Health and Cycling
 

I'd like to relate a story to you people since I see you each commending yourselves for riding.

When I was racing sailboats many years ago in the late 70's before I came back to riding bicycles I used to exercise by jogging on one of the paths that ran along San Francisco bay. I could BARELY do 2 miles and it would kill my legs.

One day as I was jogging along I saw this old guy, maybe 60, riding an old fat tire Schwinn curved top tube type of bike on the adjacent bike trail. He was riding VERY slowly. Although I was a pitifully slow runner because of the pain it always gave me, I easily overtook and passed him.

I noted that he was really old looking. His skin was sagging and grey and the look in his eye was that hypnotize stare that I saw in cancer wards so many times.

After I got out a mile and started back I passed him going in opposite directions. He REALLY looked bad.

After a couple of days of this I slowed up as I caught up to him and almost walking I jogged along with him and asked him some questions.

It turned out that he had advanced emphasema and the doctors had given him 6 months or less to live. He said he wasn't going without a fight and had stoppd smoking and gotten this Schwinn from somewhere.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months he started looking better and better. His skin started turning flesh colored again. His eyes were losing that 1000 yard stare. He was able to ride along at the same speed I could jog.

Eventually I got into cycling and started spending more and more of my time on the bike and less and less on the sailboats. Eventually I hardly ever got out to that path anymore.

About 10 years later I was riding along near where that path was and there was a guy on a bike about a half mile ahead. It took a little to catch up to him and sure enough - it turned out to be our dead-in-6-month guy. He looked good. He had a SMILE on his face. His complexion was normal and the wrinkles had mostly disappeared. He had beaten the odds if not the final cost of his years of smoking.

But if it wasn't for his fighting attitude and that bicycle he'd have been in his grave long since. He's probably dead now. He'd be in his late 70's I expect if he was still alive. But he got something that was lost back again.

So when you think that you're accomplishing something (or not) by riding your bike 5 or 6 or 10 miles and you're looking for a little compliment that isn't forthcoming: If you feel like you're not a REAL(tm) bicycle rider because others can ride a century without whining just remember - you cycle for yourself and not for someone else.

You're the one that has to take a proactive position on your own health and if someone else laughs that you're not good enough so what? Haven't we all been guilty of being blockheads now and again?

I never was able to run a 9 second 100. I could never even pole vault 10'. But I found that as long as I persisted I kept getting better and better at cycling.

And you can too.

Wow... nice post. Thanks!

Something to understand.. Just hope that I can. Bravo! Always must ask myself what is important! Great post.

One of the best posts ever. Thanks for sharing the wonderful story.

GREAT post! I love these inspirational stories. Let's here more!

+1 with all above.....would be cool to gather all together in a sticky folder and collect them as they come in. Where's the Archivist? This stuff actually works. Late last fall looping home with 25 miles to go in a drizzle and headwind--and feeling sorry for myself--I thought of Will Dehne training for his regional ride-- and chippered up. Same could be said for jppe's weekly centuries recently, SkyDiver's training with a broken neck, Lady Hawk, and so many others be they a challenging 10 miles or 100. Definitely keep such stories coming.

Makes me want to go get on the bike now.

Don't give up on him yet. Great post and very encouraging.

I hope to use my bike to get around til i'm 95 then i'll a probably use a motorized wheelchair for the next 30 years. Of course, that assumes I don't get runover by a careless driver :D

You should submit that story to someone for publishing, a local newspaper, Bicycling Magazine...Someone. It's truly inspiring.

With permission I would love to submit this to a local club so they can print your story in their newspaper
C200

Preach it, brother, preach it. That was an excellent post. I've saved it as a text file so I can reread it every few months.

Great story, Tom.

The interview with John Sinibaldi in "Bike For Life" was also inspirational. John is, unfortunately, no longer with this, but here's a guy who was winning titles in his 90's. Amazing.

Nice story, but the contrarian in me says "Why not share this with the under 50 folks?" Is emphysema only a condition of the over 50 set? Don't a lot of smokers get emphysema?

Well, if you posted it in the Road Forum, you'd get a bunch of nasty replies from some real cynical people.

I really liked the story. I ride because I like it AND I believe that I'll have a healthier and, hopefully, longer lifetime.

Not necessarily nasty because they are ill-willed and indifferent...most of them are youngish and simply aren't touched yet by mortality and incapacitation. Their lungs still work, their knees are indestructible, and so on. Additional years will grow them up and bring the empathy and awareness they now may lack.
Consider them disabled...by youth and inexperience.

There are a lot of folks out here similar to the older gent you speak off...........

Someone I'm very familiar with.....10years ago in April walked into DR's office not really complaining but mentioned to Doc of shortness of breath, Doc said lets have a look and listen, Ah...lets put you on the EKG steup,....AH there is a problem may be serious........lets get you to a cardiologist......3 days later did the whole stress test thing and the final step was the tread mill, DR started the machine shut it down after perhaps a minute...said Please have a seat I'll be back in a few minutes.........she returned said I have spoken with your DR and we have arranged to have you admitted to the ER immediately and I and my ass't will ride with you to the ER......they did...and she waited until the patient was in a bed with a nitro IV drip in the arm. 2 days later on the deck in the Operating room.....one artery 98% blocked another 75% blocked
day later in the recovery room his life changed
2 weeks out of the hospital was walking around the block...a month later on the bike.. was way to soon to be back riding but he felt so good and was a bit of a wiz azz made a spectacular recovery...HMO said new policy.......we pay for gym m'ship so he joined mental and physical condition was so improved the DR began to call him his poster person for bypass recovery and wished all his patients could/would do the same
Asked both DRs about doing a sev months trip riding in Europe both said anything you want to do you can. oh and by the way the test results indicate your body is about 10 years younger that the years indicate, whatever you are doing keep it going
Took bike and gear and rode for almost 4 months in Europe met the nicest folks, had the greatest time ever, returned home in Sept of that year still pumped from riding......loaded bikes and gear in truk and headed to California got to SF rode in the city for several days then headed across the BIG BRIDGE, up that blasted hill at the north end....... had to walk part of it.....watched the hawks soaring, and rode down the other side to almost the waters edge, back into SF and the next day started the ride down the PCH
Spent 11 glorious days riding one of the most beautiful rides in the world, got all the way down to Malibu

Rode the bike longer and kept increasing the load in his back pak as he walked.....then a long buried idea surfaced........that mountain in Africa about which he had dreamed for 20 years to climb became a possiblility when a friend returned and said he had climbed it..........Yeh go and do it,,,,DR and cardioligist both agreed anything he wanted to do was within his capability
So one Sunday afternoon with 2 bags full of gear he left for Africa to climb Kilimanjaro
Had the most patient of guides to lead him.........and one step at a time sometimes the steps were only 6 inches apart but 5 days later at 11PM they started the final climb. 6 1/2 hours later they reached the highest point in Africa, 19345 feet,for a few moments he was standing higher on this earth than anyone else from the Andes in SO America and Denali in Alaska to the high Himalayas in Asia
Could see forever in all directions

Have a dream?......been ill?.......open the front door to the rest of your life
I rather think the old gentleman mentioned in the earlier post did just that

I did it........will never be the same again

When next you see someone bent a bit or walking slowly, smile and offer some encouragement, walk a short while with that person....you may be very pleasantly surprised

You could easily share this with whomever you might like.

Starting Thanksgiving or so 2002 I noticed a feeling in my throat similar to the allergy effects I get in the spring. I also noticed a slight shortness in breath. January 2003 I went to cardiologist and after catherization was told I had three blockages in my heart, 98% for two and 90% for the third. These blockages were described by my Dr. as being in the back of the heart and he suggested trying diet, exercise and medication because if stents did not work the operation would be major as would the recovery. My weight was 280 (I am 5'11" and my high was 296) my cholesterol was not that bad, low 200's but my triglycerides were in the 400's and had been tested in the 600's some period before.
Now what I consider the rest of the story - I have modified what I eat some but not that radical, I try to only eat at meal time. I started Lipitor, Plavix and Toprol. But also I was sent to heart rehab where I became familiar with my heart rate and the goal of increasing my conditioning so I could do more in the target heart range. I started slow and built on that, I built up my endurance in the gym and after 18 mos. the big break happened and I started riding outside. I am 60 years old and last October rode and completed my first 100 mile ride. (I am addicted to riding and do pound away at it, did 100K on my own Saturday) Last night I weighed 174 last night and by the end of 2003 my cholesterol was in the 90's my ldl 64 (my HDL is low) and best of all my Triglycerides have consitantly been in the 70's. A book I read and put a lot of faith in says training has but limited benefit and I am certain that is the quality of the life we have here, I in hindsight credit exercise (and a wife who allows me the time to pursue it) with giving me that quality. I credit BICYCLING with giving me a way to know I will keep on keeping on with the exercise that gives me this improved quality.

^^^ Fabulous!

Yeah, but that might mean I'd actually have to start a thread.

I don't think so. Maybe a few folks would react that way but certainly a small minority. It just seems to me that if the OP wanted to share his story he could've reached more people by posting it under "General Cycling Discussion".

We officially invite all General Cycling Forum readers to read the 50+ Forum anytime they might like! :D

Thank you for sharing these inspirational stories. It made my reading of this forum for this year worthwhile. I wouldn't mind hearing more of these stories.

Riding a bike since 1990 and in 99 I had a chest pain- Phoned for ambulance----------3 months later a bypass. Similar story but I would like to point out that it is not only the unfit that have some serious problems. The point that really comes to me though is that when I had my problem I had the fitness to pull me through it. Cycling has done that for me, but Jogging- Gym work- walking- jogging etc. can all help in the physical fitness that you need when a major medical problem arises.

Yesterday a friend of mine went in for an operation on Bowel Cancer and he is not fit. He's younger than me but he has pulled through and and subject to checkups he is fine. The other thing he did not have was the mental capacity to deal with his problem. He has now as his daughter saw him this morning and he has asked to get details of the local Gym. That is off his own back as he has survived one scare and wants to be better prepared for the next.

Nice story, thanks for writing it! maybe you can talk to him sometime again if you see him.