Can cycling save your life?  I don’t have to go any further than my friend Bethel Strong to answer that one.  Through his love for the bike, he’s been able to astound even his doctor who couldn’t believe the results he’s achieved through cycling.

The absolute best part about having a blog and being active on social media is meeting incredible people from around the world.  What’s even better is getting the chance to spend time with them in person and creating a lifelong bond.  Bethel is one of these connections that I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some great time with on and off the bike.  But more than the fact that he’s an incredible individual with a true passion for the bike, is his story on how cycling helped save his life.

Bethel has had a very severe case of asthma throughout his life, and in the past has had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other health conditions.  In an effort to change things, he picked up the bike a few years ago and slowly became a guy who loved playing tennis to a guy who couldn’t get enough of his bike.  Bethel recently went in for a routine blood test and doctor visit….and received 100% good marks on all his conditions.  His doctor was amazed at the incredible turn around and asked him what changes he’s made in his life.  His response: “I simply ride my bike all the time”.

This isn’t the first time Bethel has turned things around and made the doctor’s head spin.  When he was 9 years old he was so sick that doctors told his parents that he would be lucky to live past 10.  He kept playing sports and fighting through it.  His response to the doctor’s comments was that he’d “rather die very young than live in a bubble and not be able to play sports and do the things he loved”.

So fighting through medical conditions is nothing new to Bethel, and now at 56 years of age he feels really good proving the doctors wrong once again.  In fact, all of this has sort of created a cycling monster. Bethel went from loving the bike, to being totally consumed with it.

He told me recently that:

Cycling is the absolute very best thing that’s happened to me.  I just wish I would have found it much sooner in life.  But at least I found it, or rather it found me. Either way, I love it and all the nice cyclists I meet.  My new Twitter hashtags are: #IamaCyclistSmiling and #PoweredBy2StrongLegs….and, of course #BStrong.

I love Bethel’s attitude and all the inspiration that flows right out of him.  I also love the fact that our cycling community has a great guy like him as a role model and promoter of our sport.  I can’t think of anyone better to show just how much fun and healthy cycling can be.

Thank you, Bethel for being a good friend and inspirational fellow cyclist.  Keep on Making it Happen.

#BStrong