North Side man pedals way to better health
Bill Dennis, diagnosed with heart disease eight years ago, rode his bicycle from Texas to Spokane
Eight years ago, North Side resident Bill Dennis was diagnosed with atherosclerosis and told he needed immediate open-heart surgery.
“They said they wouldn’t recommend waiting more than a couple of weeks.” Dennis said.
He, however, was wary of this drastic option.
“I’ve always felt like once you’ve had that done, you’re a marked person,” he said.
Dissatisfied with the options his doctors were offering, Dennis sought out alternative treatment options, including chelation sessions with a local doctor and trips to a clinic in Mexico.
Eight years later, the treatments appear to have worked, because Dennis, 66, just finished a bicycle trip that took him from Alamo, Texas, back to Spokane.
In the wake of his diagnosis, Dennis quit his job at Apollo Electric and made lifestyle changes. Part of his regimen to recover from his heart disease involved regular exercise. When shoulder problems caused him to move away from lifting weights and toward more cycling, Dennis became more serious about it.
“I started riding it more aggressively,” he said. He entertained the idea of a massive bike trip and eventually “got up enough courage to try and do it myself.”
His wife, Judy Dennis, followed him during the journey in a 24-foot motor home.
“Sometime after he had decided he thought this (trip) would be a good idea, he mentioned it to me … and I thought, ‘Oh, right,’ ” Judy Dennis said. “When he bought me a motor home, I knew he was serious.”
They left Texas, where they spend many of their winters, on May 7 and arrived in Spokane on July 7. The entire trip was more than 2,400 miles. He typically biked 4 1/2 hours a day, averaging around 62 miles of biking per day. “The rest of the day was taking breaks,” he said.
They took Highway 83 to South Dakota, then headed west. The trip became more difficult for Bill Dennis at that point, with prevalent western headwinds and mountainous terrain slowing him down.
“The worst part of riding is headwinds,” he said.
The significance of his trip becomes even more impressive considering his physical health at the time of his initial diagnosis. “At the time, I couldn’t walk a city block without (getting tired),” he said.
“I think he’s amazing. He sets a goal and does whatever it takes to achieve his goal,” Judy Dennis said.
His cycling trip was not a one-time deal, however.
“He’s working on it now,” Judy Dennis said of her husband’s plans for future treks. Currently, he is trying to plan a trip from Oregon to Michigan, in hopes that going west to east would be an easier trip, with the lack of western headwinds.