Paralympics.......

Lynton

Lynton

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Lynton (yes really!)
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Before anyone "starts", I fully support it and will watch it, and admire them probably more than the "able-bodied" (PC?) athletes...

though I have one very genuine question....

Advert tonight on C4, showed a cyclist with a prosthetic arm, looked to be from elbow down.... how does that "disability" in any way affect his or her way to cycle...

All i can assume is in the sprint, shoulders and arms must come into it a bit?? Sorry not a cyclist, just wondering...

:thumbs:
 
i can understand that, this looked like velodrome stuff.......
 
Lynton said:
Before anyone "starts", I fully support it and will watch it, and admire them probably more than the "able-bodied" (PC?) athletes...

though I have one very genuine question....

Advert tonight on C4, showed a cyclist with a prosthetic arm, looked to be from elbow down.... how does that "disability" in any way affect his or her way to cycle...

All i can assume is in the sprint, shoulders and arms must come into it a bit?? Sorry not a cyclist, just wondering...

:thumbs:
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Simple, steering... Balance and counter balance...

Also assuming it was road racing gear changes would be interesting as the lever on the lower bar was retired decades ago for flappy paddles built in to the brake levers.
And you definitely need fingers for them...

Riding in gloves in winter have know to jump gears prolifically trying to use the things.
 
I can't imagine being able to sprint without the use of both arms, leverage etc required.
 
gramps said:
I can't imagine being able to sprint without the use of both arms, leverage etc required.
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Fair enough, and as said above, not a cyclist (well other than a bimble down to co-op to pick up the papers) ..... was just wondering...
 
neil_g said:
the missus just told me the equestrians are graded by ability, not sure if its the same
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I watched the documentary the other night about Lee Pearson & Ricky Balshaw, then read up a little about how they 'grade' them, which did make total sense, based as it was on a riders ability to pass a range of commands depending on their [dis]ability.
I guess if you apply something similar to cycling, just from a logic point of view, I would think back to the days when I did actually own and ride a bike regularly [yes, its many many years ago, before anyone comments :p ] and I do recall that when I swapped from the old fashion 'ladies shopper' to racing bike, I did notice that suddenly your arms do notice the difference. You use them a lot more for balance [or perhaps that should be counter balance?] when having to put in effort, say riding up a hill for example, or just building up some speed on the flat. Now like I say, I am going back more years than I care to admit to, but that would be my thinking on how having a prosthetic arm could affect your ability to ride flat out on a racing bike round a velodrome. :shrug:
 
Yv said:
I watched the documentary the other night about Lee Pearson & Ricky Balshaw, then read up a little about how they 'grade' them, which did make total sense, based as it was on a riders ability to pass a range of commands depending on their [dis]ability.
I guess if you apply something similar to cycling, just from a logic point of view, I would think back to the days when I did actually own and ride a bike regularly [yes, its many many years ago, before anyone comments :p ] and I do recall that when I swapped from the old fashion 'ladies shopper' to racing bike, I did notice that suddenly your arms do notice the difference. You use them a lot more for balance [or perhaps that should be counter balance?] when having to put in effort, say riding up a hill for example, or just building up some speed on the flat. Now like I say, I am going back more years than I care to admit to, but that would be my thinking on how having a prosthetic arm could affect your ability to ride flat out on a racing bike round a velodrome. :shrug:
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she went to see the aussie equestrian team last night who were doing a lecture/demo at sparsholt collage equestrian centre where i think theyre based or at least did their training while over here. she said it was extremely humbling, one of the girls her joints just pop out randomly and the physio has to help her put them back in.. how anyone can ride like that.

hats off to all of them.. :clap:
 
:thumbs: Agreed... I am off to Greenwich to see them all on the 30th thanks to Kelly getting tickets, so looking forward to it.

I do recall [and sorry for going a bit OT Lynton] when I was 11 or 12, spending a week on a riding holiday at a place in Matlock [it was dead cheap as the idea was you worked all day as well getting riding lessons, not just normal ones, but side-saddle, carriage, all sorts of fun stuff and live on site in a caravan with other girls, it was my 1st holiday away from home/parents]. They were also a centre for disabled riding, and one particular day, the kids from a school for disabled came over to ride and we were expected to help out with the lessons. Even at that age, you could appreciate how difficult it was for our peers with physical disabilities to just get on and stay on, but more importantly, how much they absolutely loved doing it. It's one of those things that has stayed with me. :thumbs:
 
Lynton said:
suspected as much given my OP... thanks for clarifying...
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If you look at the build of other male track cyclists like Chris Hoy even his upper body is pretty massive. He wouldn't add that weight to his body if it didn't benefit him. A lot of power comes from the core, not to mention balance when riders come shoulder to shoulder. I also imagine cornering at the speeds they go it becomes quite hard to control the bike :)
 
All I know is after doing 100+ miles on the bike today my hands, forearms, shoulders, neck, butt, thighs and calves know they have had a workout.

So hats off to anyone who can compete with a disability of any form.
 
hot-ice said:
Why could the organizers not have waited to have the closing ceremony after the paralympics?
Or at least kept the flame going until after the event.
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This was explained in the Olympics thread.

The Paralympics have their own torch relay ending in the flame being relit at the stadium. They also have their own opening & closing ceremonies.
 
neil_g said:
Thought it was a very good ceremony, in a few places it had me totally glued. Like the guy with no legs that did the dance then flew across the arena. Totally inspiring.
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Totally agree. In many ways it was better the the first opening ceremony.

Often brought a lump to my throat, these are the people who really make you feel humble.
 
My only gripe is those two faced bunch of Arso`s the BBC not covering it and showing in HD :cuckoo:
 
It was on channel 4 in HD, what's the difference
 
u8myufo said:
My only gripe is those two faced bunch of Arso`s the BBC not covering it and showing in HD :cuckoo:
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I suspect that it's a case of sharing events. Channel 4 have been supporters of disabled sport and general disabled issues for some time. As a broadcaster that receives public money they have some minimum community broadcasting hours to get into the schedule.

What I'd really like to see is the BBC continue after the Olympics the same level of coverage of sports not involving men playing with their balls, and for Channel 4 to continue to provide coverage of disabled sports. With everyone talking of legacy and inspiring a generation, that's the sort of thing that makes a difference.


Right.. time to start charging batteries and formating memory cards for the Paralympic Park on Saturday.. .. :thumbs:
 
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