Yahoo!  I have finished my 700 mile bicycle ride for the Foundation for PM&R. The ride began on July 5, 2012 and was completed today on November 13, 2015.

Available days:                  135

Days of riding:                   69 (51%)

Hours of riding:                 57

Temp range                        62-93 F

Range/day                          3.6 - 20.4 miles

Obstacles                            Being out of town, injury, rain, time

restrictions

Weight at start                  243

Weight at finish                                223                        

Funds raised                      Approximately $2500

My neighbors came out to celebrate the conclusion of the ride this morning.

Attached is a view of the finish.

Actual Ride: I have now finished 500 miles of my 700 mile bicycle journey. Most of you know by now that I am pretending to ride from the Foundation for PM&R office in the Chicago area all the way to the site of the American Academy of PM&R meeting in Atlanta. (See Virtual Ride comments below). Actually I am riding around my hometown, The Villages, FL. It is a beautiful time of year here…the temperature during the day is now in the 70’s rather than the 80’s. There is a lot of territory to explore and many miles of multipurpose paved trails…which are used by golf carts, bicycles, runners, walkers, skaters, etc. A new section of The Villages just opened. It will eventually house 40,000 more people…to add to the 80,000 we have now. The Villages is already the world’s largest over-55 community. I now have slightly less than 200 miles to go, and I am looking forward to finishing the ride before the Academy’s annual meeting that will occur in Atlanta, November 15-18.

Virtual Ride:  I left Greenbrier, Tennessee and rode down route 41 right through Nashville and continued down to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This is the fastest growing town in Tennessee and is a southern suburb of Nashville. I took some time to go visit one of its tourist attractions…the world’s largest cedar bucket. The “World's Largest Cedar Bucket” is a 1,556 imperial gallons (7,070 l) red cedar bucket. The bucket is approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, has a 6 feet (1.8 m) diameter at its base and 9 feet (2.7 m) at its top. The bucket was built in 1887 by the Tennessee Red Cedar Woodenworks Company in Murfreesboro. It was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. It is now displayed at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro. The main reason you need to see it is because if it is occasionally asked about in trivia questions.

Murfreesboro was recently the site of some religious controversy due to the building of a new 12,000 square feet mosque. Some in the area did not welcome the mosque and even torched the construction equipment. But a federal court recently squashed all attempts to prevent the building of the mosque, which serves Mosley families in the area. It opened a few months ago.

Next on my trip down Route 41 is Chattanooga, and then my first contact with the state of Georgia. Stay tuned!

Since I last blogged regarding the route at 300 miles…I have now completed 351miles on my 700 mile trip. Below is a description of my actual ride, and of my “virtual” ride.

Actual Ride: My ride about the beautiful streets and bike paths of The Villages continues. Unfortunately I had to take 10 days off from bicycling because of a bad back. I blogged the last time about an accident I had on the bicycle. It turned out that the accident led to low back pain. I awakened with it one morning and wasn’t able to get out of bed without my wife’s assistance. I was able to get an appointment with a physiatrist a few days later. She noted that I had axial pain (with no radiation). My neuro exam was normal. I had mild tenderness of the LS paraspinal muscles. An MRI showed some pre-existing arthritis of the L45 facet joints. She started me on celecoxib  and scheduled some physical therapy. I got better so quickly on this medicine that I didn’t even go to the physical therapy. I continued to improve, and after waiting a full 10 days I felt that it was time to get back in the saddle. I have ridden 50 miles since I resumed riding and my back never felt better. I will not continue the celecoxib indefinitely because I worry about its gastric, renal and cardiac profiles. I sure wish we could invent a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine that didn’t have those problems!  If we did I would take it like candy…since the celecoxib makes my old joints feel like a teenager’s. (P.S. I do not own stock in celecoxib or any other medicines).

Virtual Ride: I have now completed 351 miles of my 700 mile trip from the office of the Foundation in Rosemont, IL to the site of this year’s AAPMR convention in Atlanta, GA. When I last blogged about the trip I was in Springfield, TN.  Before my back began hurting (see an explanation of this in the section above), I made it about 20 miles down route 41 to Greenbrier, TN. (As you might remember, Route 41 goes all the way from northern Indiana to Atlanta). After my back pain started I couldn’t really ride for 10 days and during all that time I was stuck in Greenbrier. It’s a pleasant little town of about 5000 people, and the Main Street that runs right down the middle of it is actually Route 41. I found a clean and yet inexpensive motel that had flat screen cable TV. The WIFI internet was free (why is that cheap hotels offer free WIFI, but expensive ones charge for it?)

For the first week of my back pain I only left the room to get food at one of Greenbrier’s dozen or so restaurants. I ate at the Sonic Drive-In (even though I didn’t have a car), at three pizza places, a Subway, and two Mexican food restaurants. But my favorite restaurant was the Highway 41 Café, which was only about two blocks from my motel on the north end of town. It was open from 6 AM to midnight and reminded me of a New Jersey diner. Like the diners in New Jersey it had a multiple page menu of seemingly every conceivable food (how do they serve so many different things). It was a mom and pop place that was now run by the grandchildren of the original owners. It was especially a fun place to eat at breakfast and for a late snack. The food was “down-home” good. I suspect, however, that anyone eating there frequently would need to double up on their dose of Lipitor. I was unable to sleep one night, so about 10:30 PM I got re-dressed and went down to have some decaf coffee and dessert. They were out of all the desserts except apple pie…so I had that a la mode. I sat at the counter struck up a conversation with a well dressed thirtyish man sitting on the stool beside me. He was a young entrepreneur named Frank Durning, who lived in Nashville (Nashville is about 40 miles from Greenbrier and a lot of Greenbrier folks work in Nashville). It turned out that he was in town looking for a business to own and operate. He had an MBA from the business school at the University of Cincinnati. After graduation he worked for a number of companies, usually on a short term basis dealing with business development. It was obvious that he was really hot to own and operate his own business. He’d been talking with the family that owned the now closed gasket factory that was just north of Greenbrier. About five years ago the family closed the factory and laid off all 100+ workers and moved their manufacturing operation to China. They found they could make the gaskets in China for a fraction of what they were paying at the Greenbrier factory.  

The family no longer had any use for the closed factory and wanted to sell it with the land and all the equipment. It had been locked up for five years…and on the inside it was just like the day everyone left. The family found that it was too expensive to move all the gasket making equipment to China…so they bought Chinese machinery for their new plant located south of Shanghai.

Frank really knew a lot about gasket manufacturing and had obviously been studying up on it. He had even interviewed some of the former workers at plant, including the now retired former foreman. Frank felt that could get a small business loan from the Feds and a new development grant from the state of Tennessee. I assumed that he had a venture capitalist or two who was willing to help him. I was surprised that he didn’t try to get me to invest in his new venture.

He planned to buy out the family and reopen the factory, but on a smaller scale. His idea was to make high-end “premium” gaskets for engines of all types from lawn mowers to diesels. He would make them of the highest quality, and market them as being the only gaskets with a lifetime warranty. He would also advertise them as the only gaskets that were made in  America. They would be about three times more expensive than the competition, but gaskets are not really very expensive and many engine owners would spring for the extra money just to get the best gasket…and one they could brag about to their friends about because “made in America.” His new company was going to be called the “American Made Gasket Company.”

I might have been willing to put a few thousand into it, just to see what would happen. Of course, I have no idea whether his idea will work, but he seemed really interested in trying it. I have a good friend who told me that in the late 1960’s his engineer brother came to him with the idea of making transistors. He asked him to invest 10 grand. My friend, who had children and other responsibilities, told his brother that just couldn’t make that kind of investment (but actually he thought his brother was just a little crazy). About a decade later, the factory the brother started had stopped making transistors to make computer chips. Intel bought out the brother and his company…and everyone made $50 for every dollar they had invested. My friend said that if he had invested the $10,000 in his brother’s company…he would have gotten a return of $500,000.

Once I could ride again I decided to detour over to Nashville, TN and take in some country music and give my back a little longer to heal before getting back on Route 41 and heading south to Atlanta.

Since I last blogged regarding the route at 140 miles…I have now completed 300 miles on my 700 mile trip. Below is a description of my actual ride, and of my “virtual” ride.

Actual Ride: My ride about the beautiful streets of The Villages continues. Unfortunately I had two accidents recently while attempting to learn to use pedals with clips. For anyone who has ever tried them, you remember that you have to snap your shoes onto them. The problem is that to get your foot disconnected from the pedal you have to move your heel outward and simultaneously lift your foot. This is no problem when you stop the bike slowly and deliberately. But on two occasions lately when I had to make a sudden stop, I simply couldn’t extricate either of my shoes from the pedals, and went right over on to the ground. The first time I fell in the grass, and there were no injuries. The second time I fell on a concrete section of the golf cart/bicycle path…and got some bad scrapes on my left knee and left elbow (see photo). My wife then pulled rank on me and made me to go back to the old pedals…which I did. They are not as efficient in pedaling, but I think they are much safer in the long run.

Virtual Ride: I have now completed 300 miles of my trip from the office of the Foundation in Rosemont, IL to the site of this year’s AAPMR convention in Atlanta, GA. When I last blogged about the trip I was in Clinton, IN. I again headed south on Route 41 (which runs all the way to Atlanta). I went through Vincennes and then on to Evansville. Before leaving the state of Indiana I reflected on the old adage that every little town in Indiana has a gas station and a university…it is probably true. After entering Kentucky I went through innumerable small towns and then through Hopkinsville. I finally made it to Springfield, TN.

Vincennes, IN is a very interesting place for its size (only 18,000 people). It produced William Henry Harrison, Red Skelton and a couple dozen other notables. There is a park honoring George Rogers Clark. The town seems dominated by Vincennes University, the first college in Indiana, founded in 1801. Since Vincennes is one of the oldest towns in Indiana, it has the oldest library, post office, etc. in Indiana.

Evansville, IN is a classic river town on the Ohio River. It is the third largest town in Indiana and has 117,000 citizens. It boasts the corporate headquarters for Mead Johnson Pharmaceuticals. Its major university is University of Evansville, whose teams are known as the Evansville Purple Aces. I mentioned in my last blog the regional medical schools that are scattered throughout Indiana and which offer the first two years of medical school. One of those is in Evansville, and when I was chair of the PM&R department at IU in Indianapolis, I occasionally drove down to Evansville to give lectures to those students. Evansville is a very nice place, and surprisingly for its size has a zoo, symphony, museum and even a children’s museum. 

I could talk forever about the Commonwealth of Kentucky, since I am a Kentucky Colonel (there is a long story as to why I am a Kentucky Colonel). My father was born in a coal mining town in Kentucky. It is a state where the fastest horses in the world are bred on pristine bluegrass farms. Kentucky has amazing wealth, but also has astounding poverty…all mixed together. Basketball, Baptists, and Bourbon seem to dominate the state. I was recruited about 30 years ago to be the chair of a Kentucky PM&R program. I was interviewed by the board members of their major rehab center. One of them owned a brewery, and one owned a tobacco warehouse. Another (I think) owned part of a race track. I told them they might be looking for the wrong guy because I didn’t smoke, drink or gamble. The chair of the group laughed and said that I was perfect…because they wanted me to run the program while they did those things.

Hopkinsville, Kentucky is worth a visit. The 31,577 inhabitants couldn’t be more welcoming. They might be the buckle on the Bible belt. The county they area in is even called “Christian County.” Hopkinsville has a fabled history. It changed hands a half dozen times in the Civil War, and its people were divided about which side they were on. Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America was born just outside the city.

I crossed the border into Tennessee just after leaving Guthrie, Kentucky. Guthrie only has 1500 people, so you can’t blink when you ride through it or you’ll miss it. But, it is a “hotbed” of motels for tourists who come to experience the great Kentucky outdoors…Captain Kirk from Priceline will even help you get a good deal on a motel in Guthrie!

I finally made it to Springfield, TN…still on Route 41. I spent a night there. Believe it or not, this town claims to be the Springfield that is the real home of Homer Simpson of TV fame. If you want to see a hilarious video produced by their Chamber of Commerce about their claim, go to http://www.springfield-tn.org/ and click on the video.

Blog Update: August 20, 2012

Passed 200 Miles!

I am happy to report that I passed 200 miles of my 700 mile Ride for Rehab. This morning I temporarily lost my front brake and had to detour to the bike shop, but I still got in 9.7 miles. I have been riding in the morning to avoid the summer heat, but the temperature is usually in the mid-80’s when I finish. That doesn’t seem to bother me, however, as I must have adjusted to the heat and humidity.

When I was at the bike shop I again noticed the top of the line bikes. I am riding a 17 year old Cannondale aluminum frame bike…but the best bikes are now have carbon or composite frames…and the price can go to $5000 or higher. You can get a bottom of the line carbon bike now for about $1200, but the best frame and components are much higher. I think that spending $5000 on a bicycle is probably “against my religion”…so I will journey on with my aluminum frame Cannondale. You can immunize a lot of babies for $5000.

Randy Braddom, M.D.

Here is one of the signs entering my neighborhood.

These are the flower beds around the traffic circles in the Villages, FL.

A view of the Virginia Trace golf course in The Villages, FL

One of the bike trails I ride around my neighborhood.

An old live olk tree with Spanish Moss hanging from it along the bike trail.

Many tunnels go under major highways  for bikes and golf carts.

A view of Lake Sumter Landing that I ride past almost daily.

Blog for 7/30/2012:

Actual Trip:

I am now up to 140 miles on my 700 mile trip around The Villages here in Florida. I have posted some photos of my ride this morning. The Villages is an over-55 community in central Florida about 60 miles northwest of Orlando. It is the world’s largest over-55 community, now at 90,000 people and going up to 120,000 over the next few years. It is beautifully laid out…over about 90 square miles. All amenities are included in the $140/month amenity fee…including 25 pools, 22 golf courses, polo field, 30 rec centers, 2 downtown areas with live music every night 365 days per year, etc. The housing is reasonable. I have a three bedroom home with a 2.5 car garage and about 1/3^rd acre of ground for under $200,000. You can buy a home in The Villages from $70,000 to about $1.5 million. I am riding about 6-9 miles per day, and I do a 20-25 mile once per week.

Virtual Ride:

I discovered that the best bicycle route from the office of the Foundation for PM&R in Rosemont, IL to Atlanta was to head east on the back roads until you get to Route 41 in Indiana. This road goes all the way to Atlanta, and since it is not a super highway you can bicycle on it. It takes you through a number of picturesque towns in Indiana as you travel south on your way to Kentucky. There are towns like Munster, Lowell, Lake Village, Enos, Kentland, Veedersburg, Covington, and where I am now, which is Clinton, Indiana.

If I had taken route 26 east out of Oxford, Indiana I would have gone to West Lafayette, IN, home of the Purdue Boilermakers. I don’t know if you are familiar with Indiana politics (I practiced in Indianapolis for a number of years). The state legislature only wanted one medical school at Indiana University. So they prevented Purdue from having one. IU alone is allowed to have a medical school, dental school and law school. In exchange for this, Purdue alone is allowed to have a school of engineering and a school of pharmacy. In the 1970’s every little town in Indiana wanted to have its own medical school. To avoid the problem that developed in Ohio where many little towns did get their own medical school, Indiana decided to all allow six satellite medical school branches in various towns throughout the state. These were allowed to teach only the first two years of medical school. All the students come to Indianapolis for the final two years of medical school. This has worked out very well for the six towns affected, and the students taking the first two years in those towns have done as well as those students taking the first two years on the Indianapolis campus. 

Indianapolis wanted to have its own major state university. They wanted to be like Columbus, Ohio…which has Ohio State. The problem was that Indiana University (which is located mainly in Bloomington, IN) and Purdue University (which is housed mainly in West Layafette, IN) did not want to compete with a large state university in the city of Indianapolis. So a deal was worked out in which IU and Purdue would cooperate to build a campus in Indianapolis. This became IUPUI…which stands for Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis. The students pronounce IUPUI “ooey-pooey.”  As expected, IUPUI has grown dramatically and will most likely eventually be larger in terms of the number of students that either of its parent universities.

As I travelled further down route 41 I could have turned east and gone on route 136 out of Veedersburg to Crawfordsville, IN…home of Wabash College. Many of you probably aren’t aware that Wabash College is an excellent all boys school…and to my knowledge is the only all- male college left in America. About 20 years ago the administration wanted to open the school to girls, but the alumni had a fit and the administration reversed itself and decided to stay all male. It is an outstanding college and is probably the only one left in America that requires that each senior pass a final examination before graduation. You can be on the Dean’s list at Wabash and not graduate if you don’t pass the final exam that covers all of your four years there. It was founded in 1832 by Presbyterian ministers, but was never a sectarian school. It is expensive ($32,000 per year in tuition alone)…but 90% of the students get financial aid because Wabash has an endowment fund of $330 million. The students call themselves the “cavemen.”  I must admit to you that I went to DePauw University, which is the bitter enemy of Wabash…more about this in the paragraph below. If you want to learn more about Wabash College, go to www.wabash.edu.

As I travelled further down route 41 I could have taken route 36 east out of Rockville and then down to Greencastle, IN where I went to college at DePauw University. This liberal arts school was founded in 1837 by the Methodist Church as Indiana Asbury College. It originally admitted only men, but in 1867 it began admitting women, probably due to the fact that most of the men were fighting in the Civil War. In the economic hard times of the 1870’s Washington C. DePauw gave $600,000 to the school, and the school was renamed DePauw University. DePauw has had many firsts: First Phi Beta Kappa chapter; first sorority in the nation (Kappa Alpha Theta in 1870); Sigma Delta Chi…the honorary journalism society in 1909; the first college FM radio station in 1949; and the oldest college newspaper in Indiana. They have many famous alumni, including ME! Each fall the DePauw Tigers plays the Wabash Cavemen in the Monon Bell football game. This is the oldest football rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains. Not to be outdone by Wabash, DePauw has an endowment fund of $513 million dollars.

I am spending the night in Clinton, IN. This is a small town of about 4000 people, but famous for their annual Little Italy Festival that is held every Labor Day Weekend. For more about it, go to www.littleitalyfestival.org. Unfortunately Clinton’s best known citizen is Orville Lynn Majors…the famous hospital serial killer. He was a licensed practical nurse at Vermillion Hospital in Indiana…and he killed patients who were whiny, demanding, or who disproportionately added to his workload. He was convicted of killing 6 patients, but is felt to have killed about 130. He is serving 360 years in prison at the Indiana State Prison.