ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For nearly nine years, a Rochester nurse has led a bicycling program to promote healthy living in a northeast Rochester community. Facing health issues, a rise in crime and illegal dirt bikes roaming the streets, the program known as Conkey Cruisers is coming to an end.

“We teach health and wellness in a way that’s fun,” said Theresa Bowick, a registered nurse and the program's creator. “We deliver a message without pointing fingers, without criticizing, without putting people down, we help them help themselves, and make it fun.”

The nurse founded the program in 2012 to change the negative perception of exercising in her community.

“They discovered that with the slightest change, riding a bicycle three times a week for half an hour to an hour, drinking nothing other than water when they’re here that over the course of six weeks, they lost 10 pounds,” Bowick said.

Tucked away at Conkey Corner Park, the program is not in session this summer, but during Spectrum News 1’s time at the headquarters, three children approached nurse Bowick about bikes. She gave away three bikes that day to children in the community, and they offered to help clean up afterwards.

“You know I love it when the kids come up here and they offer to work,” Bowick said. ”And that’s beyond the regular summer program, but just that neighborhood, that brotherly, sisterly love is what you just witnessed. And that’s why Conkey Cruisers will cruise forever.”

On the 10 year anniversary, the program will come to an end because of crime, illegal dirt bikes in the city and nurse Bowick’s health.

“It’s like I can’t count on my body to do the job,” Bowick said. “You know I may want to come to Conkey Cruisers and run a bicycling program, but my feet like ‘how you going to get there, because I’m not going with you, I’m staying in this bed.”’

The nurse suffers from ledderhose disease, which developed after a career ending fall at work.

“It’s a very painful disease,” Bowick said. “And there’s many times where I have to choose to be in pain, or lose my thoughts, if I take the pain medication, then I lose the day. I can’t think clearly. I’m in a fog.”

The disease has forced Bowick to sell her house, just five minutes away from Conkey Cruisers. Bowick says the stairs in her house are the main reason she’s moving.

“There’s lots of them, that’s what did me in,” Bowick said. “From the bottom to the top, there’s 42 stairs, and the stairs took me out, and that’s the reason why I can’t live in my dream house anymore, and wake up and walk around the corner to be at Conkey Cruisers. That’s the tough part.”

This is just one of many things to come for Bowick over the next few years. There are surgeries planned to replace both knees, remove the tumors from her feet and fighting off weight.

“When I talk about my body turning against me, I was on the cover of Weight Watchers magazine,” she said. “I gained 60 pounds since I fell, and so my surgeon wants me to have bariatric surgery because I can’t exercise to keep the weight off.”

Bowick described the move from her dream home as bittersweet

“You know, if I was moving because I didn’t want to be in the neighborhood, that would never be the case. But I’m moving because my body gave up on me, and that stings, that stings, a little bit sad."

To get her day started, every morning she has to “wake up her feet.”

“I have a lot of tingling,” Bowick said. “I have severe neuropathy nerve damage in both of my feet. And so they feel tingly, burning. So the first step is to shower and the hot water tends to wake my feet up for the day.”

Bowick then applies lidocaine patches to numb the pain in her feet.

“These are my life savers, I cannot leave home in the morning without putting these on,” she said.

The tumors in her foot are benign, but cause a lot of pain.

“It is red and sore this morning, because I was cleaning out my house to sale it,” she said. “So it kind of wants me to sit down. And if I don’t it will get more red and more angry and I will sit down.”

Once the patches are on both feet, Nurse Bowick aims to take a daily bike ride around the city.

“The wind in my hair, it’s like I’m in heaven,” she said. “Like yes, whew!”

While the future is optimistic for Bowick, she wants the Rochester community to know on thing.

“The one thing I want to leave for Rochester is to continue to bike for the health of it,” she said. “Because there are so many health benefits to cycling."

Although she’s in pain, Bowick keeps a positive mindset and you can see that on her bike ride.

“This is the life, just out on a bike, talking to the neighbors,” she said. “Man, if I could just do this every day I would be alright. I’m going to be alright.”

Conkey Cruisers is scheduled to shut down operations on the 10th anniversary of the program in July 7, 2022. Bowick says it will conclude with 10 days of events and a special guest. She will also advocate for a bike sharing program in Rochester, bike legislation for road safety and thief recovery of bikes.