Articles about Theracycle

Pedaling with a purpose; Newton man recovers from neck injury and rescues an ailing exercise bicycle business

The MetroWest Daily News
Sunday August 11, 2002
Vol. 4, No. 283
Community Newspaper Company
www.metrowestdailynews.com

By Greg Turner

Peter Blumenthal found his life’s work after recovering from a nearly fatal accident.

In the summer of 1999, as he trained for an Iron Man triathlon, he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle about a mile from his Newton home. “I broke my neck, almost killed myself,” said Blumenthal, now 57. “It was a very serious injury. I shattered what’s called the hanging bone.”

The force of the blow- Blumenthal’s face hit the trunk of the car, snapping his head backward- fractured the second cervical vertebrae, just below the skull. The C-2 vertebra is what breaks when a person is hanged by a rope.

Doctors told Blumenthal he was lucky to live and would be luckier still to walk again. He recovered in six months.

“When I left the hospital (the surgeon) told me that someone must be watching over me, that I have a greater purpose in life,” Blumenthal said.

Although Blumenthal got back on the bike again, taking part in a triathlon the following summer, it took more than a year, including a long but temporary pilgrimage of sorts of Jerusalem to find that purpose.

“I never really did find out what I was going to do with the rest of my life during that year (in Israel), but it was still a very eventful time,” he said.

Last summer, a business acquaintance approached Blumenthal, telling him about an old but struggling Rhode Island Company that made exercise bicycles.

In 1932 a New York City mechanical engineer started the company, Exercycle, after designing a motor-driven stationary bicycle for his wife, who had a neuromuscular disorder. The machine caught on with fitness enthusiasts, celebrities, politicians and athletes and tens of thousands of them were sold.

“It proved so successful that he made it into a company,” Blumenthal said. “It became the exercise bicycle of choice.”

Exercycle, however, lost ground eventually to the myriad other companies making exercise equipment, from bikes to treadmills to stair-climbing contraptions.

The Exercycle plant, which had moved to Woonsocket, R.I., ceased operations for six months last year- until Blumenthal bought it with a mission in mind. He relocated it to a much smaller facility in Franklin, trimmed the work force, and outsourced parts of the manufacturing process to cut costs.

“They had the same machinery that they had almost 70 years ago,” he said. “They were actually machining every part that went into the bicycles.”

The company had already developed what Blumenthal considers a flagship product with untapped potential: the Theracycle, an exercise bicycle designed specifically for people with disabilities.

“The previous owner, when talking to some of his customers, found out that a lot of people had bought the bike not because it was targeted to them, but because they had disabilities and they had no other way to exercise. And other exercise equipment didn’t help them.

“So he saw a real opportunity and he started devising a whole new line, a new concept, a bicycle that was totally made and targeted just for the disability market,” Blumenthal said. “There’s a huge need for people with disabilities to get exercise, and unfortunately there’s nothing out there to help them.”

Blumenthal was hardly new to running a business. He co-founded Frame King, expanding the picture-framing company from a single store at Framingham’s Trolley Square to a 15-store chain. After a 15-year run, he sold it in 1998 to a group of investors with national aspirations who changed the name to Corners Picture Framing Superstore.

“I wasn’t planning on doing (the sale).. I got the proverbial offer you can’t refuse,” he said. “At that time there was a lot of money around, a lot of investors.”

Blumenthal has poured part of the proceeds from the Frame King sale into Exercycle as his enthusiasm for the company’s product grows.

The main advantage of Theracycle over regular stationary bikes? “You have to have the strength and endurance to push the pedals, “ Blumenthal said of typical exercise bikes. “We have a motor, and the motor pushes the pedals.”

He explained that people with debilitating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s require an exercise machine that helps them exercise. Electronic sensors in the Theracycle gauge the user’s effort, with the motor taking over as needed.

“Even if the pedal is turning you, you’re getting great range of motion for your legs. You increase your mobility and flexibility, it gives your muscles a workout, which in turn increases your blood flow, which in turn gets your circulation going throughout your body,” Blumenthal said. “You’re not getting an aerobic workout but it does raise your heart rate.”

“It’s important for healthy people to get exercise and unfortunately not enough people get exercise, but it’s vital for people who are disabled to get exercise because they basically have a sedentary lifestyle,” he said.

The machine has an emergency cord that users can pull to quickly stop the motor if they are tired or in danger of falling. A computer times workouts and measures speed, and an extra-large padded seat makes it easy to climb on and off. The bike’s handlebars move back and forth during operation providing upper-body motion.

Blumenthal also believes the bike would be good for people with acute injuries such as knee or hip replacement surgery. “It’s vital for people to start getting some range of motion right away, and this bike is perfect for people who have those types of issues,” he said.

Five people work at the Franklin facility, and two are quadriplegics who use the Theracycle to maintain flexibility and mobility in their legs, according to Blumenthal. One employee rides the bike before going to bed to stop nocturnal muscle spasms.

The Theracycle costs $3,000. Blumenthal acknowledges the company’s sales are very slow but sees a vast market that the company is still trying to reach through its Web site and advertising in publications aimed at people with disabilities.

Exercycle currently sells only to individual customers but expects to branch out and find business with nursing homes and rehabilitation centers, Blumenthal said.

“When I was in the hospital thinking, when I knew I was going to live but there was the possibility I wasn’t going to be able to move anymore, one of the darkest moments was the potential realization that I wasn’t going to be able to exercise anymore. And my whole life is exercise,” said Blumenthal. “So I knew what (disabled) people felt like, and all of a sudden I saw, well, maybe this is my purpose.”

Back to Articles