We all know the expression—
“You’ve got to get back on the horse!”Well, sometimes it’s a horse, but it my case it was a bike.
It always starts the same way: a tickle in your throat, a nagging runny nose, an annoying case of the sneezes and before you know it, you are the bearer of a miserable cold. Almost without fail this happens at quite possibly the most inconvenient time: when you are gearing up for a big ride or your next goal is right upon you. This year, I have become all too familiar with getting back on that bike.
On New Year’s Day, I had a sore throat that I just couldn’t shake.A couple of rounds of antibiotics to treat “strep throat” with no avail,led to a series of tests culminating with a biopsy of a nodule on my thyroid.
My doctor called me in on April 1st—yes really, April Fool’s Day, to inform me that I had thyroid cancer. This led to an interesting post on Facebook followed by at least two dozen calls and text messages to confirm my prank, or lack thereof. I was referred to MD Anderson in Houston and comforted by several people who have had thyroid cancer that if I had to have cancer, this was the best one to get. A couple weeks later I learned that I would require surgery to remove the half of my thyroid that contained the cancerous nodule.
The weekend following my diagnosis, I was riding with SCCC (Space City Cycling Club) doing my MS 150 training. Myteammates were riding with me that morning and at our pit stop I dropped the news that the doctors had confirmed it was cancer. All three of them were extremely apologetic and said how sorry they were that I was going to have to miss the MS 150.
Huh? Miss the MS 150?
That thought hadn’t crossed my mind.
After consulting my doctors, I was given the green light to ride and I certainly wasn’t going to miss out on it; surgery was scheduled for two weeks after the MS 150. The week prior to the surgery I had turned in my best pace with my SCCC ride and felt as strong as ever. I assured everyone that Saturday afternoon I would see them all in a week—two weeks tops.
As it turns out, having your neck opened up really takes a lot out of you and it took me over a month to even think about getting back on the bike. By the end of May I purchased and road bike and was finally ready to ride; I loved my hybrid but I was ready for some “speed”.
As luck would have it, the first weekend of June I got sick with a nasty cold that turned into bronchitis, sidelining me for another two weeks. After pacing for weeks in the garage looking at my road bike, I finally decided that was it: I was riding that Saturday. When I arrived for the SCCC ride I was welcomed with lots of cheers and hugs, but quickly those who knew me, knew I was sick I was congested and could barely breathe. I had been running a fever off and on for a few days, and was in no condition to be on a bike. I made it 20 miles into the28 mile ride and had to call my mother and father in law to come be SAG support and pick me up. It would be another ten days before I got back on the bike.
Despite these challenges I am determined to regain my pre-surgery strength and keep moving forward with my cycling goals. After the MS 150, I vowed that during the hot summer I was going to do at least one ride a month in the hills, and I have kept to that. On one particular miserably hot July day, I reached a personal milestone for distance cycled in a single day: 56 miles. At the end of the ride I had no feeling in my right hand and I couldn’t have put all of my fingers together to save my life. Sidelined for another week, I had a nerve test determined I had some UInar nerve damage in my right hand. I’ve worked on some things since to gained improvement in my hand, which has helped although it’s never quite gotten back to normal.
My sights are now set on ride in October, “Bike Around the Bay”: a 180-mile, two-day course that circles the entire Galveston Bay. This is my chance for personal redemption of my “missed” completion of the MS 150. Although this ride will be flat with the exception of the bridges, it’s going to be one breeze-filled ride with the wind off the bay. I have to think of it as one rest area at a time; keep going until you there. Don’t let bumps in the road get in your way, find a way to go around them and keep working. I’m just going to get back on that bike, and keep pedaling!