Corky Coker, Ride, Injury, Diet & Fitness

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Just finished around a 45 mile ride- my longest- after being off the Coker 4 a year.

Mid way through, while letting blood return to MY saddle, a truck pulled up, the driver said Hi, and introduced himself as Corky Coker, owner of the Coker Tyre Company, who, as it happens, lives in my vally.

The ride included a 1600 foot ascent up the tip of Lookout Mountain and ended with a crushing 1400’ descent at Birkhaulter Gap. My legs are jelly.

Speeking-o-my-legs: In Febuary of this year I crashed my hang glider into a cliff; was a couple of weeks before I could walk, painfully, with assistance, over 2 months before I could get up off the ground without climbing something. The outside tendon on my left knee rolled up like a window shade, severed.

I was aggressive with rehabilitation; at first, a morning walk would leave me unable to walk and in pain for a day or more. Slowly, very slowly, I introduced more and more activity, including regular weight training. I upped my protien intake to 2 grams per killogram of body weight a day and began taking glucosamine-chondroitin to help with soft tissue recovery. I began counting calories, and brought my body fat down to 6-7% from 28%, and weight from 175-180 to 153.

I never expected to have full use of my leg again- let alone excell. I attributed mutch of this not only to diet, but to pushing my body to do anything that didn’t cause it to be out of service for more than a couple days- regardless of discomfort. Though pain was still a usefull indicator for when to back off, sometimes EVERYTHING was painfull.

Anyway, if you’re been beat down, it’s hard, but you can come back.

Christopher

2

Thanks for the inspiring words…it is nice to see that avatar again in the forums, and nice to hear your recovery is going well.

I’m getting ready to set off on a 45-miler in about an hour. Hopefully it will go as well as your’s did. Perhaps by the end of it I’ll be inspired to write a tongue-twister featuring Corky Coker.

I’ve thought about taking glucosamine to help with my ravaged knees, but have been put off by the price of it. How long did it take before you noticed any positive results?

3

rocking story dude… good to hear bout the reovery

Chase

4

Rhysling,
Great, really great, to hear that you are up and riding again!

Tommy

5

Welcome back, monkey boy. Stick around and we’ll lie to you alot. Where’s Lewis? He didn’t crash no hang glider now, did he?

Where is the 6-7% body fat right now? Is it above the neck?

Keep up the good work, Chris. It’s good to see you here after the long hiatus.

6

That’s a great recovery story…I’m glad you’re better. Quite a start after your break…what’s next? You’ll be flying up Mt. Washington with the climbing monsters next year.

7

After only a week or so taking 2-3 tablets a day I noticed shortened recovery times after intensive cardo excersize/weight training. It was hard to determined what the effect was early in the recovery since I had no baseline to judge from.

I became a believer after a friend started giving G/C to his geriatric dog, which could barely move for all it’s joint pain. The change was clear- vastly increased mobility, improved temperment (due to alleviation of pain); with no possibility of a placebo effect, I new I wanted the same benefit for me. What’s that worth? You can get a big jug of tablets @ Sam’s Club on the cheep… will check price.

And thanx for the kind words- it’s good to see that naughty clown is still lurking about, too.

8

I’ve been around long enough to remember Mr. Rhysling.

I didn’t know what happened. His story is one of wonder and inspiration to others with serious injuries. I am glad he’s back.

I never had a hang gliding accident, and I still can’t do that kind of mileage on a unicycle.

You are amazing!

Ride safe and live long!!:slight_smile:

9

T-Star: I originally wrote most of this in responce to your MUC post- all on my PDA/Phone- but it is not posting mail correctly.

Lewis quit his job in a fit of mid life crisis. Currently he is enjoying power/net outages and gas rationing, empty grocery store shelves in Jackson, Mississippi. His home was undamaged- unlike some of his naighbores.

Harpo: I’m just trying to fit into my swim suit- you know how tough that can be, being endowed with sutch a long hiatus, too.