The inaugural Pelotonia in 2009 was a lesson in perseverance for Missler, as she rode most of her 100-mile route from Columbus to Athens alone and was among the last to finish.
“I joked that Lance Armstrong (world-famous cyclist who participated in the first Pelotonia) got the sheriff’s escort out (of Columbus), and I got the sheriff’s escort in (to Athens), as one of the last to arrive,” she says. “I recall walking some of the hills, and the speedometer on my bike reading zero miles per hour. But I had every intention of finishing in Athens! It was around 7 p.m. when I did.”
Another year, she rode while recovering from shingles, and as she crossed the finish line someone asked her where her helmet was. “I reached up and said, ‘It’s on my head … oops, it’s not!’” She’d left it at a spot along her route where she’d considered stopping because she wasn’t feeling right.
Still another year, she delayed brain surgery for an incidental-finding aneurysm so she could ride. Her surgeon, a Pelotonia rider whose wife was battling cancer, “knew what it meant to me, as it meant a lot to him, too. He said, ‘Take it easy, and you can ride.’”
Two years ago, Missler rode just 3.5 months after having a knee replacement. “Those 25 miles — my shortest Pelotonia ride — took everything I had,” she says. “I kept repeating the names of people I was riding for, as well as people who are no longer around, but I could feel their presence supporting me — my mom and dad, my niece Maureen and my nephew Ryan. There was no way I wouldn’t finish.”
A staunch competitor, Missler grew up in a large family (including eight siblings) and played many sports — basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis, racquetball — but her journey to becoming an avid cyclist didn’t begin until she and some friends added a century bike ride to their “bucket list” and then found an opportunity in the first Pelotonia.
“I signed up and have not stopped since,” Missler says. “That first ride was personal; as a cancer survivor, I wanted to give back to The James. And the ride was a spiritual experience, with all the people along the route cheering and thanking you for riding. At mile 92, I saw a sign stapled to a tree that read, “Thank you Dr. Williams for saving Grandpa.” I finished with tears in my eyes and pumping the pedals a little harder.”
Missler’s experience with cancer began when she was diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, at age 35 after having “an itchy spot” removed from her back by a dermatologist. A week later, she was seen by the late Michael Walker, MD, a surgical oncologist at The James whom she describes as “a tremendous surgeon and a thorough and caring man.”
“My surgery in August 1996 was a great success, with clear margins and a benign sentinel node biopsy,” Missler says. “My treatment and recovery at The James were fantastic. I am now 24 years cancer free and am seen by a dermatologist at Ohio State every year.
“Pelotonia is a must for me now,” adds Missler, a member of the Team Buckeye – Team CTCL (Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma) peloton.
Even in the absence of a mass Pelotonia cycling event this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Missler concocted a My Pelotonia experience that involved extensive riding.
“For my twelfth ride, I will ride and walk 1,700 miles by 12/12/2020,” she says, noting that her partner Heather often joins her in these excursions but that anyone is welcome to take part. Missler explains that she is walking and cycling 100 miles for each of the 17 years she knew her friend Ben, who died last July “after an approximately six-year courageous battle with melanoma.”
One year, when Missler was hesitant to keep asking the same people to donate to her ride, she contemplated stopping.
“But Heather told me, “You can’t stop now. I’ll help you raise money.’ Over the years, we’ve held fundraisers such as Taco Tuesdays, baked chocolate chip cookies, commissioning my brother-in-law to make cornhole boards that we painted Pelotonia green with dark blue arrows, etc.,” she says. “My family and friends have always been great supporters of me and my ride to end cancer. In 2019, my niece Meredith, an apprentice in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, convinced her Local Union 32 to do their annual fundraiser for Pelotonia. They raised $2,730.”
Besides her constant support of Pelotonia, Missler — who works as an evaluator in child welfare/child protection for the Institute for Human Services (IHS) — has other ties to Ohio State. She once was employed at the university for approximately 13 years “while also completing a one-of-a-kind doctoral degree in sport psychology” for which she wrote the curriculum — more evidence of an implacable spirit that is invaluable in her quest to, as she states in her Pelotonia profile, “kick cancer’s butt!”
Toward that end, she gains sustenance from spectators along her routes. “During every ride, just when I need a pick-me-up, something inspiring happens,” she says. “One time as I was riding alone, a woman stood up from her lawn chair and said, ‘They saved my life!’ I smiled at her and said, ‘They saved mine too!’ That final leg of the ride was a lot easier.”