Our summer here in Calgary was a little unpredictable this year, with daytime temperatures ranging from 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), with a strong cold north wind blowing, to a record high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius). Plus, in between the hot weather and the cold windy day, we had weeks of forest fire smoke occluding the sun, triggering a health alert recommending that people stay indoors.

Despite the unpredictable weather, my husband Dilip and I did our best to exercise, both indoors and outdoors. As part of my outdoor activities, I picked up cycling again after a two-year hiatus.

I was out riding quite a bit along the river pathways in our area before I fractured my vertebrae and was diag­nosed with multiple myeloma in 2009. By about three years after that, I had recovered enough from my injuries and initial myeloma treat­ment that I decided I could try riding again. I had actually given my bike away to one of my daughters after my diag­nosis, but she returned it when I decided to try riding again. I was quite cautious in the beginning. We mainly rode along bicycle / pedestrian pathways that summer.

My cycling adventures came to another halt in the summer of 2016 after I found out I would need surgery for a secondary cancer. I felt hesitant to ride in the summer of 2017. However, this year, I feel fine and also am not taking any myeloma medications, so it has been a better year for cycling.

Our first ride this year was around the city’s water reservoir, a distance of about 10 miles (16 km), with lots of hilly portions. It is very scenic, as it goes across the Elbow River, around the reservoir, which is the size of a small lake, and through an adjacent historical park. We put the bikes on a rack at the back of our vehicle and drove to the start point. I couldn’t do this without Dilip loading up the bikes, checking for tire pressures, and other challenges.

On my first ride out, I realized that my brakes were squeaking and I couldn’t readily change gears on the left handlebar because of my sore left thumb. (I use diclofenac (Voltaren) on the thumb and also had a cortisone shot there last year.) So we got some bike lubricant at a local bike shop and put that on the brakes and gears, which did help the next time we went out.

The next weekend we rode along the Bow River pathways, on the north and south banks, which we have done many times in pre­vi­ous years.

Given that I had such good ex­peri­ences on these shorter rides, I was brave enough to set two goals for my cycling this summer.

One goal was to ride the Legacy Trail, a 14-mile (22 km) paved pathway from Canmore to Banff, Alberta that opened in 2009. It mostly parallels a highway and has a fence on one side to deter wildlife from coming on the path (bears and cougars abound in that area). There also is a bus service from Banff to Canmore that takes bikes, so we knew we could take a bus back in case I would be too tired to ride back.

The other goal was to circle the city of Calgary on the Rotary / Mattamy Greenway, which consists of almost 87 miles (140 km) of inter-linked pathways and road cycling lanes.

One sunny day at the end of July, we decided to tackle my first goal, riding the Legacy Trail. We loaded our bikes up and drove 56 miles (90 km) west to the Visitor’s Center in Canmore. We saw from the map that 6 miles (10 km) into the trail there is a picnic area where cars can pull in and park. So we thought that if I wasn’t feeling up to finishing this ride, I could stop at the picnic area and Dilip could ride back and get the car to pick me up. He had ridden the route before with a friend, so he knew the path.

Much to my surprise, the midway mark came up before too long, and we stopped to take pictures and drink water. There are a few hilly spots along the route. I am not confident of riding down a hill without using the brakes and then surging up the other side, so I stopped and pushed my bike up the hills partway in spots. I was wearing running shoes, not cycling shoes with a clip, so I could easily stop and put a foot out on the ground.

After stopping at the picnic area, we con­tinued on into Banff. We took a little break, had iced tea and nachos at a restaurant, and then headed back to Canmore. This trail had been on my radar for years, and I felt proud to be able to finish it.

As far as biking in the mountains goes, the Legacy Trail is rated as easy, but at 27 miles (44 km) round trip, I found it to be strenuous. The elevation gain from Canmore to Banff is just 250 feet (75 meters), so you don’t feel that much, but coming back seemed faster.

Later in August we started on my plan of riding the Rotary / Mattamy Greenway. We began at the west end of Fish Creek Provincial Park, which is partially located in the city. We got lost finding the entry­way, but two kindly motorcyclists gave us a ‘bike escort’ to the start. On that pathway, which has been rebuilt since the dev­as­tat­ing flood of 2013, we found ourselves riding through poplar and spruce forests, as well as foothills parkland. We went over many new bridges crossing Fish Creek, which were built for pedestrians and cyclists. We went about 9 miles (15 km) round trip on that outing.

I’m hoping that we will have a mild and sunny September so that I can do the rest of that route and accomplish my second cycling goal for the year.

Even if we don’t, I’m proud of how far I have come. It is reassuring for me to know that I can reconnect with activities I enjoy despite my cancer diagnoses and having been sidelined for a while.

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The quotation for this month is from Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), a theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, who said: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."