05/12/2008

The Most Unlikely Factory Tour Ever Words by guest contributor Dave Tolnai

It seems like a “Factory Tour” article should write itself. Throw up a picture or two of a bike on a testing machine. Write about the dogs running all over the place and the quirky guy who doesn’t shower and lives in the back of the factory. If you’re lucky, break a scoop on a prototype bike that the public hasn’t seen yet. This standard approach to mountain bike journalism is fine, but I wanted to come at this visit with a slightly different perspective and hopefully stumble upon something more substantial. This proved to be a lot easier in theory than in execution.

So as my Santa Cruz factory tour rolled into beers at the pub and as beers at the pub rolled into late night mayhem, I was left with a horrible feeling that my “interesting story” had eluded me and that I was left with nothing to write about. I was making plans to go back and snap some pictures of the testing machine when a story 10 times more interesting slapped me right in the face.

My visit had begun with a standard walk through the Santa Cruz compound. As we wandered about, I saw all sorts of ramps, lifts and modifications to allow for wheelchair access. It seemed odd to me that a building that will probably collapse in the next major earthquake (the compound is part of a 100 year old olive cannery) has been fitted with the latest in wheelchair access equipment.

If you ride a Santa Cruz, chances are that these guys are in some way responsible for your safety
... Late night Engineering meeting with Joe Graney and Eric Lindsley.

I figured it must just be some aggressive California law. The place was so crammed with crap in that in one case, a wheelchair lift served as the bottom step to a staircase. One guy was practically building bikes on top of it. It all seemed really odd to me. We rolled on into the test lab and it was there that I was first introduced to Eric.

Eric is Santa Cruz's test engineer. By my math, he's 28 years old. He's worked for Santa Cruz since graduating from Washington State University in July 2003. In January 2004, Eric was riding home from work with his girlfriend. They were riding across a railway trestle near the Santa Cruz Boardwalk when his girlfriend called for him to stop because her chain had fallen off. Eric stopped, put his foot down and turned. As he turned, he lost his footing and fell 20' onto a concrete support below.

A passer-by quickly phoned 911 and an elaborate rescue took place to get Eric immobilized, down from the support, across the water, onto the beach and into a waiting ambulance. From there, he was quickly transferred into a helicopter and sent to San Jose. He had a broken back, bruises around his vertebrae, several broken ribs and a severe skull fracture.

He woke up from his coma nine days after the accident to find that five of his vertebrae had been fused together and that doctors had installed a titanium support structure in his back. Eric is paralyzed from approximately his belly button down.

So, Eric is in a wheelchair. I don't know about you, but I don't know very many people that are in wheelchairs. The very nature of the situation makes me feel uncomfortable. I've been known to offend people at the best of times and the fear that I would say something inappropriate made me afraid to say anything. I was worried that the nice Santa Cruz people would throw me out on my face after writing "Offensive Moron" on my forehead in permanent marker. But this situation was pretty much the opposite.

Eric will make you feel uncomfortable. But Eric will also challenge your preconceptions.

Society teaches us to ignore whatever it is about people that makes them different. That we should pretend that it isn't there. From bad breath to dandruff to missing limbs, it's not really nice to point out something that makes somebody "different". Eric makes that impossible.

He often refers to himself as crippled. He proudly tells stories of how uncomfortable he can make people feel and about how ridiculous some reactions are to his situation. He sets a tone that makes it all right to ask him about things and learn a bit about what it's like to be in a wheelchair.

Eric accomplishes the goals of the PC Revolution by being the most un-PC person you could ever imagine. If he wasn't in a wheelchair he would be lynched and strung up in the town square for making offensive comments about "the disabled." Yet in a few hours, he educated me and three of my friends and changed our attitudes for the better.

Chillin’ at Sea Otter

Even more amazing is the response to his accident that Eric has received. I can only hope that if I ever go through a similar situation, the company that I work for and the friends that I have will respond the same way. Santa Cruz has done a pretty fantastic job (in my opinion and in Eric's) of supporting Eric through his ordeal.

Even though he'd only been with Santa Cruz for six months at the time of his accident, all 45 employees regularly made the trek to San Jose to visit him during his rehabilitation. As mentioned above, the company has made every effort possible to provide Eric with access to all points of the sprawling Santa Cruz compound. And, most importantly, they've been helping Eric sort out a DH rig for himself.

At the time of my visit, Eric was trying to get a four-wheel DH bike. Santa Cruz was quick to step in with offers to front money for the bike while Eric figured out a way to pay for it. Amazingly enough, the biggest issue in Eric getting a bike had nothing to do with money and everything to do with difficulty in finding somebody able to supply him with one. Enter Parapros Racing.

Eric’s Rig

To say Eric was excited about his new DH bike is a bit of an understatement. He got it just in time for Sea Otter. And it makes that bike you're riding look like a piece of crap. I'll copy Eric's description straight out of his e-mail:

"The bike has 12" of travel at all four corners via four Fox DHX coil-overs courtesy of Fox Racing Shox. A set of four 26" Mag 30s laced up to Sun Ringle hubs and wrapped in 2.5" Kenda Nevegals keeps her railing around corners. Pilot inputs are made via ODI grips, Easton Monkey Lite bars, Race Face Stem, Chris King headset, and a custom tie-rod linkage. In the binder department, she sports a set of four four-piston Hope calipers hooked up to two Hope master cylinders. This gives me one lever for the front and one for the rear. Strap me into the custom made Parapros seat, tow me to the top of the hill behind a four-wheeler, and let 'er RIP!"

Eric’s Rig - closeups

Eric also had nothing but good things to say about Parapros Racing. The principles, Brad and Sal, worked for over a week straight to get him something to roll in time for Sea Otter. Since then, they've taken it back some final tweaks and he should very shortly have his finished ride. I imagine you'll be able to catch him on it every now and then up at Whistler this summer. [Watch out, Stacy - it sounds like you may have some competition on your hands. - Ed.]

I can only wish that I could cope with adversity as well as Eric. I can only hope that no matter what, I will maintain my sense of humour like Eric has. His attitude about things is…incredible. He raced through his rehabilitation in three weeks; doctors figure it should have taken three to six months.

He left the hospital on a Thursday roughly one month after his accident and he was back at work the following Monday. We can all learn something from him.

And if you ever see him, you should take him out for a beer, ask him some questions and let him make fun of you for a while. Especially all you young kids out there. You could probably learn the most.

- Dave Tolnai