Originally Posted by
Kerlenbach
Here's why I ride:
In 2003 at age 47 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I have four children, with the oldest just entering college when I was diagnosed. After chemo, surgery, more chemo, more surgery, a relapse with cancer coming back in my liver (which is very bad news), more surgery and more chemo, and several thousand miles on my bike, I will beat the 30% five-year survival rate. And I got to walk my daughter down the aisle a year ago. Cycling, along with good doctors, strong medicine, and good luck, saved my life.
Pretty much my experience (rectal cancer dx at 51) except for the recurrence part (knock on wood). I put 1,000 miles on the bike pre-op during radiation and chemo and another 1K through post-op chemo. I'm crediting the bike with making everything that much easier--not to say that any of it was easy. It was the one thing I could do that would make me feel consistently good.