Until recently, Oceanside RCMP auxiliary officer and Tour de Rock rider Bill Peppy had pain and limited mobility in his hip, but now he's cycling 100 km a day.
"When I was 12 years old I had a freak accident on a wet soccer field," Peppy said of the issue that plagued him ever since then.
But while it stopped him from running or taking part in most competitive sports throughout his life, he did find ways to work around it earning a high black belt in martial arts, even owning his own school in Parksville from 1999 to 2010.
And he was able to cycle 1,000 km down Vancouver Island in the 2011 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, which he said was mostly mind over matter and likely pushed up the timeline on needing surgery, which he received last March.
He said that while the doctors don't like doing that surgery on people until they are in their 60s, it just became a necessity.
He was sent to Dr. Clive Duncan at U.B.C., who he called the best surgeon of his type, specializing in unusual cases like his and he lavished praise and thanks on his doctors and those who helped him through the recovery including Dr. B. Bell, Dr. B. Rowe, J. Martin at Oceanside Physio, Jim at Jim's Gym and Elizabeth at Parksville Pharmasave.
Less than a year later, the surgery and support had him training hard for the two day, 200-km Cycle of Life Tour this summer out of Victoria, with all proceeds going to Vancouver Island hospices.
His doctors tell him he's at about 90 per cent recovery, but he said he doesn't know what normal is like and he feels better than ever and is able to ride without pain.
Riding with co-workers as the Country Grocer Sprinters, Peppy encourages people to support them at www.cycleoflifetour.ca or call him at 250-248-1509.