LIFE CHANGES
For many cycling provides the opportunity to get fitter, build social bonds or cut the cost of commuting, but for some the impact two wheels can have is truly life changing…
We all know the health and fitness benefits, but sometimes cycling can have truly profound effects.
“AS CYCLING BEGAN TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON MY LIFE AND MY CONDITION, MY PASSION FOR THE SPORT GREW”
“... combat multiple sclerosis” Lucy Parsons, 28, from Horsham
Cycling has gone from being something I reluctantly endured for a good cause to becoming an extension of who I am. When I first got on a bike as an adult it was in training for riding from John o’Groats to Land’s End in aid of onemilecloser.com, a charity I set up in memory of Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson, adventurers, explorers, cyclists and my close friends who died in a climbing accident in 2009. The training and the ride were gruelling. I swore on completion that I’d never sit on a bike again!
I went to university and stopped cycling, but kept myself fit. Then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When the chance to ride for the charity came around again – this time
from Provence back to the UK via Mont Ventoux - I was determined to do it. As cycling began to have a positive impact on my life and my condition, my passion for the sport grew.
Today I’m on the pathway to becoming a Paralympian cyclist and ride whenever I can. Over the past 12 months I’ve been time trialling, training and racing as I work my way through the accreditation and classification process. Ironically I’ve found that because cycling helps me to manage my condition so well, I’m struggling to match the selection criteria.
I’ve adopted a holistic, nonmedical approach to combatting MS. I control my diet and prioritise sleep and fitness. While I can control many of the physiological effects, when I do my 70-80mile training rides I need to sleep almost immediately afterwards, such is the impact of MS on my energy levels and vulnerability to fatigue. Even so, I know that without cycling my symptoms would be more obvious and the blight it has upon my life more severe. My MS doesn’t define me; people know me as a cyclist.
“I KNOW THAT WITHOUT CYCLING MY SYMPTOMS WOULD BE MORE OBVIOUS”