Lyle Uecker, 43, of Kaukauna, Wisconsin joined us for the inaugural Dempsey Challenge in 2009 and hopes to be celebrating his one-year cancer-free milestone in Maine this October. We thank Lyle for sharing his story and look forward to seeing him on the starting line. "I didn’t actually feel I was cancer free until I was standing in the starting line for the Dempsey Challenge." It all started with a red spot on my forehead. My family doctor referred me to a dermatologist to have it checked out. The dermatologist took a small biopsy. One week later, she called me in to take another, larger biopsy. The first one showed abnormal cells but was not a large enough sample to do additional tests. She said that it wasn’t skin cancer but depending on what the biopsy revealed, it could be lymphoma; Didn’t think that was even a possibility. I don’t have lymph glands on my head. Two and a half weeks go by and the doctor had not called me back. I called her and her office said that doctor would be calling with the results the next day. It just so happens that I had order the parts for my dream bicycle, a Cinelli, earlier in the month about the same time as the first biopsy was taken. The bike shop called and told me that my bike and parts we in and I should come on down to see them. Then the dermatologist called with the results of the second biopsy … Large B cell lymphoma and we are referring you to an oncologist and you can call and set up your appointment tomorrow. Then Steve from the bike shop called back ... excited for me to come and see my bike but I told him that I was not coming down today and that I had gotten bad news from the doctor. Then my wife and I went to the internet to see what Large B cell lymphoma was and how lymphoma could be in the skin. Well, after about hour of reading ... things did not sound good, nor could we find anything about lymphoma presenting in the skin. We were devastated. I suggested that we should go down to the bike shop and see the bike. While in the car on the way to the bike shop, I told my wife that if I didn’t open any of the parts that we could send them back. This was a very expensive bike and I figured that we could use all the money available, now that I had cancer. Then my wife hit me and started crying and said that I had to build the bike and that I was going to ride that bike. My wife said that by wanting to send the bike back … that I was giving up on fighting the cancer. Once at the bike shop, my wife made Steve promise not to send the bike back. Steve lost his sister to cancer and he understood what my wife’s fears were. The next 11 ½ weeks were a medical roller coaster ride. Visits to the cancer doctor, blood work, PET scan, bone marrow biopsy, Epstein Barr virus, referrals to major cancer center….a third biopsy (someone lost the first two) to finally arrive at a definitive diagnosis – Primary cutaneous B cell lymphoma. This is a rare lymphoma that presents in the skin and does not respond to chemo ... only radiation. Finally I will start treatment. Radiation was the prescribed treatment. Because my cancer was so rare and usually seen in people 20 years or younger, my Radiologist put me on the national cancer tumor board to get input for treatment of my case from other cancer specialists across the country. Out of the 30 doctors on the board, only one other doctor had seen a cancer like mine. I was fortunate that my doctor had seen a case similar to mine early in his residency. The Epstein Barr virus would be treated with chemo, but only after all radiation was complete.  Somewhere back around week three, my wife found an article in Bicycle Magazine about the Dempsey Challenge that was going to be in Maine the first week of October. My wife announced that she would learn to ride a road bike (not her style of riding ... she likes beach cruiser style of bikes) and I was going to ride my new bike and that we were going to go to Maine and do this ride. She put the article on the fridge to remind me every day ... and to distract me from thinking about the cancer. During that 11 ½ weeks, I built my bike. I got to ride it two times before radiation treatments. The day I started treatments I came home and my wife had put my bike in the living room. She said I could ride it after the treatments were finished and I was strong enough to ride. I looked at that bike every day, with my wife reminding me that we were going to do the ride in Maine in the fall. Treatments are finished and the doctor gave me the OK to start riding. I had to wear a special skull cap to keep the sun from hitting my treatment site. This is when my wife started to train to ride a road bike. We went for rides, mostly leisurely, until my strength started to come back. Now we wait … it will be at three months before they can perform another PET scan to determine if the cancer was gone. The results are in from the PET scan. No cancer found! 9-9-09. My blood work revealed that the Epstein Barr virus was not at critical levels and did not require chemo. So off to Maine we go … the article on the fridge, my bike in the living room, my wife learning to ride a road bike, they were my carrots to get to my goal of going to this ride. The ride became the light at the end of the cancer tunnel. I didn’t actually feel I was cancer free until I was standing in the starting line for the Dempsey Challenge. I did it, I’m here, I’m cancer free, I’m riding my dream bike and my wife is riding with me. Who would have thought that two phones calls on the same day would be so intertwined, a call about my dream bike and a call that I had cancer. Lyle was also kind enough to share his Dempsey Challenge experience. Route for the ride - we originally chose the 25 mile route but I ended up riding an alternate route, because Lisa ended up in the medical tent with some issues because she wasn't in condition for Maine's hills. Wisconsin is basically flat and Lisa did learn to ride a road bike for this ride for me ... but we didn't get in the hill training for her. She also was riding one of my bikes and it didn't fit her properly ... she has her own bike now, one that fits her and she intends to train for hills for this years ride. I ended up riding with a wonderful couple that stopped to help when Lisa was on the side of the road in distress. I don't remember their names, but she was a 4 year ovarian cancer survivor. They finished the ride with me after the SAG wagon took Lisa in to the medical tent. Organization was great for check in, start and literature provided ... the maps could of had mile markers on them, example turn right on ... road (mile 13) and some of the arrows on the route were not as clear as they should have been for someone visiting for the first time. The food was the best ... and the locals, volunteers and participates were so friendly. We loved talking to everyone. The pavilions were laid out well and the live performances were a fun experience. Mary Dempsey was truly wonderful. She arranged for us to meet her brother. She attended to our needs, listened to our story and made us feel like family. Meeting Patrick was awesome ... he is so down to earth and really cared about me and my cancer journey. He listened to my story and truly seemed affected by it. He was concerned about how I was feeling from the ride, since I had just gotten my cancer free diagnose just two weeks before. Lisa said she was so embarrassed when she couldn't finish the ride but that all went away when she got to meet Patrick. He talked to her about being my caregiver and her part in my cancer journey. He also encouraged her to ride next year with me. Also, meeting George Hincapie was a cyclists dream come true ... all those questions that you think you would ask if you ever met him, totally disappeared from my brain when I did meet him. He was cool though, he said I had nice bars (handlebars on my bike). He also wanted to know the story about the radiation mask that I had mounted on my bike. Look forward to riding again this year ... we are already registered. We hope to get more vacation time, so we can spend more time this year in Maine and hopefully tour the Dempsey Center. We hope to be celebrating my one-year cancer free milestone in Maine. If you would like to share your story for Profiles of Inspiration please email info@dempseychallenge.org