I did it for the money. And the road bike.

At the very top the 'Stupidest Things I've Ever Done" list is the time when I agreed to be in a pharmaceutical study. Back in the early 90's My doctor told me I fit the profile to participate in it because of my chronic asthma. Among other things, they'd induce asthma to see how well the medicine worked. I agreed to do it. Stupid! I'd go in there once a month and breathe in this crap that made me have an attack. Then they'd "bring me back" with a breathing treatment and send me on my way. What an idiot. But I did it for money. Yes, for a brief period of time I was an asthma prostitute. It was stupid and I wouldn't do it again. I'm not proud of what I did, but don't judge me. I knew the whole time that I was "just another pair of lungs" to them, but I didn't care at the time. I had designs on getting that money.

By the time my check for $750 came I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I had a good dependable mountain bike, but I wanted something a little more nimble and efficient for riding on the roads. I found it at the nearby bike shop, a Schwinn Passage with a sale tag hanging from the handlebars: $749.99. I did everything I could to not appear impulsive when I finally bought it with my stupid inhaler study money. The truth is, it captivated me when I first saw it. This maroon and black Schwinn shined, and it looked fast just standing there. It was pretty light and stiff for a cromoly bike, and the components were just good enough to make me feel like I was riding first class with the elite riders. Fifteen years and thousands of road miles have gone by, and a newer sleeker bike is now hanging in the garage. But my "inhaler bike" is still with me, now on the trainer, and I love it.

ABC: Asthma, Bikes, Coffee

For many of us, exertion is one of the triggers for asthma, but exercise is also one of the things that has seemed to keep me from having bad asthma! Striking a balance is the critical thing. If I don't exercise at all, my asthma becomes more of a problem. If I continue to push my physical limits when I feel asthma coming on, that's an asthma attack waiting to happen. There's a balance here: I don't have to fear asthma, but I do need to respect it.

A very quick explanation of what asthma is: imagine a raging case of eczema on your skin. Inflamed, dry, swollen, right? Now transfer that from your skin to the inside of your lungs. Asthma! And once this area becomes irritated, it's really hard to calm it back down. Breathing can become so difficult that it's all you can think about. So little oxygen is actually making it through your lungs that you have to stay in a resting position. It can get really scary, and when it does you'd do just about anything to make it go away. But even when it's not at crisis level, it can limit what you can do. Bottom line: you need to keep your lungs from becoming inflamed in the first place. It helps to have a good preventative medicine and an emergency inhaler. And of course you have to avoid the allergy triggers, whether they're environmental or over-exertion.

Exertion is not the problem, over-exertion is. It took me way too long to figure that out. In fact, regular exercise has been one of the best things I've done to control asthma. I believe exercise is the best thing I can do to prevent my asthma from coming back. I usually don't do so well in the sports that involve sprinting or highly physical competition. I don't pay attention to my own limits, I become over-exerted and then I pay the price.

Enter the bicycle: A perfect choice for most of us with asthma because it allows us have so much control over all of the variables: speed, intensity, distance, route, all are choices the rider gets to make. And with that control comes confidence. That's why you see so many cyclists who also have inhalers! We love riding. It's one of the few physical activities that doesn't automatically trigger our asthma. The more we can exercise without causing asthma, the more likely it is to keep asthma at bay!

And then there's coffee: who knew that scientists would find so many reasons to support my habit? Apparently there are studies that show that if you drink 12,000 cups of coffee a day like I do, your asthma goes into full blown remission or something like that. Of course you have to potty all the time, but heck, it's worth it if you can breathe! Coffee is also known to be a bronchodilator. In other words, if you forget your inhaler, just carry a pot of coffee around with you.

Asthma really sucks. But it doesn't have to have the last word.