RIDING MONT VENTOUX AFTER OPEN-HEART SURGERY & GUILLAIN-BARRÉ SYNDROME
There's a certain kind of phone call that arrives at exactly the right moment. For Bill Humphreys, that call came just as he was getting back on his feet after open-heart surgery last October. On the other end of the line was Miles Washburn, whom he had coached decades earlier, calling with a wild idea.
Now in his 60s, Miles was recovering from his own health struggles with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. As he became healthy enough to ride a bike again, he wanted to accomplish an audacious goal: to ride up the legendary Mont Ventoux. And he wanted Bill to be his coach once again.
"I'd be glad to coach," Bill said. "But, I'm old school, man. I don't know all this new technology."
Miles didn't miss a beat. "I don't give a damn about that,” he said. “You were my coach. You were the best coach I ever had."
So Bill agreed, on one condition. "I'll do it if I can ride up the mountain with you."
A Coach, a Kid, and a Training Diary
This story goes back to Worcester, Massachusetts, in the early 1980s. Bill had left Boulder to work with a friend promoting bicycle races, and part of the gig was coaching local talent. That's where he found Miles, then a teenager living with his single mom, who was all-in on cycling from day one.
"He was gung-ho,” Bill explained. “He did everything I told him. He was dedicated. He had a lot of promise." At some point, Bill did something unusual for a coach. He handed Miles his personal training diaries. Four years' worth. Knowing Bill’s past as a hard-living and hard-drinking truck driver, his business partner at the time had reservations
"You've got all kinds of trash written in those diaries,” he said. “You don't want this kid to read that."
Miles read them anyway. And he wrote a book report that he returned to Bill, summarizing what he’d learned. Fast-forward forty-plus years, and that book report turned up again during a search through Bill's office files. In it, Miles had written: "You drank too much, you smoked too much, you partied too much, but you still had a great career, and I learned a great deal from these. Thank you for trusting me."
Bill laughs about it now. "It's a pretty special situation."
Guillain-Barré and a New Goal
Miles is now 64, and his bike racing days are a distant, but fond memory. Then, a year ago, he landed in the hospital with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that affects roughly 40–50,000 people globally. Symptoms include rapid-onset muscle weakness and paralysis, and rehabilitation takes months to years, with some experiencing long-term fatigue or nerve damage.
"He didn't know if he was going to get out of the hospital," Bill said. "When he did get out, he said, 'Once you get through the critical situation, it comes back, but it doesn't always come back to that level.' After experiencing it, he wanted to raise funds for it."
Miles and his wife decided to get back on bikes, ride up Mont Ventoux for charity, and channel every dollar raised directly to the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) Emergency Relief Program.
Miles has already raised over $50,000 while training for his Ventoux attempt. Some days, he rides 30 to 40 miles. Other days, Guillain-Barré reminds him who's boss. Along the way, Coach Bill keeps Miles on track, training consistently enough to handle the mountain when he arrives on August 24th.
Eighty-One and Not Worried About It
Bill, for his part, is not exactly stressing about the climb. Currently, he’s riding a Lightspeed Toscano (he's got his eye on the ultra-light Litespeed Coll dels Reis, but we'll leave that conversation between him and his wallet), and he's been putting in winter miles on the trainer and even logging some 25-mile outdoor rides in the snow.
"I know the type of climb it is,” he said. “The last four miles are real tough, but it's not Mount Washington. It's not Mount [Blue Sky]." He paused. "I'll tell Miles to go ahead. I'll see him at the top."
This reunion with his former athlete has given Bill something he didn't quite know he was missing: a reason to train again. At 81, fresh off cardiac surgery, a tough cycling challenge wasn’t exactly top of mind. But reconnecting with Miles has reignited his drive, and now he’s found new joy reliving their old coach and athlete relationship. "To get a chance to coach a kid again… I still call him a kid, he's 64!” Bill laughed, “It's been really fun."
With their ages and health in mind, properly managing their training load is a huge part of good coaching. To this end, Bill had a piece of advice for Miles: "You can ride up that mountain tomorrow. But we're not doing it till August. So you need to get a part-time hobby. Take up golf again!"
What If?
I first met Bill Humphreys when he raced the Gravel World Championships at 80 years old. His intrepid attitude is what led him to become one of the top US road cyclists in the 70s. It’s what led him to pick up gravel cycling at 75 and travel to compete in a World Championship event at an age where most riders have hung up the bike. He’s full of stories. Listen to a few, and his past unfurls like a film script. All of this feeds into the other thread of Bill's life right now, his book, What If, a collection of short stories about key moments throughout his life.
"Everybody from my era told me, 'You've had a crazy life.' Everybody went crazy for a few years and then settled down. I kept going," Bill said.
His stories are split roughly 50/50 between cycling and, as he cheerfully describes it, "insanity." He worked as a long-haul trucker at 23, then again at 65. In between, he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the top US road cyclists and was part of the first fully sponsored US team to ride a stage race in Europe.
The book's philosophy is simple. Bill wrote it for his old high school lunch bunch, the guys who took the responsible road, and for anyone else who ever wondered what it might feel like to take a different one.
"I wrote this book with the message: look what you could have missed,” Bill said. “Here are some of the things you could have done. I've done them for you." The reviews have been glowing, but Bill's favorite reactions might be from those old high school friends, who knew nothing about bike racing until a few years ago. "They've just been amazed at getting to know me again."
A book tour is underway across the Northeast, with signings from Vermont to Philadelphia:
- Devils Gear Bike Shop, New Haven, March 7th
- Philly Bike Expo, Philadelphia, March 14th & 15th
- Round Hearth Café, Stowe, VT, March 21
- Natchaug Thompson, CT, March 29
- United Theatre, Westerly, RI April 7
- West Hill Bike Shop Putney, VT TBD
- Battenkill Gravel, Cambridge, NY, May 9
A second book is already in the works, and in August, it'll be in the form of a 16-mile climb up the Giant of Provence — an 81-year-old coach, a 64-year-old kid, and a story still very much being written.
Follow Miles Washburn's fundraising campaign for Guillain-Barré syndrome research and check out Bill's book, What If, available now.
Ventoux image courtesy of Krzysztof Kowalik (@kowalikus)
