Dmitry Lunev: fixes, a track and a leg in the Ilizarov apparatus

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. A snapshot of the legs in front of the bike fit

   A full-length X-ray of the legs shows the real difference in limb length. It can be compensated with spacers under the spikes or insoles.

2. The difference in legs is compensated

   With a noticeable difference in the length of the legs, spacers under the sole help. Dmitry tried connecting rods of different lengths, but it's so hard to drive.

3. The bike spares the joints

   According to the orthopedist, after hip replacement, it is recommended to ride, and running with a shock load more often harms the knees.

4. Training gives an hour at a hundred

   A year of systematic training with volumes, intervals and nutrition improved Dmitry's time on the Tour de Selishchi by an hour.

5. Take food with you to Pskov — Novgorod

   The road through Porkhov is almost without cars and with good asphalt, but village shops are unreliable — water and food need to be transported.

6. Register in advance

   It is important for organizers of small races to understand the number of participants in advance: late registrations interfere with preparation.

Ilizarov's apparatus instead of the season

Dmitry has been living with an orthopedic problem since childhood: one leg was 9 cm shorter than the other. He is studying for a residency in orthopedic traumatology, and senior colleagues suggested combining study and treatment. He was given an Ilizarov device, and at the time of recording he was treated for the second month and lengthened his hip by 7 cm.

The method, Dmitry explains, is based on the fact that tissues under constant load are able to stretch by about a millimeter per day without harm to blood vessels and nerves. The rings of the apparatus are bred by tightening the nuts on the rods, the callus between them is stretched and then turns into a full-fledged bone. On top of it is a hexapod, which allows you to adjust the position in three planes. The needles go through the bone, but with regular dressings and treatment there is no inflammation. There are still about two months in the apparatus and rehabilitation of no less time ahead.

How Bicycle Racing Started

Dmitry's team timed the first race to coincide with the Tour de Selishchi of 2023 and held it the morning after — less than ten local fixers gathered, all tired. The community took the name from the manufacturer of Bicycle playing cards: the guys were going to play cards and borrowed a picture for the poster. Hence the proprietary mechanics of the trackros: instead of points, participants received cards — an ace for the first place, a king for the second, and so on — and after the race, several poker hands also influenced the final rating. Ilya remembers that he won this race for the only time in his life.

Both call the most successful the night criterion for the historical center of Veliky Novgorod: a circle of about one and a half kilometers with many sharp turns. There were up to twenty participants, and Ilya complains that many did not register in advance.

Fixed in Pskov and Novgorod

Dmitry became interested in fixing in Pskov, in the ninth grade, when he saw a guy on a stylish bike. At first I wanted to redo my grandfather's "Ural", but the guys from the skate party explained that there was no fix to assemble from it, and suggested what to look for. By 2016, the Pskov fix, according to him, was already dead once again, and for some time he was represented together with a friend. After moving to Novgorod to study, they were surprised at how developed the cycling movement was there, and in 2018 Dmitry bought himself a full-fledged fix.

There is a story connected with that bike on the legendary wooden bridge in Krechevitsy: the front wheel got stuck between the boards, and Dmitry hung from the bridge. The wheel in the workshops was advised to be thrown out, but the father bent it back, pinching it between the fence and concrete, and Dmitry rolled back three or four more seasons on it.

Tour de Selishchi, Tsar Grader and St. Petersburg

Dmitry participated in the Tour de Selishchi twice. In 2023, he and his friend rode in tracksuits and with belt bags and got caught in rain and hail. By 2024, he was already training — volumes, intervals, attention to nutrition — and improved his time by an hour, completing the hundred in less than three hours — and this in temperatures over 30 degrees. Both regret that the race is no longer held: for the residents of Novgorod, it was a home training track. Dmitry rode a fixed-gear bike with 28 mm slick tires at Tsar Grader last year, got stung by bees, rubbed his hands raw, and dropped out at the last refreshment point — and wants to close this unfinished business on a new bike.

There are more fixers in St. Petersburg, and parties for every taste. Dmitry has already managed to do several races there: a criterion with another team with a separate fixed score, a race with stickers, where you have to go as far as possible and return in an hour, and beer starts on the ski roller track. About twenty people come to the fixed races in St. Petersburg. The plans include fixed races and track races in the Leningrad region, fixed routes have already been explored. Ilya calls the guys from Bicycle to volunteer for the Tsar Grader.

Pskov region by bike

Dmitry advises the Pskov region as a place for cycling trips: you can settle in Pskov and ride short routes to Izborsk and Pechory, to monasteries and fortresses. In the south of the region there are the Pushkin Mountains with a relief that justifies the name and Pushkin villages, although the access to them along the highway on a section of about 50 km is not the most pleasant.

For fans of long distances there is a road from Pskov to Novgorod via Porkhov: good asphalt and almost zero traffic. Ilya also drove it at a time on a fix. There is only one problem — supply: village shops will not save, it is better to take food and water with you.

Track, road, and experiments with cranks

With an orthopaedic defect, Dmitry came to the track in the Leningrad Region and completed a season preparing for para-cycling. The shortening cannot be fully compensated, so he will likely be able to participate further. The track gave him new emotions after almost ten years on a bicycle, and his fixed-gear experience helped him quickly adapt to the bends. Switching from a fixed-gear to the road was also a revelation, but now he regrets not getting a gravel bike: it's easy to get out of St. Petersburg by train to the forest, while road training requires a trip of almost 20 km through traffic lights. In Novgorod, on the contrary, you find yourself outside the city after two kilometres.

Dmitry tried to compensate for the difference in leg length with cranks of different lengths: 140 mm on the left and 165 on the right. It was easier to ride in terms of power, but it was difficult to get used to. On the indoor trainer, his power output was sawtooth, and he wanted to check the difference between his legs with pedals with a power meter — he didn't have time before the operation. A coach on the track suggested that athletes in such cases use spacers under the sole.

What the orthopedist advises cyclists

For an accurate bike fit, Dmitry suggests doing a telerentgenogram — a full-length foot shot from the foot to the pelvis, stitched from three frames. One-time irradiation is safe, and the picture shows a real difference in the length of the limbs, which can be compensated by spacers for spikes, soles or orthopedic insoles.

In 2025, Dmitry performed hundreds of endoprosthetics surgeries, mainly knee ones. According to compulsory medical insurance, such an operation is performed free of charge according to a quota, but it is sometimes expected for a year or two; one stay in the hospital costs about 150 thousand rubles for a fee, and a prosthesis costs from 300 thousand. For joints, a bicycle, according to him, is much better than running: after replacing the hip joint, it is even recommended to ride, and the shock loads of running hit the menisci and ligaments.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Acquaintance
2. 01:36Why is the guest in the hospital
3. 03:15The first Bicycle and trackross races with maps
4. 05:44Fix in Pskov and move to Novgorod
5. 08:14A wheel on a bridge in Krechevitsy
6. 10:43Racing in St. Petersburg
7. 13:09The Night Criterion in Novgorod
8. 14:47Tsar Grader and volunteers
9. 15:35Tour de Selishchi
10. 23:47Where to go in Pskov region
11. 26:56Sprints on machines
12. 29:30Track and para-cycling
13. 31:09How the Ilizarov apparatus works
14. 35:10Endoprostheses and running against a bicycle
15. 39:11Guest bicycles and connecting rods of different lengths

Mentioned in this episode

Bicycle · Tour de Selishchi · Tsar Grader · Zwift · Ilizarov apparatus