Tales from the Lardbutt Peloton, August 26, 2005

Todd and Christy (Image credit: Greg Taylor)

Many people, including cyclists, have been affected by cancer. Through the hard work of researchers and charities, the necessary funds and treatment have been developed to much better deal with the disease, so that stories such as this one from Greg Taylor can end on a positive note.

But, most improbably, Christy wasn't scared off or totally eeked-out by Todd's obscure and geeky pre-ride rituals - rituals shared by cyclists everywhere. Christy liked Todd. In fact, after living with Todd for a while, Christy quickly became a true fan of the sport. After meeting Todd, the month of July now meant only one thing - the Tour. In terms of name recognition, 'Lance' went from being the company that makes those stale cellophane-wrapped peanut butter crackers that you buy in airport vending machines to the best bike racer on the planet. Summer evenings at home were spent on the couch watching Tour stages on TV. Christy was even thoughtful enough to send Todd text messages on his cell phone with the stage results while he was away at work, especially if Lance was in yellow.

The month of July was once again spent watching the Tour. This year's Tour, however, was a bit different. Rather than sitting on the couch and rooting for Lance, Christy set up an old bike on a stationary trainer in front of the television set. Even though she was still recovering from the chemo and the surgery, Christy decided that this year's Tour was going to have an extra rider in it - her. So when Lance was on his bike, Christy was on hers, 3,500 miles away. Together, they kicked ass. As the Discovery Team's tenth rider, Christy and the boys romped to an impressive team time trial win. In the mountains, Christy traded pulls with Popovych and Hincapie as they towed Lance into the race lead. And by the time that the Tour finally rolled into Paris, Christy had definitely earned a share of the credit for keeping Lance in the yellow jersey.

Here comes the happy ending part of this story. Twelve months have passed since she started her treatment, and the doctors say that her tests look fine and that Christy is pretty much good to go. To celebrate, Todd bought Christy a bike - a sweet Specialized Dolce - and he's been taking her out on rides to learn the ropes. They started slow, but going slow allowed Todd to teach Christy all of the little things that cyclists need to know. Important stuff like shifting, drafting, and blowing snot-rockets out of your nostrils.

Christy has worked her way up from not being able to get off of the couch without assistance to a Todd-guided 45 hilly miles on her Specialized. She'll need that nice new bike and those miles under her saddle this October when Todd and Christy line up for the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Ride for the Roses in Austin, Texas. See, she's gone from being a cancer patient to being a cancer survivor and cyclist, just like her second favourite rider, Lance Armstrong.

Christy is raising money to sponsor cancer research as a member of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Peloton Project. You can help her raise money by clicking on this link to the LAF website and making a donation before September 16, 2005. If just ten Cyclingnews.com readers click on her link and donate, I will fly to Austin for the Ride for the Roses and ride the 100-mile option myself. Big deal, you say? Well, how about this: I'll do those 100 miles on my fixed gear road bike.

I'm thinking of calling this the 'Leg Cramps for Cancer Challenge' because, given my current state of fitness, riding 100 miles anywhere on a fixed gear bike will be...stupid and painful. I fully expect that, at the end of what will undoubtedly be a very long day, my fellow riders will be treated to the sight of a large, tired, man on a bike limply flopping over like a trash bag full of tapioca, legs twitching uncontrollably as he crawls on all fours to the beer tent.