Surviving caner inspires Co-Founder of Boulder B Strong Ride to co-found race
It’s not often that a patient and doctor develop a relationship strong enough to co-found a charity ride. But when a patient shows the fighting spirit of Kevin Mulshine, a doctor can’t help but develop a friend. Dr. Roger Nichols helped save Kevin’s life after he was diagnosed with 2 aggressive types of lymphoma in 2008.
“I shouldn’t have been surprised by the diagnosis. I started slowing down on my bike, something just didn’t feel right,” says Kevin. He faced a grave situation as his organs started to fail. Adding to the trouble- doctors couldn’t figure out where his pancreas was leaking from.
The avid cyclist and father of four was told he would need to tell his family the end was near.
“A doctor from Boulder Community Hospital couldn’t sleep with that,” says Kevin. “ After staying up all night with Kevin’s charts and scans he started to come up with answers. The next mornig, another doctor, Yen Chen, performed surgery. Dr. Chen was battling stage four lung cancer at the time and has since passed. Kevin says that was the beginning of starting the Boulder B Strong Ride.
“I had an amazing debt for the people who got me through it.” The idea for the ride officially went into gear after Kevin’s doctors and nurses surprised him with a challenge in order to receive his one-year remission report.
“I rode from Boulder to Ward. That’s a 5,000 foot climb.” Towards the end Kevin was loosing strength. His doctors held on to the back of his jersey pushing him towards the top. At the end of the climb, Kevin was greeted with fantastic news-there was no cancer found in the last scan. This led to Kevin and Dr. Nichols starting the Boulder B Strong Ride “I can’t go on a ride without looking up and saying thank you. The people you meet when you are put in this situation are a break from the battle.”
One of those people is Denver Nuggets coach and fellow cancer survivor George Karl who is partnering with the event. “He is sincere at the personal level,” revels Kevin. “Of course he would love to find a cure for cancer but he focuses on helping people survive it. And helping the people who don’t have cancer try to understand it.”
The Boulder B Strong Ride is turning wheels August 11 starting at Boulder’s Celestial Seasonings. The celebration of cancer survivorship is LIVESTRONG’s largest partnered fundraiser. The event raised $275,000 last year. The proceeds help improve people’s cancer treatment on an international level through Livestrong and locally through the George Karl Foundation. That includes funding exercise rooms, gardens and nutritionists.
There are course options form extreme cyclists to beginners. The tough 69 mile mountain loop gains takes riders on a scenic route through Left Hand Canyon, and along the Peak to Peak Highway before the anticipated descent into Lyons.
The 24-mile countryside loop takes riders through beautiful ranches and across striking views. For kids ten and under- race the Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky and Celestial Seasonings’ Sleepytime Bear along a one mile loop on the Celestial Seasonal grounds.
To register visit- https://bstrongride.com/
