MY 10th birthday present changed my life. It involved assembly and testing and a security conference.
My black Raleigh bike was the greatest thing I had ever seen. I remember a large room with a raised platform at one end.
My bike was standing there waiting and followed the time spent checking if the saddle was at the right height for my feet to touch the ground, they raised and lowered the handlebars until I was comfortable with the position, they screwed in a bell and a se He installed a light out front and I was ready to go: to the shops, to the lettuce patch, and, above all, to school. The freedom was intoxicating.
How could I have imagined cycling around the world while sitting in my room? This was a space-age thing, but today that’s exactly what’s happening: the virtual cycling experience is great news not only for the thrill of international computerized racing but also for your health. both physical and mental.
Basically, using special software like Zwift, you connect your bike to a laptop, a phone, Instagram, even Twitter, and follow a show on the screen.
As you pedal, the route opens up before you, you know the distance, altitude, rules and regulations in advance, and you may find yourself competing against professionals like Lance Armstrong or Mark Cavendish.
You pedal through the countryside, along the lakes, into the city, up the mountain and down the valley. The more you pedal, the faster you go and follow your virtual self on the screen: no traffic to deal with, no fans to take to the track; no matter what’s new highway code, this is safe cycling.
It has become an obsession for thousands, but it is also like being part of a family, there is rivalry and camaraderie, making new friends that you will rarely meet in person as they are from all over the world.
Being part of this global organization, Racing Without Borders (RWB) has helped men and women who are at a low point, especially during the last two years of lockdown, having support like this has brought people back from the brink of suicide. of alcohol addiction. and despair and for one man it has given focus to more than just his terminal cancer.
Richie Sheerin, a man from Derry, is 39 years old and is battling melanoma. Last Thursday he received an infusion of white blood cells from his brother Damián. He followed four years of treatment, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, relapses, hospital stays of up to three months, years of doctor appointments, a balancing act, working as an IT Agile Project Manager for PA Consulting in Health and Life Sciences and his family , his wife Lisa and their son Aedan, who is five years old and will receive a new bike for his sixth birthday.
Life was good come spring 2018: I was a fit man running marathons and 5Ks. He was active in Sean Dolan’s Gaelic Club playing and coaching children, but problems arose the day he dislocated his hip and the pain began to increase. A visit to the doctor and a blood test pointed to something serious.
“Tuesday March 28th was a normal morning. Lisa got a call from surgery, the doctor wanted to talk to me, he said the hospital had contacted me about my blood work and they wanted me in North West Cancer First thing I did at the center the next morning. He said they suspected myeloma. I went straight to Google, it was a bolt out of the blue to read that it was incurable bone marrow cancer.”
“We go to Bin 2018 and we go again in 2019”
This positive attitude led him back to his bike. “I was advised to stay off the bike in case I fell and suffered serious fractures, but my adviser didn’t say anything about riding the bike indoors where I could fall straight into the shower or bed.”
And so began his Mental Medicine.
“I spoke with ‘the gaffer’ at RoI, RWB founder Brian Donnelly, renewed my Zwift membership (an app for cyclists, runners and triathletes for indoor training) and started doing 20 minutes to see how it went, almost an hour. later I stopped, I felt invigorated. It was my virtual road to recovery.”
Despite this, the treatment continued. In November 2019, stem cells were collected and frozen, a near-lethal dose of chemotherapy called melphalan kills bone marrow, then the stem cells were infused back into her body.
“I was isolated for three weeks, I couldn’t see my son for the whole time I was there, I missed the day nursery started, that was very difficult mentally. We did video call though, thank goodness for technology. .
“The chemotherapy burned my mouth and throat so badly that I couldn’t even swallow or spit, no matter what I eat or drink, you get very sick before you get better. I came home for Christmas, back to my family.
“Aedan was the reminder I needed that life goes on and that we have to deal with our inner demons and pain and keep it away from the innocence of our young people.”
Richie’s fight continues…
…And also your virtual cycling world. Everything is voluntary, it only takes time and enthusiasm. As president, he created Racing Without Borders with 19 extremely successful racing teams and 4,400 Facebook members from around the world, but mostly based in Ireland, a management team with Michael Hailes as communications officer and Eleanor Gallagher looking after the female members. .
When it comes to mental medicine, it is something that Richie Sheerin recommends and he is an example of positive mental medicine and the challenge that life throws, but as he says, with his family and friends and RWB he is determined to keep pedaling.
Richie’s motto: “You are braver than you think, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
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