Bike to Barcelona
WPC 2019 in Kyoto was my first WPC Congress. The first of what will now be many. How did I feel coming from Australia to another country surrounded by people from all over the world, either providing support for, or living with, Parkinson’s Disease?
Having only attended the occasional seminar in Melbourne I really didn’t know what to expect, what I got was just amazing and before the Congress had even finished, I knew I had to be an Ambassador for the next Congress.
Call it fate, destiny, luck or just great timing, Day 1, first session sat next to Alison Anderson, later that day sat next to Rune Vethe, instant connections, getting similar benefits from cycling. Cycling wasn’t a choice for us it was a commitment for the rewards of pushing back against Parkinson’s. To use an Australian phrase “We got on like a house on fire”.
12 months later we catch up again as Ambassadors for WPC2023, wind the clock forward another 3 years and we finally get to meet in person again, in June, to ride together from the UK to Barcelona. For me to put that in perspective with something in Australia, it’s about the same as cycling from Brisbane in Queensland to Melbourne Victoria …….and then add on 200 extra kilometres ….. Wow, you certainly don’t see a lot of people doing that!!!
It’s like the dream ride I never dreamt about. A once in my lifetime opportunity and for me and the first time ever in any cycling event or challenge I’ve taken on, to be sharing the journey with anyone else, 20 others, many like myself travelling from different parts of the world, most living with Parkinson’s or the primary support person for their PwP in the ride.
Am I excited about this ride ….. I SURE AM!!! Am I nervous and a little worried about what might happen along the way with respect to Parkinson’s …. I SURE AM, it’s always the unknown!! But then being a little bit worried is a good thing, as for me, it means good training, planning, whatever it takes, so on Day I, worry, is replaced by, confident, in you are the best prepared.
We will all at some stage have to deal with some challenge’s that Parkinson’s drops on us, I think you must accept that as a given. What I know is we aren’t riding as 20 individuals, any challenge that a person faces will be a team challenge and the team will get through that. Celebrating pushing back against those challenges will be a team celebration. It might take some time to learn, but the positive traits that Parkinson’s brings into your life are things like respect, understanding, acceptance, inclusion, empathy. These are the things that make us a better person.
We might meet on Day 1 not knowing each other very well, but by Day 16 in Barcelona …………We will be “Bloody good mates”
Life’s good!!!
Some extra information about my cycling journey if you want to use any of it.
Before Parkinson’s I certainly wasn’t an athlete or doing any exercise. Pretty much living the social media beliefs of what is normal things to do for whatever age you are.
I only started cycling after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I had only ever ridden a bike in my teen years so after 40 years it was leaving all over again. I started by only being able to ride around 5klm 3 times a week and thought that was fantastic. But I knew I had to do more so set goals and dates to aim for.
The biggest hope was within a year being able to ride to work 30klm each day, then build up to also riding home after work. The reality was within 6 months I was cycling 60klm per day to and from work and 70 to 80klm rides on Saturday’s and Sundays or entering as many charity rides as I could find.
The challenges from Parkinson’s especially in the early days was a battle. My major symptoms made riding a normal road bike almost impossible to control and just plain dangerous. So, I started with a wide flat bar FAT bike, eventually progressing to Flat bar road bike and then standard road bike after been able to push back more and more against Parkinson’s.
I rode everyday rain, hail or shine my wife made me agree that I wouldn’t ride on days when it was around 40 degrees Celsius and never in a cyclone …hahaha
The most difficult and most challenging that you have absolutely no control over was the invisible Parkinson’s fatigue and it always came with a lot of pain. Never knew when it would kick in and how long it would last. On bad days when I woke up with it, just got on the bike and hope it would go away …… real soon. Some days it did, on others just roll the dice, always hoped it was gone for the ride home.
I always left home at 5am so I was at work around 6:30, well ahead of anyone else because on the bad days and you never knew when they would happen, I didn’t want anyone else to see me. Sometimes arrived totally exhausted and close to tears from the pain. Lots of times that ride is great and enjoyable, but sometimes Parkinson’s just must let you know it’s still there.
But you persist and it does get better, those tough days are long gone, on the odd occasions the fatigue arrives I’m now more accepting of it rather than fighting with it and just make whatever changes are required for as long as they are needed to get through it ……….. But never stop riding.
Geoff Constable - Melbourne, Australia
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Ideas and opinions expressed in this post reflect that of the author(s) solely. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the World Parkinson Coalition®