By Rich Brown
rbrown@joplinglobe.com
In 25 years of competitive bicycle riding, Scott Springer figures he has covered about 150,000 miles.
And despite a wreck in 2008 that left him with a ruptured disc, the 57-year-old Joplin man is still going strong, chalking up 7,000 to 8,000 miles a year. However, now his bike-riding goals center more on staying fit than competing against other top riders.
“Today when I talk about competitive, I mean I am competing against myself and the clock,” said Springer, who is a medical assistant and trainer at Olympic Fitness Center in Joplin.
He continues to keep in shape not only for riding his bike but, also, as a healthy standard of living. His daily workouts include cardio and stretching exercises, with emphasis on his legs, back and heart.
This year’s bike-riding goals include a shortened version of the Route 66 ride, which he went on in 2006 from California to Chicago, and the MS 150, a 150-mile race, which raises funds to fight multiple sclerosis. The Route 66 ride coming up in September will be from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.
The 2006 event marked the 80th anniversary of the ride. It covered 2,600 miles in 29 days, going through eight states and three time zones.
“It was the greatest challenge of my life,” said Springer, who recently returned from a medical mission to Haiti where he did physical therapy. “The first milestone was to get to Joplin at the distance of the Tour de France in the same number of days—2,100 miles in 21 days. We rode eight to 10 hours a day instead of like those riders in France riding four to five hours a day. However, they averaged 32 miles an hour where we averaged 13 to 15 miles an hour.”
Springer wore out two padded bike seats and two sets of gloves while encountering winds up to 40 miles an hour in all but a day and a half of the ride and went through rain and sleet in 24 of the 29 days.
“I lived on sustained energy malts and PayDay candy bars,” he said. “I would mix two malts at every rest stop and would do this three to four times a day. I believe that it gave me the extra to get’er done. You just rode, slept and ate for the 29 days.”
With all the stamina required by the riders, Springer said that it still paled in comparison to that required of the Tour de France riders.
“There is just a certain group of guys in this world who can do the Tour de France and races like that,” he said. “There is no gauge for these guys ... like Lance Armstrong, who you can put on a treadmill, cardio machine or whatever and he’s off the charts. Out of thousands and thousands of riders there is just this certain group that excels.”
Springer, who got on his first bike around 7 years old, has ridden in a number of races with his son, Stephen, 26, who began riding when he was 12 and continued for 10 years before hanging it up.
“We used to race in a thing called BAM (Bike Across Missouri) and it was one of the two toughest three-day races I have ever been in,” he said. “It was 600 miles and you had 14 check points and if you missed one by a certain time, that was it.”
One element that affects all bikers is the vulnerability to motor vehicles.
“I have been run off the road several times, such as someone passing on a narrow road with no shoulders,” he said. “I got hit by a truck several years ago when some guy came up on me and hit my back wheel. If drivers get too close, I have gone down into the grass to get out of their way.
“It is dangerous. If you ride long enough, you will go down. You will hit the pavement sometimes. We all know that, but we are going to do what we want to do.”
Springer, who has also kept in shape by running, has competed in seven marathons over the last 11 years.
Whatever the competition, the Joplin man uses common sense when biking today, understanding the body’s limits, especially during the process of aging.
“If I am in a situation where I am going to be devastated and not able to walk when I get done, I am not happy,” he said. “I want to be in good enough condition where I can finish and feel good.”
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Still trying to ‘get’er done’
Veteran Joplin bicyclist changes goals with age
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