Augusy 2005 Volume 9 Number 8
Club Points Competition
This competition
is meant to be a friendly way to show your support for the Club’s activities
throughout the year and promote a more active overall club membership. We have a lot planned this year, including
a number of different events and many of our members will be racing
and participating in a number of DualSport events.
Trail work days will be needed through out the year at Coal Creek
and the more people that show up to help, the easier the work will be.
Plan to
be an active member and we look forward to seeing everyone whenever
they have a chance to come out and go riding and to help out with the
different planned Club events. Thank
you for your support!
The top five in points so far for this year
are:
Skip Davis 2050 Brian Strunk
1350 Anthony
Khiel 1250 Gary Clark
and Steve Lewis 1000
Are Knee Braces for me? By Skip Davis
Last year, when I injured
my knees, I began to wonder. What could I do to prevent this type of
problem again? My doctor, a real sympathetic type, preceded to tell
me that I was too old and too fat to be riding off road motorcycles.
He also told me that knee braces do absolutely no good.
He also went out and broke his arm water skiing, which had me
thinking again. Wasn’t he too old and too fat to be water skiing? I
decided that I needed a second opinion.
From the start I want
to clarify. I am not a medical professional and I do not claim to be
a medical professional. I cannot even spell any of the medical names
or terminology used. This article is only intended to relay my own experiences
with knee braces to the rest of the membership of the Volunteer Riders.
You have to make your own choices and my opinion should not be the only
one that you listen to. Everybody is different and what works for me
may or may not work for you. As I said before, my doctor told me that
knee braces are worthless. I sent out an email
to the entire club asking for other members’ opinions and experiences
with knee braces. There was a huge response. There has been more interest
in this issue than in any of the workdays. The responses to my email
were both pro and con. On the pro side, one person said that his doctor
told him that his knee would never hold up to riding again, but his
knee brace has allowed him to continue in the sport.
The most common concern
was the potential for broken bones. If the boot supports the ankle,
then the knee seems to take a beating. If you then support the knee,
what has to give? Hip? Femur? One guy I talked to attributed his broken
femur to his knee braces. He has since stopped using knee braces, but
even admitted that he thought a broken femur would be easier to recover
from than a knee joint injury (Hmmm… I wonder what Scott Summers would
have to say about that).
After mulling over
the responses from the club, the results of web searches and my doctor’s
advice, I came to the conclusion that since I have had more trouble
out of my knees than my bones, I would try knee braces. If I had a history
of broken bones, but had never had trouble out of my knees, I would
not be looking at knee braces.
Since my doctor was
opposed to knee braces there would be no prescription for me, but this
also allowed me to make my own decision about what I wanted. There are
many different types and manufacturers. EVS, CTi (Innovation Sports),
Asterisk and Don Joy are just a few of the more popular names that make
knee braces. There is also a whole set of companies that make knee braces
for the “stick and ball” crowd. Football is obviously a large consumer
of knee braces. I didn’t want to buy
anything unless I could try it on first. For this reason, and the fact
that it was on my own dime, the expensive custom fitted models were
pretty much eliminated. I tried on as many different types and manufactures
as I could find. After web surfing, catalog searching and trying on,
I settled on a set of Asterisk braces. I liked the idea of the laces
(a leftover fetish from an old pair of Sidi motocross boots I had) and
that they make them in a XXL size (to fit my fat legs). I also liked
the adjustability. On the downside I think that the laces and the large
coverage make them a little hot on summer rides where other more open
designs seem like they would be a little cooler. This is not supposed
to be a product test or evaluation of a particular type or manufacturer.
The real question is:
Do they work? Before I bought braces,
while riding, there would be times where I would feel my knee pop or
twist. I could usually finish out the day, but when I went to unload
my bike that evening, I would be sore and hobbling around. The morning
after, I would be really sore and have trouble getting dressed and out
the door to work. After I bought braces,
there were significantly less instances of popping or twisting, but
when they did occur, it was usually on a pretty good get-off that may
have been much worse. The biggest epiphany came after riding, while
unloading the bike or the next morning when going to work. There was
little or no soreness. This tells me that the severity of injury,
while riding, has been lessened. For me, this is well worth the price.
They have greatly increased my confidence by relieving the stress and
worry of injury.
One caveat I will add
is that I have not totally ignored my doctor’s advice. I have made an
effort to loose weight and increase my conditioning. I believe these
have also been factors in the health of my knees. As I said before,
you will have to make your own decision whether knee braces are for
you. As for me, I am kicking myself for not using them sooner.
Club Ride at the Terry Farm in September
Rick and Joe Terry
have invited the club down for a ride on their farm over the weekend
of September 17. There is riding
available for all skill levels and plenty of riding for the kids. Primitive camping will be available. Make your plans to attend! This
will be a great time for all. Contact
Rick at 986-0936 or Joe at 988-4379.
Thanks Rick and Joe
for sponsoring the ride at your farm!
Upcoming Events
September
10-11: LBL 200 Dual Sport (AMA)
September
17: Club Ride at the Terry Farm…Contact
Joe Terry
AMA sanctioned
rides require AMA membership. (www.AMADirectlink.com)
The Ride
to be hosted by Russ Townsend at Durhamtown GA has been postponed to
a later date…more news to follow!
Club Notes
·
The next club meeting
will be Thursday, August 18 at Time Warp Tea Room at 7:30 pm.
Come early to enjoy food and company.
·
The 2005 Volunteer
Directory is available. Please
contact Anthony if you want one or if you have corrections to submit.
Hardcopies are available at the club meetings.
·
Cool Website:
www.pattyterry.smugmug.com
Vintage racing and other moto stuff!
Need those articles from members.
Write ups about favorite rides, maintenance tips, bike setup
tips…anything. Send them in and see your name in print!
Classifieds
Submit
you’re ads to Anthony by the second Wednesday of each month. Ads must be submitted each month or they will
be deleted.
Steve Lafon (856-856-5635) 2000
Gas Gas 200XC lots of good stuff on this one. $3700
Remember
to submit any articles or anything else you want to see in the newsletter
to Anthony as early as possible. I
will put whatever is sent to me in the next available newsletter.
Thanks
and see you at the meeting. Anthony |
