‘It was quite a journey’: Crossroads Community Church Pastor Bill Longmore rides again

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GALENA–Life is a journey. Crossroads Community Church Pastor Bill Longmore has been on a journey himself to get back on the bike and ride following a series of injuries that derailed him for a couple years.

Longmore’s journey to where he is now, with a goal of biking 12,000 miles a year, has been met with many peaks and valleys, but biking has kept him focused on the path ahead.

Longmore, a U.S. Army veteran, would often run eight miles-a-day while in the service. In 2007, Longmore was involved in a drunk driving accident that led him to the career that he is in today.

“I was told after that that I couldn’t run anymore because I had a fake hip. I was told that I could swim or bike,” said Longmore. “I sink to the bottom, I don’t float, so biking was the only option.”

Longmore purchased a bike and started riding.

“A couple guys from church said they rode too, and the next thing you know we started biking really slowly and got up to biking 15 to 20 miles,” said Longmore.

Longmore once again encountered problems with his hip. He had it removed after the hip was recalled.

After that surgery, he got on the bike again around the same time that Crossroads Community Church purchased its current building.

Soon after, Longmore was golfing and ruptured his quadricep. In two years, Longmore had 13 surgeries.

“It was almost like every other month I would have to go in for surgery,” said Longmore. “I have a scar from the bottom of my kneecap to my waist. They fileted me open 13 times.”

Longmore had three inches cut from his quadricep and it still didn’t seem to work. Surgeons also tried transplants. He then had his hip removed for six weeks. Longmore stayed at home and was wheelchair bound which was difficult for him to not be at the church or biking.

Once he had his hip–again–doctors told him to give it some time and then he could start riding again. In June 2019, one month after being cleared, Longmore embarked on a 100-mile bike ride.

“It was amazing,” said Longmore. “After that I realized things would be able to get back to normal. It was only by the grace of God and my buddies egging me on that I got through it. I had buddies pushing me up the hill because I wasn’t going to walk. It was quite a journey.”

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Longmore said he couldn’t stand up while biking and pedals on his bike showed that 80 percent of his power was coming from his right leg.

“Eventually it has built back up and now we are out at 4 a.m. and bike and get in the office by 8 a.m.,” said Longmore.

Longmore and a group of four other bikers meet twice a week. They bike from Freeport every Tuesday and from Lena every Friday.

“We just go out and ride and talk,” said Longmore. “It is a great time of fellowship.”

Longmore is currently training for Ride Across Wisconsin (RAW), the bike ride that goes from La Crosse to Green Bay. It was cancelled this year, but they are still going to bike the route in the next month.

“I took last week off and on the first day I rode my bike from my house in The Galena Territory to Davenport and back, over 150 miles,” said Longmore. “The next day I rode another 40 miles.”

Longmore also plans to compete in the Trek 100 again this year.

Longmore said the time with his fellow riders has been invaluable and gives them time to talk about life and share life together.

“That is really in essence what has gone on, we encourage each other,” said Longmore, who was in a challenge last month to ride 1,000 miles. Longmore was on course to accomplish that goal.

When Longmore rides alone, he typically listens to podcasts, audiobooks or The Bible to help him prepare for his upcoming sermons.

“It is a couple hours a day where I can get away before the start of the day,” said Longmore. “It is a preparation, it gives me the opportunity to be out with no distractions. Life is so distracting at times that you can’t hear yourself think. We are at an extremely stressful time because everything we say or do is being scrutinized. It gives me time to go out and pray and think.”

Longmore uses his journey to inspire himself to keep pushing and to continue to enjoy the ride.

“I could use this scar on my leg as an excuse to not do anything,” said Longmore. “A scar is just a memory of the trial that you went through. You don’t have to be set back by your scar. It can push you forward. It is my motivation of that is where I was at one time and I needed to go through that to get me where I am now.”