On January 1, 2019, I went for a 32-mile bike ride determined to ride every single day in 2019 at least 10 miles (16.6 km) in celebration of my own 10th Cancerversary which would come in November. Fittingly, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" kept me from riding my bike. I was, after all, a career postal employee, but most years were spent inside at the USPS headquarters in Washington, D.C. Nor did illness or travel.
Like Forrest Gump, I rode. And rode. For the first time, I rode 10,000 miles in one year. December 31 came and I made it. A year of daily rides. Then the next day, I rode because it was New Year's Day. And rode again on January 2. And my inner Forrest kept on going. Another 10,000-mile year in 2020 and a record 366 days ridden. And January 1, 2021, brought a new year and a new challenge. And now, on Sept. 26, I will have ridden 1,000 consecutive days of at least 10 miles each and outside. No indoor trainer rides and escaping snow and ice for me.
During this time I have ridden in 17 states plus the District of Columbia. In addition to the U.S., I rode in seven other countries including a 95-mile four-country ride: Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, and France. I got my six-year-old granddaughter up on two wheels and took my 10 and 12-year-old grandsons on their first 30-mile ride. I saw two black bears, one in Virginia and one in Pennsylvania. I dodged alligators in Shark Valley in the Everglades.
In Finland, I saw a cyclist and caught her to ask if I could ride with her. She told me, yes, that she was on a 60-mile ride home, but I could tag along. I lasted about nine miles, tongue hanging out and drenched in sweat while she was nose-breathing. It turned out my riding partner was a Finnish track and triathlete star and record-holder, Astrid Snäll. (She is very nice, BTW.)
In Luxembourg, I rode shoulder to shoulder with Andy and Fränk Schleck, and in Germany sat on the wheel of Jens Voigt, all the time wanting to say "shut up legs" while praying I didn't have a touch of wheels and take him down. All three of those guys have won stages of the Tour de France with Andy winning the Tour in 2010. I was in Luxembourg with Roosters Racing. Our motto is Do, Ride, Live which is short for Do Good, Ride Hard, Live Well. Before the trip in 2019, I raised $2000 for the MS-Society and the Texas4000.
In the U.S. I attended Phil Gaimon's Cookie Gran Fondo in California. We first met in 2009 when he was an amateur rider and had just won the Mount Washington Auto Road Hillclimb. My surgeon had suggested that I could delay cancer treatment and go ride "that big mountain." When I finished that day the reality hit that my cancer journey was waiting for me. I was 54. Phil's dad was battling cancer and Phil and I just talked for a while. I suspect his dad was my age. Phil went on to be a pro cyclist and I went on to be cancer-free. Hid dad would die from cancer.
Back home in Virginia, I rode with Ben King (Home Roads RVA) and Jeremiah Bishop (Jeremiah's Alpine Loop Gran Fondo). By ride I mean we were at the front starting line together for the roll out.
I went to Ohio and met Paul Sullenberger in 2019. A retired cop from Piqua, Ohio, I actually met him in 2018 but have no memory of it. I had been riding on an empty trail next to the Great Miami River where Paul found me unconscious still clipped into my pedals and wearing my helmet. He called 911. Later I requested a copy of the call and I can be heard talking to him while he was on the phone with 911. But I have no memory of it. Or of him. But I do remember our visit, and ride, in 2019.
Snow and cold were annoying and challenging during this streak. I crashed once in the snow but it was my fault. Determined to stay in the neighborhood where the plows were running, I got bored and headed out. I came to a road that was unplowed with 4-5" of snow. Rather than do an out-and-back ride, I opted to do a loop ride and headed DOWN the unplowed street. I thought I could stay in a track left by a car. But it had gone halfway down the hill and turned into a driveway. My bike kept going. Even snow-covered asphalt hurts and leaves road rash.
I rode the morning I was to fly to Europe. The following day I arrived in Finland and was visiting with my hosts until I finally interrupted and excused them to go to bed while I would go for a ride. It was 10:30 p.m. - because, Finland.
Riding every day was more problematic returning from Europe. With weather delays on the east coast, I would not have gotten home until midnight. My bike was packed but the airport hotel in Zurich had some city bikes to borrow. I got up at 5:30 a.m., grabbed one, and rode for 10.5 miles. And then caught my flight.
I battled some illness in 2019. When I was sick I would do the minimum miles (10) and call it quits. Ill-advised perhaps, but I was on a streak. I had a bronchial infection when I returned from Europe. My doctor asked me if I was exhausted (I looked like crap). I showed her a photo of the Tremola Road over St. Gotthard Pass in Switzerland and told her that I rode up that road, 8-miles of cobblestones on Sunday then just went 24 hours without sleep. She said, "I'll take that as a yes."
And a handful of times I rode at night. I went out at 12:30 a.m. one morning to beat the forecast of all-day freezing rain.
I did not do any cancer charity rides in 2020 but instead had stem caps made for my bike and honored someone every month as I rode. They were in HONOR: Teddy, Glenn, Abigail, Patricia, Cindi and in MEMORY: Kay, Jacob, Alex, Jamie, Brad, Larry, and Janice.
This will be my second cancer charity event of 2021. And third, if you include that my wife and I provided a lunch stop for the Texas4000 Smokey Mountains Route in July and I rode with some of the University of Texas students on the Skyline Drive near Front Royal, Va.
I missed my traditional cancer and MS support rides last year. Each has a different focus but there is something healing about riding with others with a common goal. I don't know of another cycling event that supports prostate cancer. And I have supported Jeremiah Bishop's Alpine Loop Gran Fondo since its beginning in 2011.
Last year the event went virtual. I won a polka-dot jersey for my age group mainly because lots of people did not participate and the "competition" was limited to Strava segments. I captured a number of Strava KOMs but those were generally of the sprint or sprint/climb variety. I suck at climbing.
2020 Alpine Loop Gran Fondo Virtual Awards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQkxu6COy4
Start at 21:40 to hear the CEO of the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project, Robert Warren Hess, say nice things about me.
Despite sucking at climbing, I returned last month to New Hampshire for the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb. Although it was my eighth race up that mountain, it was the first time since 2014 when I said, "never again." But I said "never again" after each race from 2008-2013.
The photo on this page was taken on August 21, 2021, at the top of Mt. Washington. It is me climbing to the summit on the 22% finishing stretch which comes after 7.6 miles of a 12% grade brutal climb. I can tell you that it is harder to climb in your 60s than in your 50s.
With no cancer rides last year, I need to double my effort this year. I am supporting the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project which is part of Cancer Journeys Foundation. We men suck at taking care of our health. I never had a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test done until I was 48. Our fitness center at work offered it. My number was high for my age but I soon forgot about it. Five years later, age 53, I had a PSA blood draw at my doctor's office and the rise in the number from the original test was alarming. That prompted my doctor's at GWU and Johns Hopkins to perform a biopsy which confirmed the cancer. I had surgery at Johns Hopkins in Nov. 2009.
Larry, mentioned above, was losing his battle while I was stating my journey. We are forever linked as each November on social media his family is remembering him while I want to celebrate. This summer, Jean Fogelberg, shared her memoirs of her life with Dan Fogelberg, (yes, the singer). Dan's battle spurred me on to do more. There but for the grace of God, go I. Why am I here?
So on September 26, God-willing, I will be riding a "Century" (100 miles) in the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo in Harrisonburg, Va. That will be my 1,000th consecutive day of riding at least 10 miles (outdoors). My goal is to finish this three-year effort having ridden 31,488 miles which represents the number of men who died in 2018 (U.S., per CDC).
Thank you for reading. If you can support my effort it would be most appreciated. Nothing big. I'm doing the heavy lifting riding in snow, rain, heat, and at night. If one donated a penny per day for 1,000 consecutive days of riding it would be $10. If your budget can handle 5 cents it would be $50. A dime per day would be $100. Any amount helps. And if you are somehow inspired by what this old cyclist is doing and want to support another cause, that is cool too. You're a good human and we need more of those.
Go for a ride. A walk. A run. A swim. Say a prayer. Eat a cookie.
I have never understood why I am a survivor but others battled harder yet lost their battles. But the least I can do is to help others. I can ride (it doesn't hurt) and I can ask for your support (it doesn't hurt). So I do. And never give up.
#doridelive #shutuplegs #fightingcancereverymile
Thanks!
Barry Sherry
Woodbridge, Va
Cancer Survivor, Class of '09