Fighting myeloma on two wheels in Iceland, or anywhere

Remember my great plans to go walking regularly to combat chemo fog?

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley,” wrote Robert Burns, and ‘tis true, ‘tis true. Confession time: I didn’t even make the 28 days it supposedly takes to form a habit. (That is a myth, by the way. Research shows it takes much longer than that, with a median of about two months.)

Right now I’m getting inspiration to do better from 16 people who are about to ride across Iceland, all for multiple myeloma.

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Biking for a cause

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) begins its third annual Iceland Cycling Expedition this week. This year’s team of riders is made up of clinicians, researchers, and myeloma patients, some still in treatment. They will ride about 100 miles through cold, rainy weather and over challenging terrain, all to raise awareness and money for myeloma research.

You may ask, “Why a bike tour across Iceland?”

Let’s start with the second part of that question. Iceland is the site of the iStopMM study. The acronym stands for Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma.

Since 2016, researchers have worked to screen every Icelander over age 40 for the presence of myeloma protein. The IMF says this is the first large-scale screening study in the field of myeloma. The goal is to identify myeloma at the precursor stage, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS. They hope screening can help prevent MGUS from progressing to myeloma.

As to the first part of that question, it’s answered in a documentary about the very first Iceland Cycling Expedition in 2024. The answer comes from Saad Usmani, MD, who is chief of myeloma service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He is also the fundraising chair for this year’s ride.

“This is such an important testament to the human spirit,” Usmani said. “You can overcome adversity and then do these amazing expeditions.”

You can do this too

The ride in Iceland goes from Aug. 18-24. But all month long, the IMF is offering a virtual challenge for people to ride alongside the team from wherever they are, whether it’s a stationary bike or a regular one. This is a fundraiser, too.

I don’t have a bike anymore, but I’ll try to start hiking around the neighborhood again. I’ll imagine the awesome Icelandic countryside. And I’ll remind myself of something patient and team member Thomas Goode said in the documentary. He was talking about the ride, but it applies to myeloma itself:  “We have hills, but we are dealing with it.”

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