This is Getting Old

​Well, I decidedly did NOT dust this old chestnut off to just be another platform to discuss/bitch/rant about cancer, but this post will once again be very cancer focused. 

A few weeks ago I had to attend a funeral of a 17 year old that we knew who had a sarcoma recurrence in a similar time frame of the Boy’s recurrence. Obviously, this one hit a little too close to home, but more so I am completely devastated for the family.  That seems completely and utterly unfair after a kid, a fucking child, fights like that only to have that be the outcome. The survivor’s guilt knows no bounds.  Why is my kid doing so well in the face of very similar circumstances and this innocent 17 year old had the complete opposite outcome? 

Now, today I attended a funeral for a friend and fellow cyclist, Kevin Forrester, who also died of cancer and the age of 58. I knew about Kevin’s diagnosis for a while, but it still doesn’t lessen the impact of the news…like a full on kick to the nuts. 

Kevin’s impact on cycling in the Black Hills is massive and he will be sorely missed. There are plenty of other musings online of his impact through his trail building and his race promotions, for legendary BH races like the Tatanka and the BAM, so I won’t wax on about those. 

I will say Kevin was the first mythical status bike racer in the Black Hills. I’ll never forget the year his name was launched to the forefront on the formative years of mountain bike racing. He was the man to beat and no one could do it. But what truly launched him to that mythical status in my young mind was his finish at the Dalton Lake race. Leading the pack, he got a flat tire on the front wheel, couldn’t fix it and finished on his rim! I was in awe. Leading the pack enough to try to fix your tire then deciding “fuck it, riding on the rim it is,” and still winning the race. 

That taught me a lot about riding that day. 1. Bikes are just tools and you can fix them. 2. There is a way to persevere not matter what is handed to you. 3.  You’re tougher than you think. And finally 4. Don’t quit, even when the cards are stacked against you. 

I even employed this in one of Kevin’s races, the Tatanka 100. I got 4 flats that day, but never quit, never gave up.  I mean, I know it took me a LONG time to finish that day, but I kept going, even when others around me were quitting. 

Godspeed Kevin. Did a lot more for mountain biking than you’ll ever know, but more importantly you taught people lessons on how to live, even if you didn’t know you were doing it. 

So once again, fuck cancer. It’s a bunch of shit that NO ONE should have to go through.