John’s new ride

As expected, John Crandall didn’t remain immobile for long — wife Kathy reports that the old throttle jockey is rockin’ a motorized wheelchair. “As you can imagine, he’s aced it already!” she writes.

John is also enjoying plenty of physical and occupational therapy. Psychotherapy would seem like another must-have item, given his years in the bicycle business, but electroshock at this stage would probably be a bad idea. Just think of John rocketing around the sick bay, sparks shooting from his fingertips as he wheels the chair this way and that.

Kathy also tipped us to John’s room and phone numbers at Memorial (7652A and 365-2741, respectively). The rules are no visitors until after 5 pm. on weekdays so John can undergo therapy and catch some rest between sessions (weekends will be more flexible). I may try to pop by tomorrow and snap a pic for those of you from out of town.

In the meantime, I’ve spoken with John by phone and he sounds like — well, like John. He knows what he’s up against — “It’s going to be a really long rehab,” he concedes — but he’s already gotten a good, if painful, start on the long road home.

Happily, John has a great staff to keep an eye on the bottom line at Old Town Bike Shop while he gets himself back in the game. If you’re planning to spend any money on velo-toys in the near future, I recommend you spend at least some of your stimulus package there. You’ll be glad you did, and so will John.