Why my 5-week cycling journey to the World Parkinson Congress (WPC) has taken over 40 years
I have always loved cycling. Well, not cycling, exactly … cycle travel. I was hooked from my very first trip with my big Sister. We went to tour Vermont for a week in the Summer before Grade 12. After completing a rigorous test ride—which, thanks to my barely functioning bicycle, I failed miserably—she simply grinned and pronounced me fit for travel anyway, and we were off. No training, no experience, and barely a functioning bicycle, but we had youth and freedom, and that was enough.
My big Sister and I have been on at least one cycling trip almost every year since that first one, and our list of companions has grown to include my wife, all three of my sisters, their families, and several beloved friends. We have kept up this tradition for over 40 years, despite work obligations, and all of life's obligations and challenges.
It was perfect.
But life, as it always does, had other plans.
Then came Early Onset Parkinson’s, the challenge that I never saw coming. It wasn't too long after my diagnosis at the age of 48 that my cycling abilities started to strip away. It was not a quick process - it took a few years - but it was unrelenting. One day I came to realize that it had become distressingly difficult to get my quarrelsome legs to work cooperatively. It was time to move beyond cycling and settle into a new sedentary life.
And then something wonderful happened. First, an intervention from my caring Neurologist convinced me that it didn't have to end. If I had the will, she had drug and physical therapies that could help restore my cycling.
But as I hesitated to consider if I had the wherewithal to undertake such a challenge, my communities interceded with just the push that I needed. Next thing you know, I was back in the saddle. Actually, not back - it was better than that - I was in the best cycling condition of my life. Not the strongest or fastest I have ever been, but certainly the most committed.
Now I cycle 4-5 days a week. I cycle with family, friends, and even strangers. I cycle as hard as I can. It is my medicine, and it is working.
Three years ago, I fell in with a wonderful group of international PD riders that were staging an audacious trip from England to Barcelona to attend the World Parkinson Congress. It was a revelation. It confirmed for me the benefits of strenuous cycling in the health and wellness of people living with Parkinson's, and the need to help others to get there.
The route to the WPC had some long, steep hills and many strenuous hours under a hot sun, but I really don't remember much of that. What I do remember is the friendships that surrounded me on our journey, and the sweet enthusiasm of the WPC organizers and attendees on our arrival. I wish you could experience this for yourself.
Oh, wait, you can.
I hope you experience the same spirit of community and the medicine of movement here at the WPC.
Enjoy the conference.
Steve Iseman (Canada) is the organizer for the the Pedal to Phoenix Team Route 66.
Ideas and opinions expressed in this post reflect that of the author(s) solely. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the World Parkinson Coalition®