two one legged riders in one day

[Dickie]

Who was talking about the one legged rider a few weeks back? It has been on my mind since and I figured sooner or later I would cross their path. Well, last night on my way home I joined the WOD behind an elderly gentleman hauling arse on his carbon fiber racing bike. I then noticed that he was clipped in on the right side but had a regular pedal on the left. He was wearing tights so I couldn’t exactly tell what was going on, but it seemed pretty obvious his left leg below the knee was different to the right. We got to talking (me mostly out of breath) and I finally asked him if he was wearing a prosthetic. Turns out he was not, but he suffered from polio as a child and has very little use of his left leg. He has yet to find a solution for his pedals so he simply clips in on one side and pushes with the other… he was a machine. We parted ways and I wondered if Merrick the Polish mathematician might be the gentleman discussed here…. that was until a few miles later when I passed a young man in shorts riding the Balston corridor with only one leg…. crazy coincidence. Kudos to both riders, I was humbled to be in your presence!

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[PotomacCyclist]

I mentioned it on a thread recently. The guy I saw appeared to be younger, although he passed me quickly and I only noticed him after he was about 20-30 feet ahead. (I was riding on CaBi and I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere.) Actually, he could have been anywhere from 25-35 yrs. old. Maybe even 40? I’m not sure. I think he only had one leg, the right one. It didn’t seem as though he had much of a left leg, but then again, that was from looking from 20-30 feet away. I only had a brief glimpse, since he was moving away quickly. I did see that he stopped for a breather after 50 yds. or so. Then he started pedaling again.

I’m pretty sure he only had one leg. He was only pedaling on the right, and I think he was tilted on the bike in an unusual manner. That’s what caught my eye that day.

When I posted about it, someone else said that they had probably seen that guy on the trails, and that he usually doesn’t call out his passes. He didn’t call out a pass when he went by me on the MVT that day. I’m not singling him out though. At least half of two-legged riders don’t call out their passes on the trails either.

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