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Joy of Medina County Magazine | September 2019
HEALTHY TRAILS
GEMS
Cycling Love Affair
Flying Free
by Robert Soroky
by Kent Von Der Vellen
“I want to ride my bicycle!” The late Freddie Mercury, legendary front man of the rock band Queen, crooned this line in “Bicycle Race,” a song inspired by the 1978 Tour de France. The song became a hit, and the cycling community gobbled it up. Of course, bicycles did not really need Queen's help as, incredibly, they have been spinning underneath us since 1817. Now, more than 200 years later, cycling continues to thrive thanks to advocacy groups, comprehensive cycling laws, an ever-growing number of bike paths and trails, and a continued emphasis on health and wellness. Why the love affair with our two-wheeled friends, and what are the benefits of riding them? Riding a bike is an easy, low-impact activity. As we age, our bodies get cranky and take profound glee in protesting the stress we subject them to. Many runners have begrudgingly visited a local bike shop confessing that their knees cannot take the strain anymore, yet they desperately want to stay active. As a low-impact, non-weight bearing activity, biking can provide an awesome workout, indoors or out, without the painful wear and tear on joints. Health.com ranks cycling as one of the best low-impact invigorating workouts for weight loss. For me, the best reason to ride a bike is that it is ageless. Many start riding bikes before they can even put sentences together, flying around the neighborhood on tricycles at the ripe, carefree age of 3. As we got older, the bikes got bigger, the rides got longer, and the falls, unfortunately, more dramatic. But even when we reach the geriatric period of our lives, we can still hop on that saddle (now the size of a small couch) and enjoy pedaling the great outdoors. Sure, the speeds are slower and the distances shorter, but our minds can still recapture the feeling of that adventurous, carefree 3-year-old. Come back next month to learn about the different bike types and which one best fits your needs.
Little did Laura Jordan realize when she moved to Medina County in the ‘80s that she would end up founding one of the few raptor recovery centers in Ohio. First, Jordan’s love of animals led her to be a founding member of the Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Then she le the Medina SPCA in 1985 and changed her focus to helping sick and injured animals such as deer, raccoons and other common wildlife. Through her rescue work, Jordan discovered that injured raptors were not getting care. Since raptors are protected by federal law, anyone who treats or cares for them must have a permit. Jordan traveled to Lorain County and the University of Minnesota to complete the required training, then founded the Medina County Raptor Center in Spencer. The center treats 50 to 100 raptors yearly, plus more than double that in songbirds. The most common raptors the center aids are grey horned and screech owls, red tail and Cooper’s hawks, American kestrels, and turkey vultures. Some of the injuries the center sees are caused by cars, electrocution, poisoning, or shootings. In the spring, the center sees many young birds. Young raptors stay until fall and are released before winter to increase their survival rate. In the fall, the center finds birds suffering from the West Nile Virus, which is devastating to birds and has been a problem in Medina County for the last 20 years. The center also provides more than 90 outreach programs annually to educate people about bird behavior and to give them a chance to observe raptors up close. The Medina County Raptor Center is a 501c3 nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers, college interns, and local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troop members. Its funding comes from donations which pay for food, veterinarian visits, bandages, medicine, and equipment. It costs more than $25,000 a year just to feed the raptors. To learn more about the center or to make a donation, go to https://bit.ly/2MNwA8m or https://bit.ly/2M4TEjr .
Robert Soroky is a lifelong cyclist who regularly participates in long-distance charity rides and is manager of the Century Cycles Medina location. Contact Soroky at robert@centurycycles.com to suggest column topics, for further information or to chat about bikes.
Kent Von Der Vellen is a 20-year Medina resident. He has been a volunteer for various youth sports teams, is a member of the Medina Lions club, and, with his wife, Kim, founded the Jakob F. Von Der Vellen Memorial Foundation. Contact Von Der Vellen by e-mailing von106@gmail.com or by calling 330-421-0863. Learn what other area non-profits need by visiting Giving Hearts at JoyofMedinaCounty.com
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