Behnam RadToronto, ON
Have you ever ridden a bike?
It sounds fun when you are a kid or even once or twice riding it on a vacation or commuting short distances between work and home in the city. But I am talking about riding a bike for hours nonstop. At the beginning everything is good. Biking is pleasurable, but after 1 hour or more into the ride, your hands get tired, your fingers start tingling, you feel pain in your shoulders, the more you ride the more your legs burn. Worst of all the pains is that your butt hurts and the discomfort does not stop until you get off the bike.
Endurance bike riding is all about suffering, you cannot find any pleasure or fun in riding the bike. Riders are all obsessed with riding; they do it to reach their goals whether it is for fitness, the physical or mental challenge, winning a race, or doing it for a great charitable cause.
I got my first road bike when I was 18. It was a completely different experience for me. I was feeling free on the bike and I loved every moment. I kept riding for 4 years till school and job obligations didn’t leave much leisure time and I stopped riding until 3 years ago when I got a hybrid bike so I could ride it both in city and out on the road. When I got on my bike, I felt 18 again. Felt free like a bird.
I hope that you have never experienced the loss of a close family member. It is an awful, heartbreaking experience. One of those dark moments, that stays with you forever. My father was fit, he used to get up at 5am and head out for his daily run for kilometers and on the weekend he was off to mountains. He was a very experienced mountaineer. It all started for him after his first heart attack at age 42, and he decided to exercise regularly, started with walking and jogging, and ended up with running and mountaineering. His heart was so strong that he overcame two heart attacks while in the mountains. Here is his story on the 3rd heart attack “I was ahead of the group as usual and going up very good until I felt a rush of pain in my chest. Oh, that familiar pain. I could hardly breathe and felt dizzy. I lied down with my head toward the downhill so I can get blood to my head. I looked at the sky. It was beautiful and peaceful. It was quiet everywhere. I wasn’t feeling any pain, Am I at the finish line of my life? I heard some noises which were getting louder. Somebody was calling my name. It sounded familiar. My friends were catching up with me and laughing at me. they were telling me that I am getting old for mountains. I was alive. What a good feeling. I could see my family again. I got up slowly. There was no way I was going to let them beat me in the mountain. I started climbing up ….”
Unfortunately, the 4th heart attack happened while he was running early in the morning. This time he was overcome. I still can hear the sound of my aunt on the phone: “Stop looking for your dad, his body was found. He is ….”. It was a shock. After 8 years, I still have a vivid memory of all those moments.
Have you ever been so sick that you ended up in hospital or had to stay home for a week or two? What were you thinking at that moment? What was one thing you had in mind? The answer is “When I can feel no pain and be healthy again.”
I have had many injuries in my life while participating in different sports and have gone through two surgeries. I had a surgery on my eyes when I was 4 years old.
“Using glasses won’t help your son getting his vision back, let me do the surgery.” That was the only doctor who believed that surgery was the best choice although the risk was to go blind forever. I am sure my parents went through hell. My mother was with me all the time. I was surrounded by toys for distraction but there was one question in my head. “Can I see again?” I don’t know how many times I asked that question from my mom, but that was all I had on my mind as a kid. It is said that there is nothing worse than parents watching their kids suffering through pain. It is hard, harder than can be imagined.
I am getting to the last part on how I decided to join the National Riders.
Eric, a good friend of mine and my personal trainer sent the following text message on 29th of June. “Here is a challenge for you: www.searsnationalkidscancerride.com”
Eric always passes the good challenges to me, so I checked out the website. I was fascinated by the idea of riding from coast to coast in 16 days. I started watching more videos to learn more, the more I watched the less I thought of the actual ride. The message, the big cause, the kids, their families and their fight against cancer took me away. It was not about the ride any more, it was about raising awareness and helping kids. I have been sick when I was a kid and I know how it feels. I am not a parent but can feel what parents are going through watching their kids fighting against the cancer. I know what losing a loved one means and have sympathy for those who have lost family members because of cancer. It took me about two hours and I was up for the challenge to help kids and their families and show them that they are not alone in their journey and there are others who are willing to share the pain with them.
Riding a bike and living a life have one big difference, you live through your life for its experience and not for reaching a target; You bike to reach a target and it is not all about the experience. However, this ride removes that big difference, because I ride for both the experience of seeing the kids and their families and all the people who are willing to help and reaching my target to raise awareness and raise money. That is indeed awesome.
Riding a bike and living life have one thing in common. Forget all the suffering and pain you have been through today and leave that behind you. Bad memories won’t let you get on your bike or go on with your life. Forget the pain, focus on good memories, and stay positive through your ride.
Please donate your money or become a sponsor, join me on my journey, and let me ride for you. Let us give hope to kids and their families. Let us make a difference today because tomorrow is too late.
“You're happiest while you're making the greatest contribution.” Robert F. Kennedy
