Brett Weitzel has developed his own technique for maintaining his endurance on long hill climbs on his mountain bike.

“I’ll do three revolutions, and build up a little momentum, then rest for a second, then three revolutions, then rest for a second,” he explained from a picnic table in front the La Sal hut on the San Juan system.

Normally, that might not be too fascinating, but the fact that Weitzel can ride a bike at all defies objective description. In October of 2007, Weitzel lost a leg to cancer. In April of this year, he got a new bike. Last week, he rode it from Telluride to Moab on the Monopod Mountain Bike Madness tour to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico.

Weitzel has a long history of both athleticism and cancer. At age 17, captain of the basketball team, Weitzel was first diagnosed with lymphoma in his right leg. He was able to resume his active lifestyle for seven years, until 2002, when he was diagnosed with a more aggressive cancer in the same leg.

This time, a year’s worth of surgeries and treatments left his leg weakened. He would continue medical school, and still participate in a sports, but at a different level.

In 2007, the cancer returned. By then he’d received his lifetime dosage of radiation, and he was beyond chemotherapy options. Doctors amputated his right leg at the hip.

Later that year, his long-term girlfriend, Dr. Amy Williams, told him about the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which offers grants to help people with physical disabilities maintain active lifestyles.

Less than two months after losing his leg, Weitzel knew he wanted to get back on a bike, so he applied for a grant for a bicycle. On April 1, he got the grant. “Since I lost my leg we were looking at what I could do, and biking seemed like a possibility,” he said. “So I’ve been training since the end of April.”

Not only would Weitzel have to train to prepare physically for the 215-mile trek, the ride generated so much interest so quickly that Weitzel and Williams realized they had an even bigger opportunity.

“Amy and I were just going to do this as a celebration of just getting back out again,” Weitzel said. “We started organizing a trip, talking to San Juan Hut Systems, talking to Tag-a-Long about doing a river trip, everybody said, ‘That’s just awesome, we’d like to help you out, what can we do for you?’When it came down to it, it’s an inexpensive trip, there’s not a lot that really we need, so what we decided was to take those people’s enthusiasm and use it for a good cause.”

Weitzel credits Williams for the energy to organize their trip, which they’ve dubbed Monopod Mountain Bike Madness. “Amy’s the mover and shaker behind all of this,” he said.

Williams accepts the compliment, but points out where the inspiration comes from. “He’s always leading the way, and you’re just like, ‘Oh my god, come on – you’re getting beaten by a one-legged guy.’ It gives us a little something to shoot for, all us guys in the back,” she said.

He makes it look easy, but Weitzel acknowledges the difficulties of riding with one leg. “You’re putting on the power so hard, I’ve broken my chain yesterday and today,” he said. “When you shift gears you really can’t let up very much, because you’re going to fall over. The other thing is the front wheel is constantly popping off the ground, on steep ascents, because you’re cranking so hard, and I can’t stand up to get my weight forward.”

Williams helps Weitzel to get on the bike, and she’s there to help him get back on after a spill. However, once he’s riding Weitzel looks comfortable and balanced. The bike is plumb; his shoulders are square. From the left side, an onlooker might not notice something is different.

Looking at Weitzel’s right side, people sometimes forget their manners. “We’ll be out on a paved trail, just a cruise, and normally you say hello to people, or just acknowledge them, and when you try to do that, you can’t do it because they’re staring at my missing leg,” Weitzel said with a laugh.

In addition to other events he’ll be supporting, he’s planning another Monopod Mountain Bike Madness tour.

“We’ve already talked about doing something like this again next year, definitely doing some type of charitable event,” Weitzel said. Information is available on Weitzel’s website, www.brettweitzel.org.