Overcoming Injuries: Paralympic Cyclist Billy Lister's Story

This is session number 24 of the Performance Place Sports Care podcast. Here we go. Welcome to the Performance Place Sports Care podcast, where you can learn about sports injury theory, rehab, diagnosis, and how to understand the doctor lingo you didn't understand at your appointment. And now, your host, Dr. Sebastian Gonzales. Hey, how's it going? This is Dr. Sebastian Gonzales from Performance Place Sports Care. And today, we're going to have a really special guest on today. It is Billy Lister, or William Lister. You should creep on him on Facebook. He is a cyclist for, he corrected me, it's not a Paralympian, it's a Paralympian.

And he was a good friend of mine. He came in as a patient a long time ago. And since, he's gone to Colorado and participated in the Olympics in Rio and so on. So, I thought he would be actually a really good one to go over the topic of overcoming injuries, because he's had to overcome a lot, more than a lot of people. And I know that I see a lot of people in the clinic here that they think, you know, like a meniscal tear of the knee is the end of the world. And really, just, I feel like a lot of times we have to mentally overcome our injury before we can physically overcome it. So, sometimes you have to make that decision and just kind of go forward with it.

So, without any further rambling from me, here's Billy. Billy, say hey. Hi, guys. How's everybody doing today? They're not going to answer back. I'm sorry. I know. So, Billy, yeah, tell us about yourself. And obviously, I probably know more about you than you know of yourself. So, I'll fill in any of the voids that you don't get, okay? Sure. Well, first and foremost, thanks for having me on today, Seb. My story starts back out when I was 15 years old, and I was back with a rare and acute brain abnormality. It is something called an arterial venous malformation, otherwise known as an AVM for short.

It's a life-threatening malformation because at any moment, it can rupture and bleed and cause a hemorrhage in your brain. Because of its deeply recessed location in my brainstem, traditional modes of surgery and correction were not possible. Unfortunately, neurosurgeons thought it to be too dangerous to go in there and try and remove it invasively. So, the only option that I had to save my life was a, at the time, relatively unproven surgery and something called a stereotactic radiosurgery, which in so many ways is described as very centralized radioactive waves that are subjected onto the individual's brain and to that portion of the blood vessels that were contained, you know, within the deep recesses of my right hemisphere, in order to just try and eliminate them and kill them.

The surgery was a complete success. It saved my life. Just, unfortunately, as a surgical complication, something that none of the doctors really foresaw and really knew much about the surgery and what kind of side effects it could elicit, is that I started having some swelling in my brain. At the time, I was 16 years old, so I was still just a freshman in high school. And once the swelling started, I started to lose some movement on my left-hand side, in my hand and my arm and my leg. It was very minor at first and immediately went into my doctor's and they saw what was going on. So, right away, they put me into intensive occupational and physical rehab.

I was going to inpatient rehab on a daily basis, you know, several hours every single day, anywhere from five to eight hours every single day. And was making a lot of gains, was doing really, really well after a few weeks, even to the point where the doctors were tremendously positive and optimistic that, you know, there was a good chance that I was going to make a complete 100% full recovery and return back to just the active and athletic teenage kid that I was prior to this whole ordeal. But unfortunately, about six months post-op in June of 1999, just one month after my 17th birthday, was when I suffered my stroke.

And the way that the doctors described it to me was, you know, the brain works in fascinating ways. And what my brain was doing was it was getting rid of those dead blood vessels and that AVM that was no longer a threat to my life, but it served no purpose being inside my cerebral cortex and near my brainstem. So my brain slowly decided to get rid of it and get it outside of the inner part and the inner workings of my brain. So as dead blood vessels in the AVM were moving through my cerebral cortex, that's what was causing my stroke. So it was a year after the surgery then, right? Roughly a year, yeah.

So roughly, you know, about four to six months after my surgery was when I started having the swelling and was dealing with that about for a good three to four months of rehab and making those gains. And then anywhere from 11 to 12 months was when I suffered that stroke afterwards. So that was the thing is that it was so far after surgery that it wasn't anything that they foresaw. It wasn't anything that they could have predicted. And my stroke is actually a very atypical event. So that's why my dates kind of get a little hazy just because from onset to completion, it actually was a four-week timetable that my stroke wasn't a burst of light.

One second, you're walking down the street, you're perfectly fine. The next, you're waking up in an emergency room and your life is changed forever. Mine was a slow and regressive process. So each day I woke up and, you know, I couldn't do something I could do the day before. I remember the first thing that was was I came home from, you know, from school one day because I'd been discharged from rehab by that point and came home from school. And it was making a lot of mistakes, you know, on my keyboard typing. And as a 17-year-old kid, you know, you don't make a heck of a lot of, you know, typographical mistakes when you're typing on a keyboard.

The day after that, I was struggling to tie my shoes. The day after that, I couldn't brush my teeth. And then the day after that, I couldn't open a door. And then eventually, you know, I was having difficulty walking normally. And, you know, I went again back into the doctors and they were able to take, you know, very, you know, very clear scans of my brain and see exactly what was going on. They knew what was happening. But unfortunately, it was their determination that the risks of trying to stop it and going in there did not outweigh the benefits of stopping it. And in that was that there was a very good likelihood that I probably would not wake up from that operating table.

So it was a directive from some of the best neurosurgeons in the entire world just to wait it out. And, you know, hopefully you don't end up in two wheels. But thankfully and luckily, after four weeks, it did fully run its course and secede. And that's left me in the full left side hemiplegic state I'm currently in today. Well, so then have you have you regained any function, more function from actually when you left it, when it actually ran its course? Have you regained function? Not really. Minimally, you know, over the years, you know, that was half my lifetime ago. So 17 years ago. And, you know, throughout those 17 years, I've gone through a plethora of peaks and valleys.

And, you know, I am a textbook case of neuroplasticity. So when I'm doing something on a daily basis and a regular, a regular time frame, I can make tremendous gains and do very well. You know, obviously, you know, fine, fine motor finger movement is is impossible and moving my toes is impossible. But from a functional perspective, I can make tremendous gains because my brain has the capacity just like many others to relearn how to do things. But inherent in that is the second you stop, the moment you let up for any moment or period of time, you lose it twice as fast. You lose it five times as fast.

Um, so I have, you know, had times over the past, you know, 17 years where my function has been greater. Um, but on average as a whole, um, from where I am now to where I am 17 years ago, um, is, is pretty, pretty identical. Well, so when it comes to cycling, then I don't think I've ever asked you because, uh, because you're a badass cyclist. I remember riding with you and your buddies and I still tell people now, was that Quail Hill we're on because it was, yeah, that was, that was, uh, that was the old Quail Hill route. I, I, I remember not ever being dropped so fast than, than by you. And what was the other disabilities of the other guys?

I mean, the other two had, they, they had some type of disability too, right? Yeah, I think, I think I was riding with one of my buddy, uh, Tommy, who is a below elbow, uh, amputee. So he basically rides with just one arm. He's, uh, he's, he's able bodied below the waist. Um, so he's got, you know, two working legs. So he's got that, um, above me. Um, and I think, uh, I forget who else I was riding with, uh, that day cause it was, uh, quite a while ago. But, um, whether you're talking about, you know, one of my other, uh, you know, friends, you know, whether it's an amputee, you know, below the legs, uh, below the knee, above the knee, um, you know, on the lower limbs or friends who are, um, you know, incomplete quadriplegics, you know, who are able to ride upright bikes and, uh, and our cyclists like myself.

Well, so then with the, with, with your loss of function, then with cycling, if you stopped cycling, would you lose it still twice as fast as that you would if, like, would you lose it quicker than somebody else would then? Uh, I, for sure. Uh, you know, obviously I would lose the, uh, the motor neural, uh, pathway and the connection that I've gained over the past few years of, of cycling regularly. Um, and obviously, uh, more than that is my balance, um, is I've worked tremendously hard on increasing the balance that I have on a bike. Uh, when I first got on a bike, um, you know, I retaught myself and relearned how to do it.

And, you know, there's a, there's a history old adage that says, you know, if you fall a hundred times, you got to get up a hundred and one, well, I definitely fell a hundred times when I was learning how to relearn, when I was learning how to re-ride a bike. So it was, you shouldn't have been learning on sand, man. You shouldn't have taken it to the beach. Yeah. Gravel, uh, gravel, uh, gravel was not my friend for, uh, for a very long time. Um, but you know, it was something that I was tremendously determined to, to relearn how to do, um, and just kind of figuring out how to, how to get that balance and spatial awareness and equilibrium back.

Um, so that's something that I would lose pretty quickly if I ever stopped for a long duration, uh, and period of time. But the great thing about me with, with cycling is that it, it eliminates so much of my functional disability. Um, I know when, you know, when we, when we first met, I was still racing a multi-sport and still doing triathlons. Um, and it was one of the biggest, one of the biggest struggles that I had. Um, you know, you, you helped me so much with all the injuries that I was sustaining, um, was just because of my disability and my paralysis. Um, I suffer from extreme foot drop, um, on my left-hand side and, you know, terrible weakness in my hip, um, and my leg.

So for me to pull my leg through and actually run with a normal gait is tremendously very hard. So running is, is detrimental to my health and to my muscles and to my body. Um, so that was a very difficult thing for me to kind of wrap my head around. Um, you know, just because I used to be a runner, um, as a kid and I was, you know, tremendously fast. But once I found cycling and, you know, it being such a low impact sport, um, you know, physically to the ground, um, outside of getting into pretty bad bike crashes, um, you know, from a, from a, uh, day to day and training and racing perspective.

Um, it doesn't take the toll physically, um, for me personally, as, as say running did. Yeah. You definitely have like, it, it seemed like your, your, your injuries were just, just from sheer impact and like having to kind of drag that left leg. Absolutely. Yeah. They're just going to keep coming back for sure. Ah, I mean, they were going to get not even coming back because they would just never go away. Yeah. You're right. I, I, I, my injuries were a direct, direct result of my thick headedness and my, um, dedication and willingness to just to go through any wall and any barrier and anything that stood in my way to what I wanted to do and what I wanted to achieve.

Um, it was kind of a, it was, it was a growth process that like, you know, I said, mentioned before that I was an athlete growing up, you know, I played everything, um, everything that I could get my hands on from baseball, from baseball to basketball, soccer, lacrosse, um, everything. Um, and when that was taken away from me, just as a teenager, you know, right when I was in the prime of my high school career, um, you know, that was a tremendous burden to cope with and something that, you know, I, you know, I really struggled with for, for many, many, many years. Um, and, you know, I was, you know, at that point through most of my twenties, um, that I wasn't really, um, at no point I was, I really living my life.

I was just merely surviving it. Um, and it was not, it was not enjoyable. It was not something that, you know, I really, um, can look back on and say it was a good time in my life, but the moment that I found sports and adaptive activities again, um, was what kind of turned the light bulb, the light switch on. And I mean, it really was just like me, just standing in a completely pitch black, dark room, um, and somebody just tapping on my shoulder and saying, Hey, Billy, the, the light switch is right behind you. And they flicked it on. And, and once that happened and once that light switch went on, um, I never wanted it to go off.

So no matter what obstacles or physical hindrances that I was doing to my body, that I literally was just running it literally and figuratively into the ground. Um, and it was not sustainable at all. Um, that wasn't going to stop me. I was going to, I was going to go through it and I was going to, I was going to compete on the Paralympic team, which I did for, uh, for a few months before, um, moving over to triathlon and then realizing that, you know, being on two feet is just not my strength. Yeah. Um, well, you, well, that's why you got a dog so we can, so Potter can help you. Exactly. Yeah.

So that's why, uh, Potts, uh, you know, Potts, uh, comes around with me all day long and, uh, you know, he's, uh, I take two of his four legs to, uh, to balance mine out. So that's why it, uh, it helps a lot. I think he has more Instagram followers than you do as well. Uh, he's, he's getting up there and it will be very quick before he, uh, he surpasses me. He's, uh, he's my golden ticket and I will be the first one to admit that, that I am going to take full advantage of his popularity. Well, you know, you only have like what dog's lifespan of a, of a lab is like 12 years. So you, you got to get him in his prime.

Absolutely. You got to take more pictures, man. You need a better camera. Yeah. Well, try not to overload it, you know, just cause, uh, you know, I'm looking for that sweet spot and trying to find, uh, trying to find his social media voice. Um, you know, just trying to see, uh, see, see how he does. And, uh, it's, it's been a lot of fun so far. That's for sure. Yeah. Um, so question with, um, I don't think I asked you either before, like how long did it actually take you to get, actually start doing physical stuff after I'm sure that for a while you're like, ah, this sucks. Like I'm not gonna, you know, be able to run again and so on.

Like, was there a certain period of time where you finally said, I'm going to start doing this or what? Um, so there was really never a period of time. Um, you know, I shortly, as I was going through my short stroke and directly afterwards, I, uh, I was a full, full on diagnosed, um, in pure denial. Um, and I continued competing in sports, um, you know, even though I couldn't, um, you know, so I would still go out on the soccer field for my high school soccer team. And, and run around and literally just trip over my own feet and fall on my face. Um, but you know, my coaches and teammates, you know, were people who I'd grown up with my entire life and they were so supportive of me.

So, you know, they let me do what I wanted to do. Um, but you know, before long, not too long after that, it became, uh, pretty evident that I really was, um, relegated to a life of, of sedentary nature. Um, and that was something that, um, took hold of me for, you know, for a while. Um, and I was in a pretty, pretty dark hole for, for the better part of a decade, um, through my early to mid twenties. Um, and then really what, what triggered everything was when I attended a, uh, uh, an event, um, a summit with an organization called No Barriers USA. Um, and that was in the summer of 2009, um, and No Barriers is an organization that helps individuals with disabilities get back into active lifestyles.

Um, you know, they focus a lot on, uh, you know, on outdoor activities like hiking, um, water skiing, you know, water rafting, mountain climbing, a lot of, uh, outdoors activities. Um, until then I know I literally, I had absolutely no idea that people with disabilities could still be active, that they were still sport and athletics for an individual who's disabled like myself, like never had no idea. Didn't even know it existed. The thought never even had crossed my mind while I was at that summit that weekend, um, was when I got introduced to the challenge athletes foundation for the first time.

And everybody started telling me that, no, Billy, like you can still do things like you can still be active. Um, and that's kind of when everything changed for me. And that's when I really started shaping my mind and, you know, changing my mindset and, you know, seeing that just because I'm paralyzed on an entire side of my body doesn't mean that I have to be relegated to a life of sitting on the couch and, you know, just, you know, not being active or doing anything that, you know, I love or anything that, you know, that makes that I'm passionate about. Um, and so slowly after that, um, was when I really started to transform myself, um, and kind of, you know, get back into, um, active lifestyle, whether it's just joining a running group, you know, I was living back in New York city at the time.

So it was just joining a running group, um, you know, that runs around central park once a week, you know, doing something like that, then getting in the pool. And then all of a sudden realizing that, you know, Hey, you know, maybe I could do a triathlon. Um, and then, you know, entering my first triathlon and then it kind of just slowly, uh, turned into a giant, uh, a giant avalanche. Um, and before I knew it, uh, you know, that's when I committed to, uh, you know, about a few years later was committing to cycling full time and then was, was on a path, uh, to, uh, to becoming a Paralympian, um, and, uh, never looked back twice.

It's funny. I can imagine you running around central park. And I know that with, uh, like, since we've been talking about a lot of this, like, uh, back history stuff, it's not at least our typical conversation. So I've known Billy for a while now, but we haven't really talked in like, gosh, like a year or so, but I can imagine you go ahead, go ahead. No, no, I mean, I've, I've kind of put my head in the sand for the past, uh, 18 months all just, uh, with nothing but gearing up for, uh, for the, for the Paralympic game. So don't take offense that we haven't talked in over the past year. Cause I haven't even talked to my mom that much.

I'm not taking offense. Cause when I, when I emailed you, you got back, you got back right away. Um, but no, I was thinking about you running around central park. Cause actually Billy is, um, he's an absolute chick magnet. Like, so you just put them in like a crowd of people and all of a sudden he'll probably meet like five of them and they'll like immediately think if it, think that's his best friend or they are, he is their best friend. So yeah, uh, I think that's the reason why probably Billy got into multi-sport in the first place, just so we can go to group settings. That's not something I can deny, Sebastian.

And that's probably why he got Potter the dog too. Uh, you know, he's not, not a chick magnet and I'll, I'll leave it at that. He's not, why not? No, I said he's not, not one. Oh yeah. He's not, not. Yeah. No, I can. Yeah. So, um, yeah, you mentioned about Rio then. Yeah. I didn't really, uh, I was, I followed some of it. I almost pulled some up. I was, I was, I was pulling some up, like before I got you on, I was going to see if I can play a game and just see if you can recognize which race it was by like a 10 second click clip of it. But I realized the announcers were super boring, so I wouldn't play that game at all.

Yeah. But, but I did look at your, there was your 300, do you call it 300 meter or 3K? Uh, three, three kilometer. Three kilometer. Um, and I was looking at the overall speed on it because I know I'd mentioned about you just absolutely smoking me on Quail Hill. You guys were still talking up that stupid hall. I was thinking like, is there another way, quicker way to get around? I just want to last so you, you to be able to get up it. So, um, but no, your overall speed was like, um, it came up in kilometers an hour. I'm like, I don't know, stupid kilometers an hour, but it was 26, which is faster than most people go on PCH down here in, in Huntington.

So, you know, this is the type of speed that, that Billy's able to produce. Um, and his leg is like the size of, I'm looking at my legs right now. They're definitely not as big as my legs. My legs are like, like mammoths for sure. Maybe the size of my trunk. Yeah. But yeah, did you have, do you have fun in Rio? I didn't, uh, since I didn't hear any stories. Did you break this in my way? Yeah, it was, uh, was, was the experience of lifetime. It was, uh, it was an overwhelming, uh, time in my life and was, uh, beyond, beyond anything to, uh, to represent, uh, the United States of America on the, uh, on the highest stage, you know, in, in sports and, you know, and athletics and, and just being there and being in the, uh, in the Paralympic village with, with the best Paralympic athletes from all over the world, um, you know, across all sports, all disciplines, um, you know, it was something really poignant, um, and, uh, you know, it was, was really special.

And, you know, it's, uh, something that I will never forget as my, uh, my first games experience. Um, and I, uh, I learned a lot, you know, I came up, uh, you know, a little short of my, my personal goal of, of bringing home a medal for, uh, for team USA. Um, but, you know, ended up getting sixth in the individual pursuit on the track and then fifth in the road time trials. So, you know, it was right up there and, and, you know, vying for a podium spot. Um, you know, it just wasn't, uh, just wasn't my day on, on those, on those competition race days. Um, but, you know, it takes to just bite like the metal, were you going to do that metal biting thing if you actually got one or not?

I need to, uh, I was ready to do anything to, uh, to get my hand on one of those metals. Um, I was willing to do anything and, uh, and I'm tremendously happy with how I raced and that I left everything out there. Um, you know, I didn't hold anything back and I'm, I'm very proud of, of the way that I did race and the performances that I did do. Um, it's just, it's, you know, it's the, it's the Paralympic game. And it's the, uh, it's the biggest stage in the entire world. Um, so it's, uh, the competition is, uh, is tremendous and it's, it's, it's hard. And so, but, you know, just learned, uh, an, an insane amount, you know, for, uh, for future, uh, future years to come and future quads to come and, and, and eventual games.

And now, um, you know, obviously everything we turn over now, everything gears towards, uh, Tokyo in 2020, um, Rio, uh, Rio was exceptional. You know, you know, the people there were supportive. Um, you know, I know there was a lot of, uh, negative press going into the games, um, you know, between, you know, Rio, the city and its infrastructure and the threat of Zika viruses and water quality. Um, and I can unequivocally say that I came back without Zika, um, didn't get sick despite drinking the water. Um, and the people there were just incredible. They were amazing, you know, the Brazilian and the Rio, uh, you know, the Rio population were, um, so supportive of us.

They came out to all of our events, uh, cheered on, uh, us at every corner. Um, you know, even when we were just traveling around, you know, with, uh, military detail, even the military soldiers were, you know, high-fiving us and, you know, talking us up and everything. And it was, uh, you know, it was just, it was just awesome to be in that, that environment and that setting. Um, and to, uh, to put on the, uh, the red, white, and blue stars and stripes on your back, you know, amongst all of that. Um, you know, it, uh, it still gives me goosebumps just talking about it right now. Did, uh, did you, did you run into any interesting people where you sat down and just had a 10 minute confluence and, oh my God, I love this person.

I can't say that I fell in love with anybody, but, um, you know, it's, it's, it's funny because, you know, you're with athletes from all over the world and, you know, there's the obvious, uh, language barrier that you run into with, with many of the, uh, with the predominant number of athletes from, from all over the world. Um, you know, so there's always the, uh, the, the convolution of getting around, you know, the pleasantries and the, uh, the barrier, um, that the two of you don't speak the same language outside of, you know, uh, you know, Western European, uh, you know, countries that, you know, we, we do share, uh, you know, a language with.

Um, but so it's, uh, it can be interesting, but at the same time, you know, the fascinating thing is even with people you are connecting with, you know, from a, uh, you know, a common bond area at the same time, um, you find that you're always sizing each other up. Yeah. I'm sure. That's the competition. You know, even if you're talking with a swimmer or a sitting volleyball player or a wheelchair basketball player or something, you know, it's, you know, they're from a competing country. And at the end of the day, you know, it's, it's team USA versus the world. Um, so even if they're not a direct competitor of yours in the grand scheme of things, um, you know, they are, um, the, you know, maybe that's just my train of thought.

Maybe that's just me. Um, you know, I'm a very, uh, you know, us against the world kind of person that, uh, I think, uh, the United States of America is the greatest country in the world. And we have the greatest Olympians, Olympians and Paralympians. Um, and, uh, we're, we're better than everybody else. So, um, I want to beat everybody else no matter what. So maybe that was a little difficult trying to connecting to people, but you know, that was, uh, that was kind of just the way I operated. Well, I didn't, I didn't think about the language barrier for sure, but you know, just the commonality of everyone being there for the same reason.

Absolutely. I, I've noticed at least that I, like, I've only been on a few trips ever by myself, like without really knowing too many people. Um, I've met the most interesting people on trips by myself, by the way, I'm going on one tomorrow, so this should be good, but it really opens up like, um, the possibility of, you know, like you're, you're, you're not, you don't have all your regular shit to do and whatnot. And sure. But yeah, I thought you would just hit a home run out there and just, just meet like a random like old dude who likes to, you know, make clay pottery wallets or something. And then maybe he started like a fundraising foundation.

He's got like bracelets. He wants to come to the U S to save Rio, you know, things like that. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, it's funny because, um, I don't know, maybe, you know, I, I changed my personality changes, you know, when I get on that stage and the, and the athletic, you know, the, the, the elite athlete in me kind of starts to come out and, uh, you know, the full blinders goes on and, you know, everybody's got phenomenal stories, especially, you know, at the games, you know, and, you know, everybody's, you know, done amazing things in their life and they've had to, they've had to do so to get to where, you know, we are and where we were competing, uh, competing in Rio.

Um, but you know, to me, this is kind of just like, you know, what, what I think, you know, what, you know, what, what the whole point of, you know, overcoming injury is, is, you know, to me, it's, it's, it's joined the club. Like, you know, there's, there's no point in, in crying over, uh, you know, what you've gone through and, and what you've done to get here. Um, you know, there's, there's only one goal and it's to get to the finish line. Um, and, you know, I've always kind of taken that approach with my athletic endeavors, um, and being in the game, being at the games, being in Rio was like, yeah, we're all here.

We're all on the same page. And, you know, I want to beat everybody. So it takes a different approach to my, uh, my outgoing, uh, personality, um, normally. I didn't know there's different sides of Billy actually. So, you know, the only one I know is a, is a smart ass. I give you shit all the time. Yeah. Well, it's sad. All you do is you just got to get in shape and build up those quads and join a bike race one and then you'll see it. Yeah. You know, I, I'm perfectly fine just hiding behind the masses of the Peloton and just kind of like tucking back there and just thinking, yeah, I'm going about 22, 23.

Yeah. This feels good. This feels real good. Can, uh, we can, we can make quail hill look like a, like a flat stretch of a PCH. If you want one of the bike races, if you ever want to join in, you want me to join in? Okay. Yeah. I'll, I'll be right behind you then. Are you even riding road anymore? Are you just doing, uh, what do you, uh, velon drone? You just only doing velon drone? Uh, no, I raced both, uh, track and road. So this is my specialty. Um, you know, it's where, uh, it's where I qualified for the games at road, uh, time trials, uh, in July back in Charlotte. Um, and it's where I had my best performance, uh, in Rio on the road time trial.

Um, but you know, right now we're in track season. So it's kind of, we were, we're a 12 month a year sport. So we, we, we rose, we race both track and road cycling. So track is kind of during the winter time, you know, anywhere from September, October until March. Um, and that's racing, uh, indoors on the velodrome. Uh, and then road season starts right around, uh, April and goes through August. Um, so it goes from one to the other. So, uh, you know, road is my primary specialty. Um, you know, it's where I'm strongest and it's where, you know, I enjoy the most, but, uh, you know, the Paralympics and Paralympic cycling is still at such a young age in its, uh, evolution and its movement that it just comes down to numbers that there aren't enough.

There's not that many specialists out there that can push athletes like myself and a lot of others out that we can't do both, you know, um, very good. You know, my strength is in road cycling, but I'd still very good at track cycling and there's not enough people that can beat me out on the track that I still can't continue it. Um, you know, probably as we navigate the rest of the quad, as we go towards Tokyo in 2020 and then onto 2024, um, which fingers crossed we'll hopefully be, uh, on home soil here in Los Angeles. Um, you know, there's a definite, uh, likelihood that, um, I will become a specialist and kind of see what you Olympic side where, you know, there's not a lot of athlete Olympians who are doing multiple disciplines within their sport.

They're doing multiple events, but not two totally different disciplines within their sport, like track and road cycling. So I imagine the training would be very different, you know, like 100%. Yeah. Like even imagine like eating is different, like break periods. Oh yeah. I mean, I'd like to, uh, you know, from a nutritional perspective would probably carry anywhere from four to eight pounds more on the track than you do on the road. Just cause, um, additional weight is, is in your favor on the track, just cause you can push harder and you can get centrifugal force faster. I never thought about that.

Yeah, so bigger riders are better on the trail, in a manner of speaking. And you're also training different endurance systems. So on the track, it's very anaerobic, and you're really training yourself for a four-minute effort. So really, you're getting up to maximum velocity and maximum threshold, and then just staying there for as long as you possibly can. Whereas on the endurance side, it's very aerobic, especially on the road. So on the road, the road time trial is anywhere from a 26- to 29-minute competition. So it's a very much build into it, so you never want to start out too hard and kill yourself.

You just want to slowly, gradually rise into peak power and speed. So very totally different, two totally different types. Well, if I could gain some more weight and stay sideways on a track, I think I would rather go on the track. Okay, yeah. Just remember that there are no gears or brakes on a track bike. Oh, wait, so you're pretty much a hipster. You're like riding a fixed gear is what I'm hearing. Just at 26 miles an hour at a 45-degree embankment. Well, have you seen – actually, I've seen it embarrassing. I've seen hipsters on fixies pass me on PCH when I'm riding. Like, they're not wearing a helmet.

They have – what's that? That is embarrassing, yes. It is embarrassing. It is really embarrassing. And I'm definitely not saying I'm any type of cycling or running athlete at all. I consider myself a sprinter, so I'm done after the first, like, about 15 seconds. Right. And then the hipster, you know, riding along with their dog alongside is passing you after your first sprint and you're completely dead. Pretty much. I have them for about half a light. I can beat them to the bus stop. That's about it. Ah, okay. Stop those. You should be proud. You know, that's a sprinter. It is. Okay, so we are actually approaching 36 minutes on this podcast here.

So we'll start wrapping up. Billy, is there anywhere where you're going to be coming up here in the next couple months training where someone can stalk you and watch you? Yeah, well, right now, you know, so I think you had mentioned earlier that I am based in Colorado Springs, so I live full-time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, but I'm out here in Southern California for the first few months of the year just taking advantage of the sun out here and training down in San Diego. But, you know, we actually are up in Los Angeles on the track, you know, right now this week training for a world championship team prep camp and are prepping for world championships, which, you know, it's a great opportunity because we are hosting it here on home soil.

So track world championships are going to be held at the velodrome in L.A. in Carson, California, which is located right in the Stubhub Center. And the dates of that competition are going to be March 2nd through the 5th. March 2nd through 5th. Gosh, that might be after this airs. I wish to anybody in need of your listeners who are avid fans of Seb in this podcast to come out. And Encheater's honest team USA, you know, will be competing against some of the best in the world for world championship jerseys. And it's a really exciting time to be competing right here in Southern California. It's pretty special to race in front of the home crowd.

So it's a really great opportunity. And I'll be here in Southern California in San Diego probably through the end of March, just continuing this training block. And then we start our International Road World Cup Series, which will take us all over the world starting in May. You're not going to be back in Colorado in April, are you? I will, yeah. So I'm telling you, I'm going to be out there. I'm going to come get you. I know, you should, yeah. Colorado Springs is a beautiful city. All you got to do is just say hello. Well, so you said that the event at the, you said it was at the StubHub, that's on January, March 2nd?

Yeah. Okay. I will try to get this podcast out before then, then, because I was actually going to go out in end of March, I think. Okay. Yeah. If you can get it out earlier, that'd be great. So March 2nd is the first day of competition, goes through March 5th. And it's right at the LA Velodrome in the StubHub Center. So super easy to get to, right off the 405. Are you going to be signing hats and stuff and posters? You got posters of yourself there? Yeah. If people come out, I got all the posters in the world to sign. Absolutely. Do they really, they give you a quota of posters to give out? Yeah.

I've already exceeded that. Mostly just because of Potter's paw print and everything. That's usually where I have the posters go to, because I sign them, and then they ask for Potter's autographs. So he tends to take most of them up. Does he tend to bring, he brings like a full ink pad full of dirt and mud just so he can smudge it on there real quick? Yeah, absolutely. I started off with him licking the posters, but then it just got really slobbering and weird. Oh, you still hear me there? You cut out there. I hope that got on there. I'm sure it was good. Okay, cool. The playbook at Garfield, so that's why.

Oh, I missed that part, too. I can't wait to re-hear this, because you always got good one-stabs in there. Okay, Billy, is there anything else you would like to tell listeners how to reach you? Do you have a personal website? Is there anything else? Anybody can find me on both Instagram and Twitter at BillyListerThe3rd. That's BillyLister, I-I-I, and that's both Instagram and Twitter. You can also follow me on Facebook at BillyLister. I would highly encourage anybody to follow me along in my journey, and hopefully everybody listening along gains some insight to everything that you, from P2 Sports, has shown me and provide me, you know, nurtured me along in my journey, you know, because there's no doubt that I wouldn't be in the bodily state and mindset that I'm in today, you know, without your help, you know, not just as a practitioner and clinician, but, you know, as a friend and somebody who's always, you know, been there and supported me.

It's sad to say, but I'm glad you came in with an injury, because we wouldn't have met, so it was awesome. I know, and I'm glad I embarrassed you on that first day on that hill, because then that would have, uh, that, that changed everything if you, uh, if you, uh, I would have been embarrassed by you. It was, it was, it was very enlightening, to say the least. I don't know how many times I've, I still got your picture, actually, in my office, uh, that you, that you signed, and they're like, who's this guy? I'm like, oh, it's that guy that smoked me on this hill with, with, uh, with only one leg, really.

Yeah, I should, I got to get you a new, uh, a new Rio, uh, a new Rio photo, put it up, uh, put it up in the, uh, the, the wall of fame or something. I'll just put it right up on the ceiling, so when people are doing floor exercise and course stuff, they get to look at it. I like it. I'm glad you didn't say the bathroom. That makes me feel a lot better. No, I put something else in the bathroom, actually. There's a, there's a, a, a cover from a record that I found in a thrift store. It was, uh, gosh, what is the guy's name? It is, uh, Bobby Goldsbrough. I've never seen nor heard of him before, but it is a really odd picture.

You should look him up. Okay. Yeah. All right. That sounds weird, man. Okay. Well, cool. Thanks for coming on, Billy. But everyone, uh, thanks for listening in and, uh, supporting Billy through his venture. Uh, again, if you have more questions or suggestions of people that you want to come on the show, um, have them go to p2sportscare.com. Again, that's P, the number two, sports is plural, care.com. And there is a little button there, which they can hit the button and just say there's peace and just say what they want you to, what they want everyone else to hear. By the way, uh, as always, I, I try to share at least the intention of this podcast was to share, uh, people's stories within the medical world and try to help out the greater good and let everyone kind of see the terminology we're using and be able to be able to understand their own injuries.

So, uh, when you share your story, just know it will be shared on air. Um, we might not have you on, but I will basically be talking about your case run on air. So, uh, again, p2sportscare.com. Check out all the resources we have there for different products that we like, as well as, uh, pieces or articles that I've written on different types of injuries and pathologies that you will probably commonly see throughout your sporting career. All right. Take care and talk to you soon.