On August 28, 2017, Neal Fleenor took one step forward, and 20 vertical feet later, he was squatting on the ground looking up at the platform he had just dropped from. “I had been testing out a new lanyard on a zip line that failed on me when I stepped off the platform and the left ankle shattered on impact.” The impact shattered the bottom of his tibia. He also fractured his left first rib and got a L4 vertebrae compression fracture, but those were “relatively minor” compared to what happened to the ankle.
Three surgeries and four months later, Neal was able to start bearing weight again on his leg and begin physical therapy. The muscles in his leg had pretty much turned to jelly by then, so the road to gaining strength and mobility was going to take many months. He could start sitting on a bike again and spin the pedals, but there was no way he could do that safely outside without the real risk of falling over.
Finding Zwift
Neal’s path to riding his bike again took a positive turn when he was visiting a good friend who owned a local bike shop. “He showed me the shop’s line of direct drive trainers and an online application I had never heard of before, Zwift.”
It all looked pretty phenomenal to him – to be able to stay inside on his bike and ride in a virtual world with a device that kept the ride experience very realistic. (Not that he was capable of doing any of that yet. But at least he had that opportunity.) And it gave him a path to returning to riding his bike.
From Chinbanger to OG Replacement Parts
“To qualify for the name, OG Replacement Parts, I needed replacement parts.” His fall also damaged his knees, and he had a partial right knee replacement in the fall of 2021 and then a total ankle replacement (the fifth surgery on the left ankle) in December 2023. “I came up with the name myself, having switched it from Chinbanger, which was created after I flipped over my bike and smacked my chin into a concrete sidewalk.”
Plugging Into the Community
Neal is grateful for what Zwift and the community of riders have given him over the past eight years – the ability to ride his bike again. For the first year, he just did solo rides, but then discovered groups like DIRT, TBR, Ascenders, BMTR, HERD, PACK, ZSun, REVO, and quite a few others.
For group workouts, Squadra Castelli is his all-time favorite. Their sessions are on Mondays and Wednesdays during his lunchtime, and geared a lot toward preparing for sportive events like the L’Etape du Tour de France (more about that one just down a bit).
“My wife, Ellen, also joined Zwift when COVID hit and our fitness center had to close for a short time.” Their trainers are set up side by side, which makes their rides really fun and exciting, “especially when we get to shouting encouraging words to each other and laugh at our mistyped group messages.”
Ellen does a lot of group rides with BMTR, DIRT, and SROZ. You can typically find Neal on a group ride during the weekdays and working as a sweeper or yellow beacon leader for the TBR Sunday FunDay group ride and sweeping for the BMTR Misfits ride on Mondays. “You know you have been on a group ride with me when you see the messages that my Siri sends, which typically have nothing to do with what I told Siri to send.”
He has also returned to racing outside and inside with the DIRT team. On Tuesdays, he races the ZRL league with DIRT EMEA in the C division and also races the Thursday WTRL TTT with the Down n’ DIRTy team.
“An unexpected benefit to joining Zwift and riding in group events is meeting and riding with some of the Zwifters my wife and I have gotten to know over these past years.” He’s gone on weekend rides, and they’ve hosted several friends for riding on the 2015 UCI Championships race course in Richmond (the real Richmond) and eating at Bottoms Up Pizza.
L’Etape du Tour de France 2026
“Recently, my 17-year-old brain (the same one that is responsible for me getting those replacement parts) had a great idea – I should sign up to do the L’Etape du Tour de France amateur race this July.” It is the stage 20 route, with 105.6 miles (170 km) of road and 17,700 feet (5400 m) of elevation.
So you just might find Neal spinning his pedals a lot on Zwift, working on the miles and hill climbing in preparation, while sending group messages that may make you say, “Did he REALLY mean to say that”?
“Oh, and by the way,” Neal reveals in a final email to me, “OG stands for Old Guy.”
Thanks Neal for sharing your story. And we think you’re irritable… oops! We mean irreplaceable! Ride on!
Follow Neal at: O G Replacement Parts
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