Dr John M

cardiac electrophysiologist, cyclist, learner

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • About the Blog
      • General Cardiology and Internal Medicine
    • Six Reasons why I Blog
    • What’s Electrophysiology?
    • ICD/Pacemaker
    • Electrophysiology Column / Medscape
    • Contact
  • Afib
    • AFib
    • AF in Athletes
    • The best tool to treat AF
    • Know your CHADS-VASC Score
    • 3 non-warfarin anticoagulants
    • AF ablation
      • 13 things to know about AF
      • Atrial Fib Ablation -2012 Update
      • Gender-Spec results of AF ablation
    • Female gender and stroke risk in AF
    • My AF Story
  • Heart Healthy
    • Heart Disease (by DrJohnM)
    • Healthy Living
    • Exercise
    • Nutrition
    • inflammation
  • Policy
    • Policy
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Reform
  • Doctoring
    • Doctoring
    • Knowledge
    • Reflection
    • General Medicine
      • Does your cholesterol level matter?
    • General Cardiolgy – Medicine
      • What is a normal heart rate?
      • Cardiology/Internal Med
      • General Cardiology
      • Athletic heart
        • The ECG of an athlete
      • General Medicine
      • Stroke
      • Statins
  • Cycling
    • DrJohnM on Cycling
    • How I became a bike racer
    • My top 12 Likes on Cycling
    • Cyclocross
      • A CX-Primer
    • Fitness
    • Athletic heart
    • The Mysterious Athletic Heart

CW: Forgiveness and heart-health…at the Tour de France?

July 13, 2011 By Dr John

Few sporting events cause more inflammation than the Tour de France. It’s long, fast, tiring, and stressful. These facts are not news, and neither are crashes.

By now, many of you have seen or heard that crashes have marred the first week of this year’s Tour. Even before the first day in the mountains, potential winners have been forced to abandon from injuries sustained in these accidents. This includes my personal favorite, Chris Horner (@hornerakg).

Of course, Tour de France crashes are not unusual, but rarely are they as vivid as the one involving cyclists Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain), Johnny Hoogerland (Belgium) and an inattentive motorist from French TV.

As you can see, when a car collides with a cyclist, the cyclist loses. Mr Flecha was thrown onto the pavement, while young Mr Hoogerland was catapulted into a barb-wire fence.

I refrained from posting the pictures of Mr Hoogerland immediately after the crash because, along with the horrific lacerations on his legs was his completely exposed gluteus muscles—an image that might not past muster in my Southeastern state. The anatomically inclined can click the Google images.

I am not posting this video to point out the plight of cyclists struck by cars. I will not rant about how distracted drivers threaten cyclists. Nor am I writing about the coolness of how both riders got back on their bikes (Mr Hoogerland changed his shorts first) and finished the stage, though this was plenty cool.

What struck me was the heart-healthiness of Mr Hoogerland’s response after being both robbed of a chance at glory, and badly injured by the blatant inconsideration of another human. Remember readers; this is a twenty-something young man who, when struck, was rotating pulls in a Tour de France breakaway that was destined to make it to the finish.

He should have been inflamed. Angry. Incensed, even.  No one would have faulted him for lashing out at the race organizers or the driver of the car.

But instead he offered this…

“We can still be happy that we’re alive. It’s horrible. I can blame everyone but I don’t think anyone does this sort of thing on purpose. I think the people in the car will have a very big guilty feeling and they will surely apologize to me and Flecha,”

And…

“Nobody can be blamed for this. It’s a horrible accident and I was in it. But I said to Flecha, We’re still alive and Wouter Weylandt died in a crash.”  (Ed note: Mr Weylandt, a Belgian cyclist, was killed in a crash two months previous in the the Tour of Italy.)

Cycling is getting more and more hectic which is also nice because more and more people are watching but, for sure, some people will say that it may be like this because… well, I can’t explain it – but I think most people feel very, very bad about this sort of thing.”

Mr Hoogerland did something very inspiring.

He forgave.

He moved on.

He saw the positive.

All this, my friends, is a glorious example of a very heart-healthy way to manage an inflammatory situation.

We cannot eliminate stress from our lives. To even try would be futile; smart people would call such effort, maladaptive. What we can do however, like this young professional bike racer did, was manage stress in a constructive and “good-hearted” manner.

These kinds of stories are why I am a fan of sports, and people, and of course, bike racing.

JMM

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Reddit

Related posts:

  1. Could twenty-somethings “tip” heart disease?
  2. CW: Living on the far right of the (heart-health) curve
  3. Cycling Wed: My favorite TDF story so far…
  4. Could this be the most interesting Tour yet…

Filed Under: Cycling Wed, Healthy Living, inflammation Tagged With: Bike vs Auto, Johnny Hoogerland, Stress, Tour De France

John Mandrola, MD

Welcome, Enjoy, Interact. john-mandrola I am a cardiac electrophysiologist practicing in Louisville KY. I am also a husband to a palliative care doctor, a father, a bike racer, and a regular columnist at theHeart.org | Medscape

My First Book is Now Available…

Email Newsletter

Search the Site

Categories

Find me on theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology

  • Electrophysiology commentary on Medscape/Cardiology

Mandrola on Medscape

  • My Medscape column on general medical matters

For patients...Educational posts

  • 13 things to know about Atrial Fibrillation — 2014
  • A new cure of AF
  • Adding a new verb to doctoring: To deprescribe is to do a lot
  • AF ablation — 2015 A Cautionary Note
  • AF Ablation in 2012–An easier journey?
  • Atrial Flutter — 15 facts you may want to know.
  • Benign PVCs: A heart rhythm doctor’s approach.
  • Caution with early Cardioversion
  • Decisions of 2 low-risk cases of PAF
  • Defining success in AF ablation in 2014
  • Four commonly asked questions on AF ablation
  • Inflammation and AF — Get off the gas
  • Ten things to expect after AF ablation
  • The medical decsion as a gamble
  • The most important verb in our health crisis
  • Wellness Requires Ownership

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.