In Memory of Dr. Paul "Skip" Choate
DEATH OF A REAL BIKER
In Memory of Dr. Paul "Skip" Choate
By Cliff Gionet
In July 2012 Gainesville lost a real biker to cancer. Dr Paul “Skip” Choate was a remarkable person. He was a husband to his wife Angie, a father, dog lover, professor, scientist, fisherman, kayaker, ultra distance athlete, and friend and for over a decade a survivor of his battle with multiple myeloma.
Skip was a remarkable man in many ways. During his battle with cancer he became active in cancer support groups and even as he suffered he reached out to others to help them and explain what they might be able to do to alleviate the incredible difficulties of fighting their cancer. At his memorial service a lady with cancer spoke of how much Skip’s energy, support and help meant to her in her fight with cancer. On one of the last days of his life someone he had touched with his support efforts visited him to thank him for all he had done for her. Skip often wore a pink bike jersey is support of cancer awareness.
Skip survived two bone marrow transplants. I have never seen a sicker person than he was after his transplants. However, he had a stationary bike brought to his hospital room as often as he could to ride even while hooked up to monitors and IV chemo fluids. That is a real biker. When first diagnosed his physician predicted a life expectancy forSkip of no more than 3 years yet he lived 13 years and never considered giving in or giving up. Skip had innumerable infusions of chemo, steroid treatments, hospitalizations and more doctor and clinic visits then can be counted. On many days of our frequent rides Skip would get a chemo infusion at 3:30 PM and we would be biking by 5:00 PM. Over the years of his fight with his disease we biked ever shorter distances at ever slower speeds but not once did he complain. He never once said “why me”. It is hard to explain how inspirational it was to be a witness to the will of a man to do what others could never have done. It was an honor to ride with him when he was strong but as his health failed and he never wavered in his determination to bike the admiration I felt for him grew. On some days Skip was so sick that we would average less than 8 miles per hour on a 30 mile ride and while his breathing was labored and he was clearly suffering pain and cramping he ended every ride with “Good ride, let’s do it again tomorrow”. It was an honor and a privilege to watch him fight with dignity, strength and courage. After many rides I was moved to tears to have seen what it meant to him to be a biker. How could anyone do what he did?
He had done the Assault of Mt Mitchell numerous times. He had ridden Blood, Sweat and Gears, Six Gaps and done more centuries than most people ever do and often he did these challenging rides while struggling to survive cancer. He was not a victim but he was a fighter who until the end never surrendered.
Even in the last stages of his cancer struggle he never gave up. He planned rides he could never do and he tried to do rides that he could not finish because he did not know how to admit defeat.
A few years ago he and several riders from Gainesville and other areas around the southeast United States took part in a 30 day 2,000 mile Five Points of Life Ride. They rode in heat, rain, cold all for the purpose of spreading the word about tissue, organ and blood donations throughout the southeast. He told a story of a rainy tough day on that ride. He had a bad cold, saddle sores and wanted to stop and get picked up by the SAG wagon. Just as he was struggling to climb a challenging hill and ready to step off the bike he felt a hand at his back literally push him up the hill. At first he thought it was another rider but as he looked he saw no one near him. He thought it was the hand of God at his back helping him. Skip was a quiet, deliberate, generous, kind and wonderful man. Even if you do not believe in God, Skip believed that at the moment of the most challenging point on the toughest ride of his life something gave him a hand to climb that hill. I think that he was right and that God reached out to help him and as he struggled to help so many others as he spoke at all the places the riders stopped to talk about their cause. Try riding 2,000 miles in 30 days in all kinds of weather when you are healthy then imagine doing it with serious cancer.
Those of us who knew and loved Skip believe he survived so long because of his life long level of strenuous physical activity. Biking was more than a hobby it was therapy.
On a century a few summers ago I developed back spasms because I had gone out too fast and at mile 80 I had to stop and stretch. I told Skip to go ahead and finish and wait for me at the end so he could get some food and fluids and rest while getting pout of the heat. It took me almost an hour to weave the next 10 miles to the final turn. As I approached the last turn before the final miles of the century I lifted my head and saw standing patiently Skip waiting in the summer sun to lead me home. He never said a word about the sacrifice of waiting for me but smiled and said, “Let’s finish this”. He led me the final miles and he showed me what a real friend does and what a real biker will do for another biker.
All the people Skip touched in support group, his students, friends, family and the Gainesville biking community suffered a great loss when he died. He left a legacy of endurance, courage, strength and determination.
He was a real biker.
Cliff Gionet
GCC Member