If anybody remembers, the guy in this story is the same guy that got ran over last month. He seems to be doing pretty good again.
RIDING FOR A CURE
After nearly dying of multiple sclerosis, Fran Wallis thought there was 'no way' she'd ride in the MS 150. Powered by a friendship, she'll be bound for Austin.
2 SEATS, 1 DREAM
By ROBERTA MACINNIS
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
THEY seem an unlikely trio, Jeff Shoemake, Fran Wallis and Ginger.
Shoemake, 40, looks like the competitive endurance cyclist and bike-shop owner he is, long and lean, fit and scruffy-hip.
At 56, the much-shorter Wallis stands with a slight stoop and is a bit unsteady in her cleated cycling shoes.
Ginger is the sturdy reincarnation of a 1962 single-speed tandem Huffy bike unearthed on eBay for about $100. She is Wallis' ticket to ride in this weekend's BP MS 150.
Since January, Shoemake has been modifying the bike so Wallis, who has multiple sclerosis, can enjoy a handlebar view of the 180-mile ride to Austin.
Wallis and Shoemake went on their first tandem ride earlier this month, Wallis whooping and laughing.
"I feel like a kid. I just love the feeling and the freedom. It's like flying, and flying has been a part of my life," said Wallis, who was an Air Force air-traffic controller and an avid cyclist when she was younger.
Shoemake and Wallis became friends during last year's tour, when they manned the support vehicle for the Holy Spokes, an MS 150 team from Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, where Wallis is a member. Shoemake, who owns My Bike Shop in the Heights, had been invited to be the team's captain after he met the church's rector, the Rev. James Nutter.
"When I saw Fran and how excited she was at the finish line, I said, 'Next year you have to ride this thing. That's the only thing that's going to top this,' " Shoemake said.
Early misgivings
At first, Wallis didn't think she could do it. "I said, 'oh no, there's no way.' Then I thought, 'Well, maybe,' " she said.
Diagnosed in 1989 with MS, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, Wallis became severely ill in 1999. She lost vision in her right eye and was incapacitated.
"It was a very, very bad time. I almost died then," she said.
Though she eventually returned to work, in 2003 the disease began to overwhelm her again. She had to quit her job as a senior systems analyst in the department of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Wallis' condition has since improved with the help of chemotherapy, steroids and medications, but she was in a wheelchair as recently as last year. Her vision is better, but she still has numbness in her left leg.
Leaving her job had been hard for Wallis, and then her mother and sister each died of cancer, four weeks apart, in 2005.
"I wanted to try to have something to feel happy about again," Wallis said.
Shoemake fixed some old bikes that Wallis' daughters left behind so she could train.
"She's a sweetheart, but I have about 200,000 miles more experience," Shoemake said.
He became her coach. Other members of the Holy Spokes took turns riding with Wallis in Memorial Park while she built her endurance.
Tandem bike modified
Meanwhile, Shoemake rebuilt the tandem, reconfiguring it so he could steer and shift gears from the back seat, duties that are usually handled by the front rider. Shoemake's 6-foot frame not only blocked Wallis' view, it also interfered with others' view of her.
"The thing that keeps most people going down that road is not the competition," Shoemake said. "It's the faces of people with MS. If you can take one of those faces and put it on a bike, not only does it inspire the riders around them, it motivates others (with MS). They ask, 'if she can do it, what can I do?' Shoemake said.
Wallis agrees. "I walked into my support group meeting a few weeks ago, and I had bicycle gear on. They were just beaming at me. It was just cool."
Pediatric MS patients, and their parents and doctors, have decorated Ginger with colorful messages such as "Thanks for riding," "Piloted by Fran," and "Don't give up."
Wallis said she first thought to name the bike "Daisy," after the song Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two). But Shoemake had never heard of the song and suggested Ginger, because he liked to think of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
"Ginger is delicate and fragile, and Ginger is looking for her partner," Wallis said. "So it fit."
'A huge recovery'
Nutter said he's seen a change in both the partners since they decided to attempt the MS 150 together. Shoemake, never a churchgoer, now regularly attends Palmer's Tuesday Bible study group and the occasional Sunday service. Wallis' transformation has been even more striking.
"After years of being very debilitated, this has given Fran not only a boost in emotion, psychologically and spiritually, but physically. It's been a huge recovery," Nutter said.
"I'm walking better now than I have in a long time," Wallis said. And she's driving what Shoemake calls "a biker's car," the interior littered with water bottles, helmets and cycling gloves, a bike rack mounted on the rear.
"I'm a serious cyclist again," she said. The hardest part of her training has been getting on and off the bike.
"I'm not having any illusions that it will be a piece of cake," Wallis said about the upcoming ride. Her husband, one of her daughters and many other friends will ride with her, but it will be thoughts of others with the disease that will keep her, as many others, going.
"I don't think God would have brought me this far if he didn't want me to finish," she said. "I get goose bumps thinking about it."
RIDING FOR A CURE
After nearly dying of multiple sclerosis, Fran Wallis thought there was 'no way' she'd ride in the MS 150. Powered by a friendship, she'll be bound for Austin.
2 SEATS, 1 DREAM
By ROBERTA MACINNIS
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
THEY seem an unlikely trio, Jeff Shoemake, Fran Wallis and Ginger.
Shoemake, 40, looks like the competitive endurance cyclist and bike-shop owner he is, long and lean, fit and scruffy-hip.
At 56, the much-shorter Wallis stands with a slight stoop and is a bit unsteady in her cleated cycling shoes.
Ginger is the sturdy reincarnation of a 1962 single-speed tandem Huffy bike unearthed on eBay for about $100. She is Wallis' ticket to ride in this weekend's BP MS 150.
Since January, Shoemake has been modifying the bike so Wallis, who has multiple sclerosis, can enjoy a handlebar view of the 180-mile ride to Austin.
Wallis and Shoemake went on their first tandem ride earlier this month, Wallis whooping and laughing.
"I feel like a kid. I just love the feeling and the freedom. It's like flying, and flying has been a part of my life," said Wallis, who was an Air Force air-traffic controller and an avid cyclist when she was younger.
Shoemake and Wallis became friends during last year's tour, when they manned the support vehicle for the Holy Spokes, an MS 150 team from Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, where Wallis is a member. Shoemake, who owns My Bike Shop in the Heights, had been invited to be the team's captain after he met the church's rector, the Rev. James Nutter.
"When I saw Fran and how excited she was at the finish line, I said, 'Next year you have to ride this thing. That's the only thing that's going to top this,' " Shoemake said.
Early misgivings
At first, Wallis didn't think she could do it. "I said, 'oh no, there's no way.' Then I thought, 'Well, maybe,' " she said.
Diagnosed in 1989 with MS, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, Wallis became severely ill in 1999. She lost vision in her right eye and was incapacitated.
"It was a very, very bad time. I almost died then," she said.
Though she eventually returned to work, in 2003 the disease began to overwhelm her again. She had to quit her job as a senior systems analyst in the department of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Wallis' condition has since improved with the help of chemotherapy, steroids and medications, but she was in a wheelchair as recently as last year. Her vision is better, but she still has numbness in her left leg.
Leaving her job had been hard for Wallis, and then her mother and sister each died of cancer, four weeks apart, in 2005.
"I wanted to try to have something to feel happy about again," Wallis said.
Shoemake fixed some old bikes that Wallis' daughters left behind so she could train.
"She's a sweetheart, but I have about 200,000 miles more experience," Shoemake said.
He became her coach. Other members of the Holy Spokes took turns riding with Wallis in Memorial Park while she built her endurance.
Tandem bike modified
Meanwhile, Shoemake rebuilt the tandem, reconfiguring it so he could steer and shift gears from the back seat, duties that are usually handled by the front rider. Shoemake's 6-foot frame not only blocked Wallis' view, it also interfered with others' view of her.
"The thing that keeps most people going down that road is not the competition," Shoemake said. "It's the faces of people with MS. If you can take one of those faces and put it on a bike, not only does it inspire the riders around them, it motivates others (with MS). They ask, 'if she can do it, what can I do?' Shoemake said.
Wallis agrees. "I walked into my support group meeting a few weeks ago, and I had bicycle gear on. They were just beaming at me. It was just cool."
Pediatric MS patients, and their parents and doctors, have decorated Ginger with colorful messages such as "Thanks for riding," "Piloted by Fran," and "Don't give up."
Wallis said she first thought to name the bike "Daisy," after the song Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two). But Shoemake had never heard of the song and suggested Ginger, because he liked to think of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
"Ginger is delicate and fragile, and Ginger is looking for her partner," Wallis said. "So it fit."
'A huge recovery'
Nutter said he's seen a change in both the partners since they decided to attempt the MS 150 together. Shoemake, never a churchgoer, now regularly attends Palmer's Tuesday Bible study group and the occasional Sunday service. Wallis' transformation has been even more striking.
"After years of being very debilitated, this has given Fran not only a boost in emotion, psychologically and spiritually, but physically. It's been a huge recovery," Nutter said.
"I'm walking better now than I have in a long time," Wallis said. And she's driving what Shoemake calls "a biker's car," the interior littered with water bottles, helmets and cycling gloves, a bike rack mounted on the rear.
"I'm a serious cyclist again," she said. The hardest part of her training has been getting on and off the bike.
"I'm not having any illusions that it will be a piece of cake," Wallis said about the upcoming ride. Her husband, one of her daughters and many other friends will ride with her, but it will be thoughts of others with the disease that will keep her, as many others, going.
"I don't think God would have brought me this far if he didn't want me to finish," she said. "I get goose bumps thinking about it."
