As a small boy in his native Argentina, Sergio Cardinali shared the dream of children around the world – a gleaming new bicycle. After his family moved to Louisville’s Fern Creek area when Sergio was 12, he continued to settle for riding on other kids’ bikes until, finally, he recalls, “I scraped together $10 and bought a pile of rust from a guy in the neighborhood. I took it apart, re-packed all the bearings with fresh grease, sanded it all down, and spray painted it gold. It wasn’t much, but it was mine and I loved it.”

The bike of his fantasies in those days was a Schwinn Orange Krate, designed to mimic the chopper-style motorcycles of the early 1970s. Today at age 50, Dr. Cardinali, who practices internal medicine with Norton Inpatient Care Specialists, is proud to own an Orange Krate, along with some 30 other select and even rare bicycles. His collection, like art, is kept in a gallery-like display in the home he shares with his wife Brandi, who enjoys cycling with her husband – sometimes on a bicycle built for two.

As Dr. Cardinali says, “I was inspired to collect bikes because of the elegant design of the bicycle and because it’s such a pure form of transportation that requires no energy. Cars on the other hand spend most of their energy moving the vehicle not the package.

“With the bike, the passenger is the engine. It’s the most efficient vehicle on the planet. It incorporates beautifully artistic designs, It’s light yet strong enough to hold the engine, the passenger. Bikes require Low power from human engines. It’s one of the strongest shapes, the double diamond bicycle frame. I want to find the most beautiful examples.

“It’s not a brand or vintage I look for, but the design. And Italians have a flair for the most wonderful bicycle designs and designers. Artistically, my favorite – and my latest addition – is a Carrera Phibra carbon fiber.  It’s made of black carbon fiber clear coated with white accents.

As Dr. Cardinali says, it is hard to pick a single favorite. “I love em all. To pick a single favorite would be like deciding between ice cream and steak.”

He says he has favorites in three categories: Steel traditional road racing, old cruisers and modern carbon fiber.

In the traditional road racing category, Dr. Cardinali’s first choice is a De Rosa Neo Primato, also Italian. It’s made of steel painted in honor of Eddie Merckx Faema team world championship – mainly red, with white on the seat tube and head tube. It features world championship rainbow stripes. The De Rosa features a classic Brooks leather saddle with Brooks Leather tape on the handlebar.

One of Dr. Cardinali’s favorites in the cruiser category is a Felt Scythe. “It’s kind of a bad boy bike that mimics a motorcycle chopper with long front fork and matte black. It has a meanness about it.”

Another favorite was manufactured for Harley Davidson. “They only made 1,000 of them. Most were pre-sold. Lance Armstrong has one.”

Among his favorites constructed of modern carbon fiber are the Colnago C-40, one of the breakthrough models made of carbon fiber, and the single piece Kestrel, designed by NASA engineers. “The Kestrel 500 SCI - solid white, no seat tube. Gorgeous.”

At 50 years of age, Dr. Cardinali tries to ride as often as his work will allow – at least two or three days a week. “I always loved cycling and bikes are beautiful; on the other hand soccer and running caused swelling and hurt. With bicycling, I get the cardiovascular benefit without the pain that running caused.

“It’s amazing. The beauty of the bike brings you to moments of bliss and suffering.  Another attraction for me is the pursuit those moments of perfection on the bike.”

Dr. Cardinali’s passion for cycling is shared by a new wave of enthusiasts, which is greater now than at any time since the early 1970s. It’s a trend that has the approval of physicians, who recommend cycling as moderate exercise that can help keep their patients fit at practically any age. And some of those doctors are taking the therapy they prescribe.

Dr. Kirk Grynwald is now racing – and winning – in three different competitive circuits. The latest of his many triumphs was in this summer’s national championship cross country event at Sun Valley, Idaho.

Dr. Grynwald says, “I never dreamed I’d be racing in three different circuits.” He’s won his share of cycling medals in recent years. Here are a few of the highlights:

-He won national championship, 40+ Category 3 in Sun Valley, ID this summer

-He was third in Category 2 age group, DINO (Indiana) mountain bike series

-He won Category 3 age group in the DINO mountain bike series in 2010

-He won Category 4 cyclocross age group in OVCX in 2010

-He had eight class wins last year in cyclocross, including one at USGP here in Louisville in 2010

On cycling for recreation and transportation

Aside from racing, Dr. Grynwald, an arm and hand surgeon with Norton Orthopaedic Care, enjoys mixing cycling with travel to destinations where he and his family can enjoy the sport.

“I like the idea of trips centered around great mountain biking. I’ve taken the bike with me to New Zealand twice, to Australia, to Idaho. I’ve ridden in the Mt. Tamalpais area north of San Francisco, one of the homes of mountain biking.”

A goal now is to see if we can reduce miles in cars as we increase the cycling miles.

“There needs to be some consistency of philosophy among doctors. If you’re an overweight person in a white coat you’re saying some contradictory things if you tell your patient to take Crestor to lower cholesterol.

“Honestly, if we’re really into health, we should back it up with our own behavior. Every doctor’s office should have cycling parking, especially if you’re serving the underprivileged. Why should we expect that everyone is driving to our office? There ought to be a way to get there by bike. It’s a practical consideration. We should help facilitate people using active transportation.”

Dr. Grynwald, has powerful encouragement for others who are considering getting into cycling. “Give it a chance. The bicycle is the most elegant and efficient machine ever created. One of the things I like is that it gets me outside to exercise. The change of scenery is stimulating for the mind. And there are many styles of cycling to fit your needs.”

If you don’t like the traffic, Dr. Grynwald suggests getting out in Louisville’s parks. “If you’re nervous about being around cars, there’s off-road mountain biking on trails. There’s cyclocross and the closed circuit. And if you’re worried about being away from your kids, the bike clubs are wonderful. In short track and cyclocross racing, my whole family gets involved.”

Worried about wearing spandex? Dr. Grynwald suggests the mountain bike scene, where it’s all about baggy shorts and tools in the hip pocket. “And there’s always commuting to work, which means wearing the clothes you wear all the time,” he said.

Dr. Grynwald’s prescription: “Buy a high-end bike and for a tenth of the cost of a car and you can reduce your cholesterol, lose weight, own a cool machine, and look better. And as gas costs go up it’s only going to become more attractive.”

Dr. John Larson isn’t earning medals on the race circuits, but he’s earned a rare distinction of his own recently. At age 60, he was recently recognized by the Louisville Bicycle Club for a lifetime achievement - recording 50,000 miles by bicycle.

Dr. Larson, a pediatrician of 33 years with Larson, Brough and Brockman Pediatrics, first joined the Louisville Bicycle Club back in 1989. “I was into it for about 10 years and really enjoyed it. I went for the yellow jersey and rode about 6,000 miles in one year in 1998.” He credits his rides with the bike club rides with enhancing his knowledge of his hometown.

“That’s the neat thing about the bike club. I’ve lived here all my life, but you don’t get to know the city until you get on a bike. I know the city and the surroundings better than I ever did before because of all these bike rides. We do them everywhere. We ride out in Oldham County and Bullitt County.”

Dr. Larson says he drifted away from cycling in favor of running for a decade or so. But when an injury stopped him he got back into cycling. “I had forgotten how much I loved it,” he said. “Unlike running, that made me feel good afterwards, cycling makes me feel good while I’m doing it”.

“I’ll preach to my patients about aerobic exercise. I tell them that it’s great that they participate in team sports like football and basketball, but they won’t be doing that when they’re 50 years old. So I encourage them to do something like biking, running or swimming that they can do for the rest of their lives.”

To me at the end of a workday it’s relaxing to exercise. Instead of watching a TV show, I like to get exercise.

Essentially, I practice what I preach. It’s not hard to do when you love it as I do.”