob also carries a pacemaker in his chest region. This isn't the standard type used by enduro racers for time keeping either! Isn't this just the perfect candidate to spend the day riding the Black Diamond trails with? With an image fresh in your mind, I bet you are thinking Bob must ride one of those cool "Little Rascal" handicapped, electric powered carts. Not quite, but you are very, very close. Actually, he rides a 94 ATK 605 Electric Start thumper. The bike is a true pig, complete with a custom, foot-long shifter and rear brake lever. The finishing touch on the bike is the Bugs Bunny and Taz sticker he has on his front number plate, placed strategically below number 99. Although he has never told us, I am guessing that 99 represents the age he plans on retiring?

Bigfoot eats dirt on an easy trail!

Despite his few shortfalls, Bob is a damn good rider. He doesn't pussyfoot around on the blue trails, but heads directly for the Black Diamonds. He does have a modified riding style that includes staying seated 95% of the time. The other five percent is usually spent yelling out loud, just before taking a soil sample of the ground. To compensate for this, Bob arms himself with some butt pads, forearm pads, wrist supports, and a scarf. I offered him my ice-hockey gear, but he graciously declined. As you can guess, Bob's suit-up time before a ride is a bit longer than your average rider. But, to watch the guy in action more than makes up for the time delay. Despite all the protective gear, Bob still has an occasional incident that requires medical attention. This seems to happen about once a year, and so far the trend is holding up well. A few years ago, he went down hard and broke his wrist. A few months later, the pin was removed and he was back on the trails. The next year, he fell into the side of a trail and ended up rupturing a kidney. A few days of internal bleeding and intensive care and he was ready to go again. Luckily, he didn't need to get the kidney removed and was very relieved. He told me if the kidney came out, he would have really had think about retiring from riding. Now that is commitment!

"Get up old man, its only a broken back!"

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