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Honor Your Families – Tour de Torrington
By Rebecca P. Conrad
On April 10, 2000, my father, Charles Poliquin, died of cancer. In his memory and to pay tribute to his remarkable tenacity, his family has joined efforts to volunteer and serve on the committee sponsoring the 13th annual Tour de Torrington, a bike race to benefit the American Cancer Society. Our family would like to encourage you to honor your families by becoming riders, walkers or rollers, to sponsor a participant, or to volunteer. With a little help from our friends, we can have fewer people like my father who did not survive cancer.
In 1996, at the age of 67, my father needed to have bladder and prostate repairs. He hadn't seen a doctor since he was a Marine at the end of World War II, and we urged him to have a full physical. During the physical, he was diagnosed with blocked arteries. An angioplasty was scheduled and it was discovered he needed bypass surgery. Well, Marines may be the toughest group of soldiers but they sometimes make the worst patients. It took almost six months of begging and hand-holding to convince him to have the surgery.
Doctors performed a successful quintuple bypass surgery on a Wednesday. On Friday my father had a minor stroke which affected his speech. It took several months of recovery and therapy, but when 1997 came to a close, he was once again himself. Then, he finally had his prostate surgery and everything went fine. Again, within weeks, he was back on his feet and just as healthy as before.
During these years, he took up bicycle riding, which he added to his repertoire of exercising, lifting weights, and canoeing. He wore his helmet and other protective gear and my mom would follow him just in case. In the summer of 1998, feeling relatively well, he entered the 12-mile bike race for the Tour de Torrington. The next year he was in such great shape that he decided to bypass the 12-mile ride to do the 30-mile route.
So, at the age of 70, in the sweltering summer days of July 1999, my father got on his bike and rode the 30 miles with my mother following him in the car. He wanted to make sure that he could manage the proposed trek through Litchfield and Goshen. He was worried he wouldn't be able to make it up the steep hills of Route 202. The trial run went well and gave him the confidence to do the real thing. In August, he joined the other bikers for the Tour de Torrington and rode the 30-mile loop officially. He didn't finish first, but he definitely did not finish last.
What my father did not know was that the backache he had that summer, when he was 70 years old, was caused by aggressive bladder cancer. In September 1999, the surgeon removed his bladder and shortly after that he was limping as a new tumor pressed on his hip. Yet he would still get on his stationary bike and ride. Throughout the fall and winter he was in and out of the hospital with complications and he was also losing weight from the chemotherapy. His doctor promised he would be riding his bike again in the spring. However, on April 10, 2000, just ten months after his 30-mile ride, the tumor ate through an artery and he lost his battle with cancer.
During his struggle with cancer, Dad learned that his cancer was most likely caused by his cigar smoking. Although he had stopped smoking several years prior to his death, he regretted that he would die because of something he could have prevented.
This year's Tour de Torrington will take place on Sunday, August 4 and our family will be volunteering at this fun-filled fundraising event, which includes activities for everyone. In addition to 12-, 30-, 50- and 75-mile bike routes, participants can choose to walk, run, or roll in courses ranging from 1.9 to 8 miles. All courses begin and end at Coe Park in Torrington. The registration fee is waived for people who raise more than $100, and many prizes are awarded to individuals and teams who raise the most money. Lots of food, music and prize drawings will be offered throughout the day. Funds raised will help support the American Cancer Society's programs of research and service that benefit local cancer patients and their families.
For more info or to register for the Tour de Torrington, call Tommy's Bicycle and Fitness of Torrington at 860-482-3571, or visit <www.tommysfitness.com>. For more info about the American Cancer Society, call 800-ACS-2345. We will also be doing a segment on Thursday, July 18 at 3:30 p.m. on radio station WAPJ 89.9 FM; and then another segment on Driscoll's show on television's Laurel Cable 5 on Monday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m.
In memory of Charles R. Poliquin of Torrington, submitted by his children, Rebecca Conrad and Julie Marchetti, and his widow, Faith Poliquin.
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