Broken Neck to Broken Record

Posted December 5, 2007, 12:17 pm in Cycling by Growing Bolder


Two years ago, master cyclist Sandy Scott was racing toward his goal of winning the Florida Senior games time trials when he was involved in a horrible accident.

To avoid a person who stepped in front of his bike during the 10K time trial, he swerved suddenly, sending him flying over the handlebars and landing headfirst on the pavement.

He temporarily lost his memory and broke his C1 vertebrae.

But now, after a grueling journey to repair his shattered bones, he has shattered a state record.

The 67-year-old cycling stud tells Growing Bolder that he has just broken the state record for the 5K time trial and he even broke the record for the younger age group!

"I have now run the fastest time ever by someone over 60! It was my goal today, and I thought my efforts would be thwarted by the head wind on the outbound leg. I felt so strong, that I just took my poor body to hell and it paid off," Sandy crowed to us.

After the day was done, Sandy owned all three time trial records for the state of Florida in the 5K, 10K and 20K. In one of the races, he shaved 29 seconds off the record!

Sandy says breaking the records at the Florida State Time Trial Championship was the second goal he accomplished this month.

"I wanted to beat the reigning 5K national time trial champion in my age group. Well, I accomplished [that] when he showed up to compete at Ormond Beach three weeks ago. He was my so-called 60-second man -- starting 60 seconds before I did. I raced my butt off such that when he made the turnaround, he would see my grimacing face very close and hopefully be demoralized. Well, I kicked his butt, and then did it again in the ensuing road race."

Talk about Growing Bolder! And how's this for icing on the cake? Our friends at GeezerJock magazine have just awarded Sandy the Masters Athlete Comeback of the Year Award!

Broken neck to broken records? Not a bad year, Sandy. Way to go!

On the heels of his return to racing, Sandy stopped by the Growing Bolder Radio Show to tell us about his painful road back to recovery and explained his controversial decision to forgo surgery. Click the play button above to listen to the conversation.

Want to send Sandy a shout-out? Click here to check out his GrowingBolder.com profile page!


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