Another time, while in Washington, a bicyclist was riding downhill and spotted a mountain lion at the bottom of the hill. Fortunately, he says another bicyclist was close behind, and the animal was scared off.
Dr. Weinblatt experienced one serious accident just three blocks from his house. The front tire of his bike hit the rear tire of the bicyclist in front of him. He flew over the handlebars and dislocated his elbow. Still, he says, after bicycling thousands of miles over the past 26 years, he can’t complain.
In June, the group plans on bicycling from Jackson Hole, Wyo., through the northeast portion of Yellowstone and, then, along Beartooth Highway, a 68-mile byway nearly 11,000 feet in elevation.
A Clear Mind
“Medicine is stressful,” says Dr. Weinblatt, adding that riding relaxes him, clears his mind and enables him to think about clinical situations and research work. “When you get to go around the country on a bike, you realize how blessed you are as a rheumatologist.”
Carol Patton, a freelance writer based in Las Vegas, Nev., writes the Rheum after 5 column for The Rheumatologist.
