I Think We Can, I Think We Can

Elephant Rock and the Buena Vista Century are this weekend. We, unfortunately, will not be riding.


Pedaling 4 Parkinson's and Ride the Rockies are the following weekend. Oh, how we love this year's RtR route! But we knew there was a gigantic possibility neither of us would be ready by June. So we didn't register.


The weekend RtR ends is the Starlight Spectacular. Unfortunately, we won't be riding.


We've known since last August we wouldn't be riding this year's MS-150, which is in four weeks. There was no way we could raise enough money for both that and the P4P.


We've also known since last August Lizard probably wouldn't be able to ride the Triple Bypass this year, which is about six weeks away now.


We did plan to ride the P4P. I signed both of us up for the maximum mileage. We trained as much as we could. At one point, I was leading the fundraising for P4P this year...


We haven't even been up Waterton Canyon since May 2. A new health issue popped up as a result of training too hard, and Lizard has been off his bike for going on four weeks now. He said I could ride without him, but I don't want to make him sit around four or five hours waiting for me. We both can walk, and we can walk together.


So we walk together. Every day. I'd been doing a pre-work walk in Downtown Denver every morning before this latest speed bump, and my streak just hit the half-century mark.


Even though Lizard has had another setback, we both believe he actually has plateaued and is making progress with all the methods we are employing to slow the progression of Parkinson's.

One of the most recent magic potions we've tried has been a combination of essential oils, two of which neither of us had previously known existed. I'd been researching natural remedies for the symptoms of Parkinson's when I found this handy little guide at Dr. Axe.

I immediately ordered frankincense, helichrysum and vetiver oil so I wouldn't have to waste time and gas driving around looking for them. No one had all three, so the three oils arrived in three separate packages on three consecutive days.


I had been using lavender and tea tree oil on Lizard's restless legs (and my arthritic hips) for years. I tried each of the individual oils on my own skin each night a new one arrived. By the time the final oil arrived, I had remembered a friend who has dealt with incapacitating pain of her own for decades telling me to use the tea tree oil and lavender on the bottoms of my feet as well as on my hips. I had not tried that on Lizard, but it had helped me with some of my sleepless nights.

I tried the new combination, diluted with grape seed oil, on the bottoms of my feet the same night I tried massaging the potion into Lizard's temples and neck, as well as on the back of his calves.

Both of us slept through the night.

Now we've been using this new concoction about ten days, I think, and Lizard seems to sleep almost through the night about every third night. It has helped me every night but one. This has been miraculous for both of us. Lizard had not slept through the night since about February 2018.

Getting proper rest has seemed to help mildly soothe all the symptoms he has been experiencing. Parkinson's is a progressive disease, and there is no cure. It will get worse. But for now, it seems, we've found a new tool to help us survive the roughest of experiences.


Not riding as much this year definitely has changed our lives, but I don't think we're done cycling. We're both hoping we can be ready for Ride the Rockies next year for the 35th anniversary of the ride. We did the 20th, 25th and 30th anniversary rides together. Next year will be our 15th wedding anniversary, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than riding together again... whatever ride(s) we can train for together and whatever organized rides we can manage.

Lizard, meanwhile, has a dream of doing the Triple Bypass one more time. I'm going to do everything I can to help him get ready. We have more than a year to train, so I think we can do it.

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