A moment that changed me: I was terrified of my own body – until a surprising 20-mile bike ride

I grew up with spinal conditions that solidified my sense of being ‘weak and weird’. By my late 30s, I was feeling burnt out.

But an invitation from a colleague set me on an unexpected and exhilarating new path In 2023, I was in the Alps trekking the 80-mile Tour du Mont Blanc when there came a moment I was no longer trekking, exactly. I was on my hands and knees. Frozen. And then I started to cry. Others were casually bopping past me, up and over like water around a stone. But I was stuck. Why can’t I move? I thought. I was not always fit enough to trek 80 miles in the Alps. As a child, I was…