Today’s ride was rather significant for me. For the first time since treatment, I made the ride up Mount Hamilton from the Fire Station. The last time I did the ride was back on June 20 – just as I was starting this blog. Since then I’ve been through 16 weeks of chemotherapy and two surgeries. I am thankful for the time I’ve already spent with the Living Strong Living Well program, as it certainly has helped me gain some of my strength back. I was clearly not as strong climbing today as I was back on June 20th, but this time I also wasn’t stopping at every corner to cry (rather I stopped frequently to drink).

After the first 30 minutes (and 2.8 km) I didn’t think I had any hope of making it to the top. But I stuck with it, and 2 hours later I made the last pedal strokes up to the Observatory (2.5 hours up, 35 minutes down).

What is also significant about this ride, is that I was doing it in part to celebrate being 3-months cancer free. Technically, the last bit of known cancer was removed from my body on December 17th, 2014 – which was confirmed with the pathology on December 29th. March 17th, the 3-month mark exactly – is Tuesday – also the day in which I have scheduled for my next (and hopefully last) surgery. So, I’m not going to be able to ride on Tuesday … and who knows how long it will take me to recover from this surgery, but this time I’m going into it strong!