The 2012 “MS 150″ is scheduled for April 21-22. This year, I plan to learn from my 2011 mistakes, and complete the entire 150 mile 2-day ride.  Last year I attempted the voyage alone, as a team of 1.. This year, team “HowiRoll” will have muliple riders.   Just like last year, I’m required to raise at least $400 for the Non-Profit MS Society. So, this is my shameless request for donations towards the 2012 “MS 150″ ride. If interested, you can make a tax deductible donation securely through the National MS Society website HERE.   Furthermore, if you or anyone you know is NOT scared, please feel free to join our “HowiRoll” team and join us for the ride.

Also, I’m actively seeking sponsorship for HowiRoll from any foundation or corporation who may be interested in becoming involved with a good cause.  My current hand-cycle is over 13 years old and on the verge of falling apart.  Therefore, in exchange for a new FORCE-R Handcycle, a potential sponsor will recieve company exposure through 1) all hand-cycle races and marathons  2) blog posts at HowiRoll.com thanking it’s sole sponsor  3) video blogs   4) exclusive banner advertisement at HowiRoll.com.  Please email me at jacob@howiroll.com if interested.

I live in West Palm Beach, which is 1-2 hours away from Miami depending on traffic. For this reason, my wife and I stayed at a hotel down in Miami the night before the race.  The marathon started promptly at 6:00am the next morning, and I needed to be there at 5:00am to get ready.   Just the thought of waking up at 4:15am in the morning made me want to vomit.  Sure, I had trained for the 26 mile marathon, but my training sessions were usually in the afternoon…

Prior to start there was a designated section for all hand-cycles to get prepared.  As Ana and I arrived at 5:00am most of the other handcyclists were already getting ready to race.  I was so tired when we rushed out of the hotel that I forgot to eat anything.  All I could find before the race at 5:00am was 2 bananas.. Beggars can’t be choosers, so I quickly inhaled 2 bananas  I’d say we had about 30-40 riders in total (hand-cycles and racing wheelchairs), as opposed to the thousands of runners who started just minutes after us.

As we approached the starting line the runners gave us an amazingly warm welcome. Thank you very much. It was appreciated more than you know..

The race was 26.2 looooong miles.  I wasn’t racing to win, I simply wanted to beat my fastest time of 1:52 (1 hour 52 minutes).. In the end, after weaving through the dark morning streets of downtown Miami Beach, I was able to do just that. I finished the race at a new personal best of 1:48 (1 hour 48 minutes).  And if you read my last post about the Palm beach Marathon, yes, the little girl who weighs 100 lbs beat me, again…

Although, this 26.2 mile race is small potatoes compared to the MS 150 in April…. The MS 150 is a non-profit ride for MS April 21-22.  The ride consists of 75 miles from Miami to Key Largo, and wake up the next day and ride 75 miles back to Miami.  This year I WILL FINISH!!! Anyone in South Florida up for the challenge??

Anyone in a wheelchair who has never used a handcycle, I strongly suggest giving it a try.  The cardio benefits are great, along with the priceless freedom of being able to cruise without your wheelchair. Let me know if you have ANY questions.

About 3-4 weeks ago I attempted to play sled (“sledge”) hockey for the first time since being paralyzed 13 years earlier in 1999. You might be wondering why it took  13 years to try disabled sled hockey. Well, the truth is, I stayed away for the same reason I disregard my old hockey sticks in the shed.  So, with hesitation, after 13 years, I attempted ice sled (“sledge”) hockey for the very first time at a rink in Coral Springs, FL.  A local team had put on an open clinic and a friend convinced me to attend.

The rules to sled hockey are basically the same as the rules to regular hockey.  Except in disabled hockey the player sits in a sled, called a “sledge”.  Another big difference is that the player uses 2 short hockey sticks instead of just 1.  The curved blade of each hockey stick is similar to the blade of a normal hockey stick.  The opposite end of each sledge hockey stick has 6-8 metal teeth for maneuvering and propulsion.  The player moves by gripping the ice with the metal teeth.

The hardest part for me was the transition from pushing to puck handling.  While pushing, the player grips the hockey blade while pushing down through the metal teeth on the opposite side.  Then, the player must quickly slide the hockey stick to a normal grip when the puck is passed to him/her.  Throughout the entire day, I received about 50 passes. Of those passes I probably received 5 of them successfully.  To put it lightly, sledge hockey was extremely difficult for me.  The feeling wasn’t remotely close to the way I felt so many years ago.  I have mixed emotions about playing.  It was absolutely sweet to put on a pair of hockey gloves and grip a hockey stick.  So although I’m glad I experienced sledge ice hockey, I’ll most likely never play again. Ultimately, the experience was bittersweet, more bitter than sweet…  I’d rather lament the memories of what once was, than convince myself that I could ever love the only available hockey replacement.

With that being said, I’m still a strong supporter of anyone and everyone trying new sports. If you’re interested in possibly playing sledge hockey, I suggest you get out there any play.  Chances are good you’ll enjoy it.

My game plan going into the race was to draft behind 1 or 2 of the quickest riders. If done correctly, drafting allows a person to exert less energy than the rider in front of them, while still maintaining the same speed as them. Two packs of riders pulled away from the mass quickly as the race started at 6:15am. The first pack consisted of the top 3 riders, all males. These guys were beyond fast. These guys were sonic the hedgehog fast. They were gone from the start and never seen again. The second pack consisted of 3 riders, 2 males and 1 female. As I tucked in behind this pack of 3, I thought to myself, “surely I can keep up with this girl, she must weigh 105 lbs max!”… Well, as we rounded the 3rd mile I was feeling good, still high on all the energy supplements I’d ingested 15 minutes earlier. But as we rounded the 5th mile I began to feel tired and winded. As my 3 draftees began to slowly pull away it became more and more apparent that 1) the remainder of this race would be a solo mission, and 2) I seriously underestimated the badass 105 lb young lady in front of me…

The next 20+ miles, or 1.5 hours, would be spent riding alone. In the end, my final time was 1 hour 51 minutes, and I placed 8th. My goal was to finish in less than 2 hours, so I was happy about that. I was also extremely excited about the fact that my 12 year old hand-cycle didn’t fall apart!

The next hand-cycle marathon is at the end of January in Miami, Florida. There’ll be many more riders, but I plan on racing myself this time. Hopefully I can beat my recent time of 1:51.

Almost forgot.. This coming April is the 2012 “MS 150″ in Miami, FL. It’s a 2 day 150 mile bike ride (not a race!) from Miami Homestead Speedway to Key Largo and back. First day is 75 miles to Key Largo, and the 2nd day is 75 miles back to Miami. Last year I attempted the 150 mile ride and came up short, only able to complete the 75 miles of day one. At the end of day I was too exhausted to wake up the next morning and ride 75 miles back to Miami. Although 75 miles on a handcycle is decent, the drive home to West Palm Beach felt like a defeat. Therefore, this coming April I plan on completing the entire 150 mile ride. The team, “HowiRoll” has already been formed. I have multiple people who’ve given a verbal commitment for the ride in April. I encourage anyone and everyone to join the “HowiRoll” team if your located in South Florida. To join the team and/or make a donation to MS in the name of the “HowiRoll” team CLICK HERE. I encourage everyone to challenge themselves and join the ride!

Given the fact that I’m a paraplegic, I could never officially compete with the team.  But when my buddy told me they were short a few guys, I jumped, yes jumped, at the chance to practice with them.

By the end of the first day I had a half-dollar blister on my left palm.  I’d been slammed so hard my wheelchair flipped… Twice..  Both times I was lying on my back, wheelchair wheels up in the air, thinking about how oddly refreshing it was to be slammed so hard it flipped me out of the wheelchair… At that moment I realized how much I missed contact sports.  And by the next day, I was so sore I could hardly get out of bed.  Oh, did I mention I’m a paraplegic playing rugby with quadriplegics??!! This was supposed to be a walk in the park, right?!… wrong…   I have a new respect and admiration for these quad-rugby players for sure.

I encourage anyone in a wheelchair to find a sport they enjoy. It’s great for your cardio, and even better for your state of mind.

Below is a short clip from the practice.  Lucky for me the slams and flips weren’t caught on video:)  If you know any quads in the South Florida area who are interested in playing quad-rugby drop me a line.

For instance, I’ve always used an extremely low seat-back upholstery on my TiLite TR wheelchair. This past week I decided to raise the seat-back 3 inches. This may seem like a trivial difference in height, but for me it’s made a word of difference. I’m not suggesting to raise your seat-back, I’m simply saying that changing up the dimensions (ie: seat height, seat-back height, angle of seat-back, height of footplate, etc) of your current wheelchair could possibly benefit you (or not). 

The video below shows how to change the seat-back upholstery on a TiLite TR wheelchair.  My seat-back hadn’t been replaced since it was purchased 4-5 years ago, so it was definitely time. It turns out, the 2.5 inch raise has been a great change in comfort.

To Cut or Not To Cut Your Wheelchair Cushion, That Is the Question….

Wheelchair cushions come in all different models, shapes, and sizes.   A wheelchair cushion that’s absolutely perfect for my situation may not be the best for your specific situation.  With that being said, the best advice I can give is to try as may wheelchair cushions as you can get your hands on, so you understand the positives and negatives of each. 

From my own personal experience in a wheelchair, I’ve decided the best cushion for me is a “StimuLite”, made by Supracor.  It took 4 years of using a Roho Quadtro cushion to realize the StimuLite was actually much better.  My biggest issue with the Roho cushion was that it would “pop” a microscopic hole somewhere, and all the air would slowly leak.  The result would often be an incredibly annoyed guy (me) rolling around on a flat wheelchair seat.  No bueno… The StimuLite, on the other hand, is made of soft flexible honeycomb cells, which don’t require air or liquid gel to work properly.  That means it can be thrown, stepped on, poked with pins, folded, bent, and/or submerged under water for any length of time, and at the end of the day it’ll smile at you, saying “please come sit on me again”.  I’ve had the same StimuLite Classic for the past 5+ years and it has yet to warp into any shape other than the shape it arrived in.  I have an extremely boney bottom, and have yet to receive any sort of pressure sore.  Although, with that being said, please keep in mind that everyone is different.  If you’re known to get pressure sores, always keep a close watch when switching cushions.

A few months ago I decided to cut apart my perfectly good Stimulite cushion, which is my primary wheelchair cushion.  The catalyst for this decision was the fact that I needed extra padding on my hand-cycle seat bottom.  My 1999 Freedom Ryder hand-bike had a hard seat bottom, which needed a remedy.   So, rather than spend money on a new seat cushion, I thought it may be a decent idea to simply cut a slice off the Stimulite cushion.  Below is a video showing the final version.  Basically, 1 perfectly good stimulate cushion was transformed into 2 perfectly good stimulate cushions.  Anything needed for a “disability” is unfortunately expected to be expensive. But a “wheelchair cushion” has an even more exaggerated dollar expense. This saved me $300-$400 dollars on a new cushion. Sweet.

If you happen to have push handles on the back of your wheelchair, there’s a decent chance you actually do NOT need them.  Maybe they make you feel safe, or maybe you like someone to push when you’re tired. Either way, if you’re physically able to push, you’re only further disabling yourself by having push handles on your wheelchair. I challenge you to raise your level of independence by removing them.  The gain in independence is unique in that it’s not simply personal. Your now perceived as not needing to be pushed, and hopefully someone offering to push can translate that into not needing to be helped as well.

I absolutely understand that some people don’t have a choice, and their physical limitations prohibit them from taking off their push handles.  This post isn’t intended for you. This post is intended for anyone who’s absolutely able, and chooses to be lazy, further disabling themselves.

About 3 months ago I decided to get a new dog.  It was either going to be an English Bulldog or a German Shepherd. Basically, the laziest breed of low energy dogs, or an extremely high level energy dog… For better or for worse, we decided to get a purebred  “German” German Shepherd puppy.  We named her Nina. Nina is presently 5 months old.

With proper mental stimulation and physical exercise she’s a sweet little pup. On the other hand, Nina bounces off the walls like a wild indian if I neglect to exercise and stimulate her. Below is a video of Nina following me on a 1999 Freedom Ryder hand-cycle.

Hopefully, one day, little puppy Nina will become a certified service dog.. But not today…

Big thanks to my good friend Mike at Digital Gold Photography for the solid pictures. Very much appreciated bro.

Thanksgiving 2010 will be one I’ll never forget. My mom, dad, sister, and I were going to my cousin’s house in Indiana for a Thanksgiving get together that was supposed to be a great time. The week leading up to our trip was strange. I was having back pain that restricted my movement to perfect posture at all times. If I altered that I would be in extreme pain.  We left on a Thursday and was planned to come home the Sunday coming up.  After the second night I became very ill. I had a fever of 103 degrees and was sweating profusely.  I had an extreme headache and my mind was spinning. Being the determined person I was, I went black Friday shopping with my cousins in the morning. After shopping I worked up the ambition to go lazar tagging with my cousins because I was not about to be left behind.  I felt fine during that time but realized soon after that I was not ok at all.  Friday night was grueling. I was terribly sick and my parents made the decision to go home a day early and leave Saturday. My mom made an appointment with a pediatrician for Monday. Sunday my fever broke but I was still feeling terrible and eager to see the doctor Monday. When I got there he said that I had a strain of the flu that settled in my back. He prescribed me muscle relaxants that were “suppose to relieve the pressure” of the virus that was causing my irritation. I was more than relieved that it was just a simple issue that would be taken care of with ease. The following two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) were no better than the days leading up to them. I was still extremely sick and had no idea why the medication wasn’t working. On Thursday I was still feeling poorly. At 2:37 I was talking to my dad on the phone, standing in front of the mirror when I felt a pop in my back. I was home from school and my mom was at work so I didn’t want to bother either of my parents. When my mom got home I suggested we go to the ER because my legs were tingly and I just had a very bad feeling. My mom was getting things around and I just remembered a story about a boy who had to have his likes amputated, he spoke of the last time he walked and how much he wished he could have felt something prior. So for some reason I just walked by the Christmas tree a few times and brushed the needles against my legs. I paced back and forth because I just KNEW…  We got into the car and went to the hospital which seemed like it took years.  We got to the parking lot and I had about a 30 yard walk to the doors. I can’t explain how hard it was to get to those doors but I brought myself to them with all the might I had.  Once I sat down in the waiting room I couldn’t get back up. I had to be wheeled to a room and I started to panic. I was freaking out that I couldn’t walk. I was in so much pain that they put me on extremely strong pain killers.  I passed out and woke up two days later. During the time I was out I was life flown to Akron, had a MRI, and had emergency surgery at 4:00am in the morning. The doctors told me that they removed an abscess from my t6- t7 spinal region.   It compressed my spinal cord to the point that I was paralyzed with no warning prior to that week. Doctors tried to figure out the cause of the growth but to this day they still don’t know. I had a complete t6 spinal cord injury. I stayed at Akron children’s hospital for 18 days. When I was there I met lots of nurses and doctors. Some I’ll be friends with for the rest of my life. Once I left there I went to a spinal cord rehab center called Kennedy Krieger.  I stayed there for 2 months, and re-learned to do everything. I can remember when tying my shoe was more impossible than flying.  I also worked on regaining movement and function of my legs. After about a month of INTENSE rehab, I was sitting in my room alone just looking at my feet trying to move them. Then out of nowhere my right big toe started to wiggle. I started screaming and yelling and pressing my button and I was so happy I couldn’t even stress it. A respiratory therapist came in named Doctor Dawn and we both started crying of joy. See when I was there the staff became family. I was with them 24/7.  It was an amazing moment in my life that I will never forget.  From that point I knew I would walk again and I am still working for that goal. Since then I have regained some movement in both legs, feet, and toes. I have feeling, but it is distorted to some degree. From an outside standpoint it is a miracle that I have gained this much. I just look forward to the day that I can say, “I remember when I needed a wheelchair. Look at me now.”

-BuckHunterMG