Aftermath: Reflections

Finally, I am starting to feel settled. It's been well over a week since I arrived in Toronto yet not even a day since I've finished unpacking, setting up my apartment, and generally, settling in to a new city I'm trying to call home. I'm still definitely in a transitional period, but things are calming down.

Nearly immediately upon my arrival, I locked my bike up in secure storage that my building provides and haven't looked at it since. I've had some friends ask if I wanted to go for a bike ride and likely gave them a look that should have made their heads explode. I've walked over an hour across the city to get somewhere instead of hopping on my bike for 10 minutes. Generally, I still have no desire to get back on that infernal/wonderful machine.

That said, this Wednesday, I will be cycling out to Oakville from Toronto (around 40km) with the Canadian GM of Celgene. Celgene has made a generous donation to the pedal and is coordinating the ride from Toronto to Oakville and a small ceremony/presentation at their offices in Oakville. In short... ready or not, we're back on the road soon!!

While we won't have final numbers until some time in October, I can let you know that fund raising has exceeded my expectations. With a huge push in donations upon my finish (were you guys waiting to give me a reward at the end?) and a couple of large contributions from companies and individuals, we are officially over the $35,000 goal and now knocking on the door of $50,000.

I can't even describe how grateful I am to everyone who helped me reach this mark and how much it means to the myeloma community. Considering that my initial plan was to ride from Calgary to Toronto to raise $3500, you can imagine how blown away I am to know that this ride really did make a difference. This unquestionably makes the fact that I still can't sit straight worth while.

I bicker and moan a lot, but I do miss the ol' girl. I'm curious to see what riding her for 40km without an extra 20-30kg of weight on my back tires will be like. Loaded or unloaded, it'll be good to get back on a more efficient mode of transportation. This whole walking business, while novel, is really becoming a slow, awkward means of travel.

Running however, I realized is not a better idea. I went out for a run on Thursday and learned the importance of cross training. I don't know entirely what muscles are used for cycling vs running, however I can tell you that they are not exactly the same. In fact, based on my experience, they appeared to be opposing each other. Thus, after building up massive muscles from cycling a "flight worthy distance", I felt like I was dragging a boulder behind me with each step forward. I only ran for about 7km, but was more exhausted than even my longest days on the bike and have legs that feel like stones still 2 days later.

Oh, and the beard is officially gone. It was a badge of honour which I wore with pride at the end of the cycle. However, after nearly a week in the hot city, it began to itch and I started to notice the wide birth people gave me while walking around the city. I'm now just another Joe, walking down the streets of a city of endless possibility.