Man pedals to support wife's fight against breast cancer

ST. LOUIS -- Look up the definition of labor of love and you might find a photo of Ben and Bridget DuMont, a Wildwood couple who just beat breast cancer.

On June 9, Ben rode his bicycle the 225-mile length of the Katy Trail in about 16 hours -- an average of about 14 miles per hour -- through rain and mud. He did it to support breast cancer research and to honor his wife, who after 16 months has been deemed cancer-free.

"She's the real survivor," said Ben DuMont, 34. "And the reason she had such success on her treatment was because five, 10, 15 years ago, people were doing fundraising and research that helped people like Bridget today. We're just paying it forward."

Out of nowhere

Fifteen months ago, Bridget DuMont found a lump beneath her left breast while doing a self-exam. Doctors diagnosed HER2+ cancer, an aggressive form that only five years ago had a low survival rate.

The cancer came out of nowhere. Neither Bridget nor Ben smoked, they ate healthy, exercised regularly and breast cancer didn't run in her family.

Their first decision was not to be stressed. "How we reacted to the cancer would be how our children would react," Ben DuMont said. "If we were stressed about it, they would be, too."

As she endured chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and the side effects, she was aware that Ben was neglecting things he loved while watching over her.

"I think sometimes that he had a harder time with this than me," she said.

He was an avid biker, an itch he got competing in a couple of local triathlons.

"I encouraged him to keep riding," she said.

Making plans to ride

The Katy Trail plan grew from hearing of people riding its length in one day.

Mike Weiss, owner-operator of Big Shark Bicycle Shop and one of Ben's sponsors, said riding the trail in one day was known to happen but that no one kept records.

"I know a few people have done it, probably more," Weiss said. "That's long-distance, but the surface, it's gravel and that's more friction."

Ben started training in January, with plans to make the ride in late spring once the weather improved.

June 9, a Monday, it was drizzling, but he decided to go, regardless of the weather; he'd already postponed one ride because of the conditions.

He started about 5 a.m. in Clinton, Mo., where the trail begins. His father shadowed him in a car along adjacent roads.

"Every time I thought about quitting, I'd run into a flat smooth spot, or I'd pick up a tail wind and I'd keep going," Ben said.

'We've been blessed'

Bridget and the family waited at the finish line. Everyone exhaled as they saw Ben emerge from the darkness. "I was glad it was over," she said.

With her victory over cancer, and his over the ride, they don't feel they've made any great conquest.

"When this all began, a friend said to me, don't focus on the cancer, focus on God. It took about a week for that to sink in," Ben DuMont said.

"I look at the situation we're in, and a lot of people don't have health insurance; they don't have a team of doctors to fight the cancer. We just have to look, given the situation, at how we've been blessed. A positive attitude is part of a successful outcome."