{"id":286764,"date":"2025-11-16T12:57:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T12:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/286764\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T12:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T12:57:09","slug":"heart-problems-can-strike-any-cyclist-heres-how-to-navigate-an-alarming-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/286764\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart problems can strike any cyclist \u2013 here’s how to navigate an alarming diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s supposed to hurt. But it\u2019s meant to hurt after you\u2019ve given your all. Or during. It should be the kind of strain which, while not welcome, feels familiar and constructive. <\/p>\n

If it hurts at the beginning, if it feels alien and unproductive, then something is wrong.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of my first track outings of the year and I can\u2019t be pushing 150W, yet it feels as if my chest is being stamped on by heavyweight sprinter Harrie Lavreysen. Something is wrong.<\/p>\n

For all that we let our legs do the talking, on the road or around the track, through the woods or along the trails, it\u2019s the heart that makes the athlete. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no organ we rely on more, to pump oxygen to the parts that push the pedals, before returning deoxygenated blood to the lungs to complete the circuit and restart the process.<\/p>\n

When the heart weakens, or fails, so do we. To an extent, we cease to be. Reports of heart problems \u2013 and worse \u2013 within the ranks of professional cycling are as old as the sport itself. Too often, they have revealed themselves in the most profoundly painful scenarios.<\/p>\n

Most cycling fans will be familiar with at least a few of those from the last decade alone: the tragic death by heart attack of promising 21-year-old Belgian Michael Goolaerts, mid-way through the 2018 edition of Paris-Roubaix; the 2022 career-ending collapse in Volta Catalunya of Classics winner Sonny Colbrelli; the story of Visma Lease-a-Bike\u2019s Nathan van Hooydonck, whose own career was brought to an end by a sudden cardiac arrest that occurred while driving his wife near their home in Belgium.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nathan van Hooydonck (right) was part of two Tour de France-winning teams. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Last year, the promising future of young GB rider Anna Shackley was brought to an abrupt end by the discovery of arrhythmia \u2013 an irregular heartbeat resulting from misdirected electrical signals \u2013 following an on-bike episode.<\/p>\n

Serious but usually treatable, her case proved beyond the capabilities of modern medical science to resolve.<\/p>\n

A new reality
\n\"\"Anna Shackley showed huge promise before a heart condition ended her racing career. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery athlete dies twice,\u201d is the aphorism referring to the loss of self that accompanies professional sporting retirement. <\/p>\n

It can sound hollow compared to near and actual death experiences. Goolaerts\u2019 family would surely give anything to have him back.<\/p>\n

Before turning their thoughts to his job, Van Hooydonck and his wife, Alicia, were primarily thankful the outcome wasn\u2019t worse.<\/p>\n

Which doesn\u2019t make the maxim any less resonant for those to whom cycling is more than mere hobby, or mode of transport. For Van Hooydonck, the crash brought a new reality, one as hard to face as any in his short career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really had this feeling that my life was over as soon as I had my accident,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

There was a similar sentiment from Shackley: \u201cTo say I am devastated would be a huge understatement,\u201d she wrote on Instagram in April. \u201cCycling has been my entire life for as long as I can remember and unfortunately it has come to a premature ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it is not only the sport\u2019s best who source their sense of self from the hours they spend in the saddle. For any subset of the committed, cycling is not just something we do. We are \u201ccyclists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Short, 35, was the sort of puncheur we\u2019ve all ridden with, only stronger. The kind who thrives on riding hard all day, for whom the joy lies in the effort.<\/p>\n

A highly rated amateur based in Washington State in the US, six years ago, he was taking part in a tough local race, the Ronde van Palouse, when, mid-way up one of the longer climbs, \u201call of a sudden I just felt like there was a fish flopping around in my chest\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was a frightening sensation, completely unlike the recognisable experience of a bonk<\/a>, when the power goes out. Instead, \u201cI felt like I was still putting out the power, but I was at walking pace\u201d.<\/p>\n

Had my own condition emerged as dramatically, or were I able to recognise it as ‘pain’, as opposed to discomfort, irritation or inhibition, I might have pushed the panic button earlier.<\/p>\n

As it is, I convince myself I am suffering from nothing worse than long Covid, that I had got back on my bike a bit too soon after those two dark lines had faded to one. Not nice, but normal, relatable among my peers.<\/p>\n

I treat it like I would a broken collarbone, trusting my body to repair itself given decent downtime, aiming at a few weeks, or a month tops.<\/p>\n

Although it never becomes unbearable, nor does it get better. The irregular, effort-induced unpleasantness becomes constant, harder to ignore.<\/p>\n

When I submit to making an appointment with my GP it is more to appease my partner, for whom a flat cluttered with unridden bicycles is only less insufferable than a boyfriend unable to ride them.<\/p>\n

However gradual, that I was experiencing a mental and emotional slide was more evident to those around me. <\/p>\n

The racing season had since resumed and I missed my weekly place at the back of the bunch, pining to make the odd futile dash off the front. <\/p>\n

Moreover, I missed the banter and the belonging, the completeness and mental escape that only comes from two hands in the drops and with all pistons firing.<\/p>\n

Investigating the issues
\n\"\"Chest pains should be a red flag for your GP. Getty Images<\/p>\n

At our first meeting, the doctor humours my amateur diagnosis while making clear Long Covid will only be considered once every more serious possibility has been ruled out.<\/p>\n

Although it did not occur to me at the time to ask what those might be, I have come to appreciate that the phrase ‘chest pains’ tends to trigger silent alarm bells between the ears of most medical professionals.<\/p>\n

That’s true no matter how casually you dress them down \u2013 especially when you are still, as one doctor in the cardiology unit kindly describes me, \u201crelatively young\u201d.<\/p>\n

There were no sirens sounding on the other side of the pond, however. Despite Ryan fairly swiftly identifying an arrhythmia as the likely cause of his complaints, his age and fitness meant \u201cI just couldn\u2019t get anyone to take it seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

That was, he says, \u201chorribly frustrating\u201d, only compounding the frustration of being barely able to train properly, or race as he would like.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was eventually able to obtain the diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia (an abnormally fast heartbeat originating in the heart’s atria chambers), and later persuade someone to perform the textbook catheter ablation procedure.<\/p>\n

The same operation undergone by Anna Shackley (who had a typically more serious ventricular arrhythmia, occurring in the heart’s main pumping chambers), it involves using radiofrequency to burn a fence of non-conductive scar tissue in order to prevent abnormal electrical signals from reaching the heart. As with Shackley, it did not succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey couldn\u2019t make my arrhythmia last long enough to track it, so nothing was done,\u201d says Ryan. It left him back where he was, bereft.<\/p>\n

For me, ruling out means tests and more tests. Devices are attached, numbers noted down. Progressively larger pieces of equipment are involved, requiring increasing numbers of staff to operate them. <\/p>\n

Each time the invasiveness notches up, the \u201chighlight\u201d being a CT involving a dye that is flushed through my veins, producing a warm sensation akin to having wet myself.<\/p>\n

This is the one that doesn\u2019t come back clear. This is the one that triggers my crisis summer. Existential\/identity\/mid-life \u2013 why pick only one?<\/p>\n

The assessment, imparted via phone call a week before I turn 40, is that my left anterior descending artery contains \u201c50-70% non-calcific stenosis\u201d. In layperson\u2019s terms, that\u2019s a blockage. Happy birthday, here\u2019s heart disease.<\/p>\n

In a fog of sorts, I take in what I\u2019m told about treatment and further investigation. I will go on medication for cholesterol, blood pressure and thinners. All I want to know is what kind of riding I will be able to do.<\/p>\n

The specialist understands what I\u2019m really asking. She knows not to treat it as a trivial question. She knows how best to answer it. She, like my immensely empathetic GP, realises it wouldn\u2019t be enough to tell me to \u2018take it easy\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing fun\u201d is her clear instruction.<\/p>\n

I am still, theoretically, allowed to engage any of the two-wheeled machines at my disposal, but I cannot ride them. This really hurts.<\/p>\n

Following his own, more certain and certainly more permanent diagnosis, Van Hooydonck spent similar time contemplating what he had lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I’d never get to see my friends again,\u201d he says. \u201cI’d never get to rub elbows in the peloton again. All these kinds of things were taken away from me. But most of all [the thing that had been taken] was my passion. And that was very hard to swallow. It was very, very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rays of hope
\n\"\"Getting back to his natural track habitat was a moment of release for Nick. Getty Images<\/p>\n

I am assigned a date, some months away, for an angiogram. This procedure, another step up in seriousness, is the kind that comes with \u2018risks of complications\u2019.<\/p>\n

It should, however, provide a better view of how bad the blockage is, while affording the opportunity to address it.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I pop three pills a night, tolerating the nausea, fatigue, insomnia and other fun side-effects. For a chance the critical numbers might go down, I can handle my nightly transformation into an industrial smelter.<\/p>\n

Pages fall from the summer cycling calendar. I volunteer a couple of times at track league, scoring and with sign-on. <\/p>\n

On another occasion, I go down simply to spectate, which fails to even partly fill the void, or restore lost connections. Looking on from the stands only serves as a reminder of what I\u2019m missing, however (hopefully) short-term that might prove to be.<\/p>\n

In early autumn, I defy doctor\u2019s orders by joining a friend for a 40k gravel ride through some of Surrey\u2019s vineyards. As easy as I take it, I\u2019m left feeling as if I\u2019ve ridden a 24-hour audax. Mentally, it\u2019s still the best I\u2019ve felt all year.<\/p>\n

My 40-minute angiogram is stressful (physically and in other ways) but, after an early admission and long day\u2019s wait in the company of older, more vulnerable neighbours, it goes well. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s determined that the blockage is not as severe as the original CT had implied, and it’s thus unnecessary to install a stent, the job of which would be to increase the artery\u2019s aperture and improve blood flow.<\/p>\n

The first woozy words to emerge from my one-track mind are to ask if I can ride my bike properly again. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not quite an all-clear, but tentative approval is given. A subsequent round of tests provide further encouragement, but the sensation beneath my ribcage hasn\u2019t gone completely, and nor has the trepidation.<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m too attentively tuned to feel it. There\u2019s only one way to find out.<\/p>\n

One crisp Thursday morning in mid-November, I lift a dusty track bike off the wall and wheel along to the early vets training session.<\/p>\n

Enough time has passed since I was last here that I\u2019ve aged into eligibility. I take my place at the back of the bunch, where the small talk is unobtrusive but welcome. With each passing lap, the pace picks up.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not comfortable \u2013 as expected, my endurance is through the floor \u2013 but my legs have lost less than they might.<\/p>\n

Approaching what must be the bite point, I\u2019m clinging on, awaiting the wrong sort of snap, crackle or pop. The lap bell, when it tolls, is music to my ears. A sprint of sorts and briefly into the red. It hurts, but only as it\u2019s supposed to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m back where I belong. I\u2019m me again. It\u2019s not a reset, but a reprieve of sorts. Compared to so many, I am immensely fortunate. Although Ryan still spends many hours each week on his bike, they\u2019re long rather than hard rides, which just doesn\u2019t hit the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve defined my life by how hard I can push myself,\u201d he says. \u201cSo many of my proudest moments are days where I just break myself to the absolute limit. I keep trying to figure out how to fill that gap in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work to do, then.<\/p>\n

Van Hooydonck provides a lesson that we could all draw upon. \u201cI started realising if I stay in bed every day, and I don\u2019t make something happen, for myself, for my family, for my child, then yeah, nobody else is going to do this for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, you\u2019re only down as long as you choose to stay there. It helps to have help, though. <\/p>\n

This experience has taught me much about my own fragility and the need to equip myself with the tools to handle that hurt if, or when, it returns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s supposed to hurt. But it\u2019s meant to hurt after you\u2019ve given your all. Or during. It should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-286764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}