2017 Prologue

We've bought the bikes. We've set the date. Every ride we take is in some way a preparation for our dream of taking a year-long bike ride circumnavigating the United States.

But will Rob's health hold up? In 2010 he was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a rare lung disease that, even on medication, slows him down. His pulmonary specialist has forbidden him from engaging in anaerobic activity. That's when you get really out of breath while exercising. Like when you climb a really steep hill, carrying 30 or 40 pounds of gear.

And Rob has heart disease. In 2001 he had a stent put in for a partial blockage. In 2015 he had tachycardia so often that he went through a 5-hour ablation procedure. The doctor basically burned out the parts of his heart that were misfiring. That was before we went on a two-week tour of the Maine coast and countless times during that trip Rob raved about how wonderful he felt.

Even so, I had to stop and wait for him at the top of every hill.

As our dream of a year-long bike ride gets closer to reality, we realized that we'd better make sure it's really something we want to do. A two-week tour, the longest we've done together, probably isn't a true test. So this year, we planned to ride for six weeks, 2000 miles, to Montreal, Quebec City, around the Gaspee Peninsula, and home. The Gaspee has some killer hills.

Then, this past winter Rob landed in the hospital twice with a heart rate of 180 beats per minute that went on for hours - atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. Look up afib and it says moderate exercise is encouraged. I don't think climbing hills with a fully loaded bicycle counts as moderate exercise. So are our bicycling dreams fluttering away?

Rob's cardiologist wanted him to see a specialist in Boston to have another, more complicated, ablation procedure done. Meanwhile he was put on a medication to prevent a recurrence. 

The ablation was scheduled for early May. Yes, Rob would be fully recovered by the beginning of June to start our trip. Then the procedure was postponed for two weeks.

Meanwhile, we started our training in early April, and Rob, who in one day last fall rode 90 miles over four notches in the White Mountains, struggled to ride 45 miles on flat terrain. On one ride, after 35 miles, his legs were so tired he could barely get his feet clipped into his pedals. Among our small group of riding friends who hadn't ridden all winter and were all about the same age, no one had as much trouble on the bike as Rob.

What was going on? Was it some of the medication Rob was taking, or something more serious? He made an appointment to see his primary care physician and a neurologist. But it was his pulmonologist who solved the puzzle. The medication for the afib worked to keep his heart rate down, so when he was exercising he couldn't get enough oxygen to his muscles. Which explained why his arms also got tired when he was riding, something that had never happened before.

The cardiologist doing the ablation agreed to let Rob off the afib medication as soon as he did the procedure and kept assuring us that Rob would be good to go on the bike trip. But we'd lost our 6-week window. the minimum we needed for the 2000 mile trip. 

And there's still the pulmonary hypertension. Fixing the heart doesn't take care of the lungs. For so many years Rob had been riding in front of me, occasionally waiting, or riding back to meet me. Now I'm riding ahead all the time. It feels lonely. And sometimes Rob gets so far behind, should I stop and wait? Part of the joy of cycling is getting into a groove on a stretch of road and just sailing along. 

Rob feels challenged, and frustrated by not being able to keep up.

A compatible cycling companion is a rare find and, for over 30 years, Rob has been exactly that. Now we're having to readjust to our new roles.

We decided to change our itinerary. Instead of six weeks, we're heading out for 26 days. First we'll ride to northwestern Massachusetts to visit the Clarke Art Institute and the Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art. Then we'll head north to Montreal and maybe Quebec City before heading home along the Connecticut River Valley. 

Our goal is to find a comfortable riding tempo that works for both of us and, in the end, decide if a year-long trip remains a dream to turn into a reality.

Start date: Saturday, June 24, 2017
End date: Wednesday, July 19, 2017