Spring 2023 (Volume 33, Number 1)
Riding the Long Road to Health and
Happiness
By Regan Arendse, FRCP, PhD
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Drs. Regan and Germaine Arendse
My priorities and perspective on
life changed quite dramatically
in the months leading up to my
50th birthday. Not only was this landmark
date somewhat daunting, but the
sudden cardiac death of a close friend at a
similar age made me take a closer look at
where I was headed in life as a busy community
rheumatologist. I realized that unless
I made some substantial changes in
my lifestyle, I would significantly reduce
my chances of maintaining good health in
the final few decades of my life.
With the encouragement of my wife
Germaine, I started with the one physical
activity that I often advocated for my
patients: riding a bicycle to enjoy a cardio
session without stress on the knees. So, after
purchasing a second-hand bike at my
local bike store, I joined a local cycling
club that taught me all the basics of riding
safely and responsibly on the road with
traffic, in a group with similarly aged and intentioned riders.
Germaine joined the club a year later, and we both
eventually graduated from struggling to complete 30 km
rides to being able to comfortably ride 100 km in a day.
A year later, our cycling club then introduced us to a
unique discipline of bike riding called randonneuring,
which involves progressively increasing the distance we
ride in an event from 200 km to the unbelievable distance
of 1,200 km. Over the three-year COVID-19 pandemic
period, we extended our riding range and, in the
year 2022, completed a series of rides that included distances
of 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km, 1,000 km,
and eventually 1,200 km, each within the prescribed
time limit. Each distance we attempted was a challenge,
from learning how to use our cycling equipment for
these extended distances, to how to mentally overcome
our fears and insecurities of riding for such long periods
and, finally, to training our bodies, especially the tender
contact points, to withstand the demands of the required
physical exertion.
Our aim in 2023 is to participate in the most prestigious
randonneur event of all called the Paris-Brest-Paris
(PBP). This event covers a distance of 1,200 km from the
City of Paris to the west coast of France and an elevation
gain of 11,000 m in the hills of the Province of Brittany.
We, along with an 8,000-strong field of cyclists from
around the world, will try to complete this randonneuring
challenge within the time limit of 90 hours.
We intend to document our preparation for this ride
and our participation in the PBP by producing YouTube
videos to help and inspire others who intend to make a
significant change in their lives. We believe that if we
can successfully transform from couch potatoes to endurance
athletes in just five years, then anyone can. Have
a look at some of the popular videos we have posted on
YouTube that provide step-by-step advice on how to start
and succeed at randonneuring. Our YouTube site is available
at www.youtube.com/@reganarendse6157.
Please keep your fingers crossed for a safe and successful
year for all of the long-distance cyclists participating
in various randonneur events around the world this year.
Regan Arendse, FRCP, PhD
Assistant Clinical Professor,
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
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