PROFILES, from page 1 Wheeling dervish
By ROBERT FATURECHI Special to the Daily Press
Michael Closson spends his days tinkering with B2 stealth bombers, but in two weeks the 40-year-old Santa Monica resident may make his biggest splash on two wheels.
Closson, an engineer, plans on taking some time off from work to take part in the Arthritis Ride, a two-wheel trek from San Francisco to the Santa Monica pier.
“I’ve always wanted to ride a bike down the coast,” he said.
Closson hopes to draw attention to the widespread effects of arthritis, a condition he says is often overshadowed by cancer and AIDS causes.
“Arthritis, in general, affects 70 million (Americans), which is one in four people. I think it’s something that’s wide ranging, but doesn’t get the publicity of some other charities,” said Closson, who has already raised $2,600 for the cause.
Arthritis, second only to heart disease as a cause of work disability, results in painful swelling of the joints.
The Santa Monican’s connection with the debilitating condition is a personal one — Closson’s aunt, who recently died, suffered from arthritis and Closson himself has already begun to develop the condition in his hands and back.
Still, that won’t stop him from riding some 12 hours a day from the Bay Area to Santa Monica.
“It’s going to be the physical test of my life,” Closson said. “Just want to see if you could do something like that.”
Though Closson has little cycling experience, he’s confident that weeks of training have prepared him to keep up with the long-distance ride’s other 300 participants.
“The more I trained, the better I got and I thought I sort of reached a point I thought I could do this,” Closson said.
The coastal ride will be sure to offer a wide range of challenges. After riding most of the day, participants will stop at school soccer fields, baseball diamonds and state parks to set up camp.
“It’s a lot of riding, a lot of soreness. But at the same time, I think I’ll feel good about having done something good,” he said.
Closson, a Michigan native, moved to Santa Monica just a year ago to be closer to his girlfriend. Though Closson loves living so close to the beach, he said living in Santa Monica has taken some getting used to.
“In general, I like the people around here. But they wear the Uggs in the summer a little but too much for my taste,” Closson said.
The Daily Press sat down with the amateur cyclist recently at a local café. Here’s what he had to say: What made you decide to take on the Arthritis Ride?
I first heard about the AIDS ride — you’ve probably heard about that, right? Everyone’s heard of the AIDS ride. My friend was going to do that. She tried to get me to go along on to that, then I heard about this Arthritis ride, and my great aunt died of arthritis and I’ve got some arthritis myself, so it’s a little selfish. So I decided I’d do that one.
Have you been training? I’ve been trying, man, but it seems like everything’s been getting in my way. But I’m still going to do it. I just had an accident. I could gross you out with my bruises. A kid on a bike path totally cut me off and almost killed himself. I thought I broke my rib.
How do you train? The best thing to do is just ride as much as you can, training-wise. There’s a whole lot to learn about nutrition. This cycling is a real science. It’s all about this glycogen stuff in your muscles. You can’t deplete it. And the average person, when they work out hard for about two hours, that’s all they can do. You’ve got to eat the right food — carbohydrates, stuff that replace the stuff in your muscles and allows you to bicycle all day long.
Are you involved in lots of charities? I do the charity thing from time to time. I try to ride the Love Ride for muscular dystrophy, had a grandfather that died of that and my dad has that. But I really wanted to ride down the coast and it’s a lot less dangerous with a group... and I figured if I can do some good.
How’d you gather donations? They recommend you send letters out to just everybody you know. I didn’t do that. I know a lot of poor people, so I tried to weed those out of the picture. I’ve also got a lot of friends and family that are pretty generous, so mostly a bunch of $25, $50 donations. I got one $500 donation from my cousin. He’s pretty well-to-do. It was his mother who had the arthritis and died.
Have you always biked? This is sort of new to me. I’ve done it off and on like a lot of people, but long distance is new to me. It’s become a joy for me. I did the Tour de Palm Springs back in late spring and I really see why this is getting so popular. It’s a great way to sightsee. They say riding a motorcycle is the best way to sightsee. You don’t have a whole car around you. With a bicycle, you’re going a little bit slower, but you’re not going as slow as walking.
Are you getting anxious as the ride draws near?
I was initially. My friend did the AIDS ride with very little training and it just about killed her. She was on the bike for 10 or 12 hours a day. She was in the back with the guy who had AIDS and the guy who smoked all day, just smoking while he’s riding. I thought if she could do it...
How can others get involved with the artiritis cause?
I think with most charities, cash is the best. Arthritis people don’t need blankets, food, or anything like that.
Why should the Average Joe care about arthritis?
Everybody gets it at some point. It’s worse in others. I have it in my hands and my back from a lot of sports injuries. If it gets cold or wet, I’m only 40, but it already hurts a little bit. I could just imagine how much it affects the older people. Then there’s the rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 300,000 children.
How’s it going to feel finishing such a long ride?
I’ve been telling some people I might want to throw my bike off the pier at the end and never ride again. That’s my deep-est fear for this. This is the biggest charity thing I’ve ever done.
How do you like Santa Monica? I love it. I just live right here off the beach. I like the Promenade, it gets a little bit crowded these days. The city must be doing real good.
How about the people? They’re nice folks once you get to know them, but I come from a small town and I knew practically everyone in the town. Everybody says “Hi”‚ and they’re friendly, but in California everyone just walks by you. One out of 10 might smile or say “Hi”‚ but that’s just California. That’s probably the same way in any big city.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Arthritis Foundation can log on at www.arthritis.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.