Riding at Camp Adder, Iraq.
The Army won't deploy a soldier who is more than sixty years old without a waiver signed by a general officer.
I had one of those waivers in 2013 when I turned 60. I was supposed to deploy to Afghanistan with the 56th Stryker Brigade. But President Obama cut troop deployments to our nation's longest war and I stayed home.
In preparation for that deployment, I went to a three-month Army school at Fort Meade, Maryland.
During the school I was training to do an Ironman triathlon the following year. If the deployment fell through, I would have a huge athletic challenge. While I was at Fort Meade, I took two fitness tests. I scored 296 and 300--the max. I completed the Ironman at age 61.
Since the Ironman, I have tried a couple of times to start running again, and could not.
The next year swimming got more difficult. My left shoulder would last for a mile before giving out, then less. It's a good thing I did the Ironman when I did, because running and swimming got harder and harder in the two years following.
Last year I rode across Eastern Europe. This year I rode to Boston but I was having knee trouble.
Now, four years after the Ironman, I get knee surgery in three weeks. Next week I get an MRI for a lower back problem and I just got a cortisone shot in my right shoulder.
In 2013, I was ready to deploy to Afghanistan with an infantry brigade. In 2014 I did an Ironman. In the coming year I could be getting one or two more surgeries as a result of injuries and a genetic tendency to arthritis.
One of my riding buddies is 71 years old and has none of these problems. He also has no arthritis. I have an Army buddy who is younger than I am but the cumulative damage of Airborne and Ranger service means his serious workout days are over.
In some ways, I am amazed I could get this far. Today I rode 10 miles to the doctor to get the shot. On the way back, I met another riding buddy on the road and ended up riding almost 40 miles.
People ask me what my next big event is. My next big event will be getting healthy enough to do another big event.
