After a Back Injury Sidelined This Air Force Veteran, She Turned To Cycling
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Name: Terace Garnier
Age: 33
Hometown: I’m from Belleville, Michigan, but now I live near Washington, D.C.
Occupation: Journalist
Time Cycling: 5 months
Reason for Cycling: I’m overcoming a back injury and the only exercise I could do that didn’t irritate my back was cycling. Once I started I became obsessed; I love how it makes me look and feel!
I’m a disabled Air Force veteran. (I served in the Air Force as a broadcast journalist, serving mostly in Japan.) As a result of my disability, I was already limited with what exercises I could do, and then last year, I injured my back on a journalism job.
Due to that injury, it basically made any workouts a no-go. I asked my doctor if cycling would cause any issues with my back, and they said no and told me to go for it. So, I started researching bikes and I fell in love with the Bowflex VeloCore.
Around January of this year, I placed my order and I received it in March. That’s when I began cycling at least three days a week for 30 minutes each session. Now, I’m cycling five days a week for about an hour and a half per session.
When I first started cycling, my goal was to ride at least three days a week for 30 minutes. I just wanted to get back in shape after being sedentary for two years due to the pandemic. Plus, being out of breath every time I walked up the stairs in my home was not a cute look!
I didn’t use any special apps other than the one that comes with the VeloCore. I would just put on one of my favorite shows and try to ride as many miles as I could in 30 minutes. After a couple weeks, that got boring. So, I started challenging myself with the different cycling classes offered in my Bowflex membership.
Now, I’m using my love for cycling to raise money and awareness for homelessness among single mother veterans through the Ms. Veteran America’s “Move With A Purpose” Virtual Dash.
I joined Ms. Veteran America in May because I’m passionate about helping homeless veterans, as someone who was a homeless veteran as a network news reporter. In July, Ms. Veteran America announced they would be promoting their third annual virtual dash to raise awareness. Due to my disabilities, I’m unable to run or even walk for long periods of time. So using my new bike was a no brainer.
The Ms. Veteran America competition highlights more than the strength, courage, and sacrifice of our nations military women, but also reminds us that these women are
mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives. Ms. Veteran America is a movement, encouraging women veterans to uplift each other and find their support system. Proceeds from this virtual event provides housing for homeless women veterans and their children.
On July 1st, I signed up and said I wanted to ride 500 miles as a joke—at least at first. Honestly, I just said 500 miles because it sounded like an outrageously crazy number and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could actually cycle that amount between July 1 and August 15. Plus, I figured if I thought it was a crazy number, others would too—and I could use that to bring attention to the increasing number of homeless veteran women and their children. To date, I have cycled 498 miles!
I am so proud of my cycling and representing Ms. Veteran America. Not only have I met some many other amazing warrior women that are just as passionate about raising awareness as I am, but I also get to be a part of Final Salute, an organization that has already helped thousands of homeless veteran women and children across the country.
Ms. Veteran America is about more than pretty gowns and lip sync competitions—it’s a sisterhood. Even though we are competing with one another, we still go out of our way to help each other almost on a daily basis with everything from advice in our personal lives to traveling from different states to help support each other’s events and fundraisers. We are a team, and our mission is to help better all women veteran’s lives, especially homeless warrior women and their children. And I hope that the cycling community will be encouraged to want to use their cycling skills to bring attention to causes that are important to them as well.
At this point, I am cycling 20 miles a day, five days a week. I usually start first thing in the morning, and it takes me maybe an hour and twenty minutes to reach that 20-mile goal. But before I start cycling, I meditate. (It doesn’t feel right if I don’t meditate first—even if it’s just for five minutes.) I usually drink a bottle of water, and grab a protein shake to sip while I’m riding. I put on my neck fan, back brace, my tracker, and I get the party started.
While cycling, I’ll either listen to my “women empowerment” playlist or put on one of my favorite shows. After I finish cycling, I stretch for at least 30 minutes, shower, and then I walk my service dog.
My advice for other cyclists looking to start a cycling journey is to take it easy. If at any point you start to feel like something is not right, lessen the resistance and take a day or two to rest. In one instance, I was cycling and I had the resistance at 60 for 30 minutes. Midride, something in my knee started to feel weird. I kept going, and little did I know I would soon regret that decision. The next day I had horrible pain in the back of my knee. I did some research and found out that’s a common injury for those new to the cycling game. So, I stopped cycling for a week, put ice and heat on it during that time, and then slowly eased myself back into it cycling at a very low resistance.
I’m officially in love with cycling now. Even after the Ms. Veteran America’s “Move With A Purpose” Virtual Dash ends, I may just keep doing 20 miles a day. Who knows, I may start to increase the amount to 25 or 30 miles a day!
These three tips have made my cycling journey a success:
1. Set a goal
I initially set an “outrageous goal,” but the closer I get to it I realize it really wasn’t outrageous at all. Limitations are only true if we allow them to be. So, shoot for the moon. Why not? Even if you miss, you still are among the stars!
2. Stick to it
There are days when I don’t want to cycle at all. But I make myself (unless it’s because I’m sick or exhausted) because once I actually start cycling, I feel really good. And then I think to myself, “I’m glad I made myself stick to the plan.”
3. Don’t over do it
Yes, set goals and stick to them—unless you are tired, sick, or injured. Cycling during those times will only make matters worse and prolong your healing process, which means you’ll have to take longer to recover. Plus, who wants to work so hard to have a setback that could have been avoided if you had just listened to your body?
Terace’s Must-Have Gear
→Fabletics High-Waisted Seamless Rib Legging and Fabletics No-Bounce Sports Bra: I am obsessed! They feel great, the come in super cute colors and designs, breathable and high0quality material, and they have hidden pockets for your phone, cards, and sometimes even a bottle of water.
→FrSara Neck Fan: It’s a must! I love the colors and how long the battery lasts.
→Orgain Protein Shakes: I’m a huge fan of these shakes because they taste great, they don’t have a lot of sugar in them, and it’s the perfect amount of protein for what I’m doing.
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