WHEN TRAGEDY STRUCK HER FAMILY, SHE TURNED TO HER BIKE

Aileen Guiney’s bike has always been there for her.

- THEO KAHLER

When she was a kid, her white BMX bike was a vessel for adventure in the streets of suburban Chicago. By day, she kept a packed sports schedule as both a budding competitor and volunteer, spending time honing her skills on ball fields and handing out water cups to racers at her parents’ duathlons. But whenever she needed a break, she relished the freedom she felt in riding around her neighborhood and beyond. “My first taste of independence was on the bike,” she says.

A little later in life, Guiney’s ten-speed Schwinn served as a reliable means of transportation. She had forged an increasingly fruitful career in soccer: starring on championship-caliber teams in high school, earning the honor of Illinois Player of the Year, and receiving a prized scholarship to play for Northwestern University. With the Wildcats, she made a pair of All-Big Ten Conference teams, but may not have seen the same success without her Schwinn, which shepherded her across campus and helped her conquer the crowded slate of a student-athlete.

Then, in adulthood, Guiney’s Specialized hybrid bike became a crucial source of solace and consolation. When Guiney’s wife, Jenny Haigh, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, cycling brought steady comfort in the face of an uncertain future. And when Haigh passed away nine years later, the sport helped Guiney properly grieve. “The bike,” Guiney says, “was not just a workout. It was my outdoor time. It was my audiobook time. It was my alone time. It was my everything.”