From Gravel Roads to Greater Health!

Dr. Orr and Dr. Newell’s 100-Mile Triumph at Bad Astra 2023

On September 30th, the 3rd annual Bad Astra took place in Ottawa, Ks.

This is a grassroots gravel cycling event that invites people to come and share the joy of riding a bicycle and appreciate the beauty of Kansas gravel roads.

Ottawa Bike and Trail and the Bad Astra Cycling Company have put together an awesome event that has many community and individual benefits.

Dr. Orr had the opportunity to ride with her dear friend, Dr. Bradley Newell in this event where he was taking on his first 100-mile ride ever.

Dr. Newell is a clinical assistant professor and interim assistant dean at the KU School of Pharmacy- Wichita. Both Dr. Orr and Dr. Newell trained for several months to ride this distance and they supported each other along the way with virtual high fives and hugs. Each of them set short-term and long-term goals for themselves in order to accomplish finishing this long bike ride. They both feel that the lessons learned in this process are applicable to everyday life. There were setbacks along the way during training and on race day too, but being able to preserve made reaching their goals in the end that much more rewarding. As we explore the benefits of exercise in metabolic health, this is a wonderful example of a few things. Exercise boosts mental health which directly translates to physical health. It takes confidence and grit to make lifestyle changes that impact metabolic health positively. Cycling is an excellent example of an activity that can be used for Zone 2 training. Zone 2 training physiologically builds more efficient engines (the intracellular structures called mitochondria are our engines). Zone 2 training also improves our hormone balance by making our cells more insulin sensitive. We are always saluting our patients for taking on the journey to improved metabolic health and weight maintenance. We hope that this story of triumph inspires others.