A second chance: LOWVELO rider living with leukemia and bringing hope to the Charleston area, one bike at a time

Kristin Lee

October 20, 2025

a woman poses with a bike — Sylvie Baele is living with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL). She credits an overall healthy lifestyle - including a bike-riding habit - for how she's been able to cope with the disease and treatment. Photo by Kristin Lee

It was a practical gift that ended up being the catalyst for her whole lifestyle. After graduating high school early and getting into the Honors College at the College of Charleston, Sylvie Baele’s life slipped a bit off track.

“I was barely 17, living in a dorm and I just made a bunch of bad choices,” she remembered. “I was partying a lot. I got kicked out of college. I was living in a trailer park with kind of a crazy friend. My mom had cut me off. But my brother gave me a bike around that time.”

Baele took that bike and rode it to the nearest restaurant and got herself a job. After saving up, she enrolled at Trident Tech and eventually worked her way back to the College of Charleston. She began to rely on that bike to get her to classes and part-time jobs. It became part of who she was during a time she refers to as a privileged version of hitting rock bottom.

“I just really fell in love with it. I fell in love with learning how to fix bikes. I felt like that was really empowering. I felt safe because I was getting around on a bike,” said Baele. “And I just want other people to have that opportunity. I’d like to do whatever I can to help other people use bikes to improve their life.”

And that’s exactly what Baele is doing in her role as executive director at Second Chance Bikes, Charleston’s only nonprofit bike shop. Second Chance provides affordable and no-cost bikes and repairs to anyone who needs them. Located in the diverse and historic Chicora neighborhood in North Charleston, they have supplied more than 1,500 adults and children in need with bikes since the shop opened in 2018. Another 500 bikes have been fixed up and distributed at affordable prices through their Second Chance Thrift Shop. They also have an earn-a-bike program and a public workstation where people can come in and use their tools and learn how to fix their own bikes.

a woman poses with a bike in front of a bike shop — Second Chance Bikes has provided 1,500 bikes to people in need since it began in 2018. "Biking is so important for emotional and physical health," said executive director Sylvie Baele. Photo provided

“In the immediate neighborhood around us, maybe half of the households own cars,” said Baele. “A lot of people are walking and biking. We’re also a block from the CARTA super stop. So, it’s easy for people who don’t have cars to get to us. And it’s also an area with high rates of poverty – people need bikes to get around.”

But that’s not the only reason Baele and her colleagues at Second Chance think it’s important to supply bikes to the community.

“Biking is so important for emotional and physical health,” said Baele. “A lot of these areas, they don’t have a lot of parks. They might not have sports courts. But a bike – once you have it, that’s cardio. That’s exercise. That’s time spent outdoors, which is good for your physical and mental health.”

And Baele would know about that. After college, she spent eight years working as a trip leader for Vermont Bicycle Tours and Austin Adventures. She has visited or worked in almost every state in the U.S. and always tries to incorporate cycling into her passion for travel.

Something wasn’t right

It was also on a bike when Baele realized that something wasn’t right with her own health. On a mild January day in 2023, she put her bike in her car and headed to the Francis Marion Forest for a 20-mile out-and-back ride – the kind of ride she was well accustomed to and fit enough to take on.

“At the turnaround point, I just felt terrible,” she said. “It was only 10 miles. I’ve ridden 10 miles before and it was no big deal for me. I was just exhausted.”

Baele said that she had been feeling tired a lot around that time. Some of her friends and family had even told her she looked pale, or green. She had chalked it up to the holiday season, but after that ride she decided to see a doctor. The next day she went to get checked out and get some bloodwork.

“And they called me that night,” she remembered. “It was like 9:30 p.m. and they said, ‘You need to go to the ER right now. Your blood test results are really off.’”

Before she left the ER, Baele had an explanation for the fatigue she had been experiencing – she was diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL), a type of blood cancer characterized by the presence of a specific genetic abnormality known as the Philadelphia chromosome.

a woman takes a selfie wearing a mask and resting her head on her hand in a medical clinic — Sylvie Baele is receiving targeted therapy and immunotherapy for her ALL. Photo provided

“I drink water. I eat healthy. I exercise, and so I listened to my body and that was great, because we caught it early,” said Baele. “But my numbers were pretty high at that point, so I started treatment the next day.”

Baele was, unfortunately, no stranger to cancer. Her mother had been through gallbladder cancer, which was traumatic for her, but she remembered the positive attitude her mother had kept through her diagnosis and treatment.

“I was upset, certainly. And I was scared,” said Baele of her own diagnosis. “But at a certain point, you kind of realize that you don’t really have control over what happens to you, only over how you react to it. I was scared and nervous, but I had a good social support system. My mom is still around, and she got through it, so I knew that I could get through it.”

Baele started with a round of chemotherapy with her first doctor, but when a friend pushed her to get a second opinion, she found herself at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

“I’m really glad I came to Hollings because there was a whole different treatment plan that didn’t include chemotherapy,” said Baele.

Instead, her care team, led by Praneeth Baratam, M.D. started her on Ponatinib, a targeted cancer therapy for Ph+ ALL, and Blincyto (blinatumomab), an immunotherapy that works by engaging T-cells to target and destroy cancer cells. Blincyto is administered as a continuous intravenous (IV) infusion through a portable pump, typically in cycles that last 28 days, followed by a 14-day break with no infusion. The treatment begins with a short hospital stay, after which it can often be continued at home.

“I called it my juice box,” she joked. “And I really liked that because I could still be active.”

And she was. In fact, Baele got to most of her appointments at Hollings from her home in North Charleston using her favorite mode of transportation – her bicycle. Though Blincyto can cause severe side effects, Baele considers herself lucky.

“It didn’t really affect me. I didn’t have any side effects,” said Baele. “I think a lot of that is because I’m really healthy other than having cancer. So, when people ask me what advice I have, I say – ‘You can’t prevent a lot of cancers from happening. We don’t know why a lot of them happen. But you can be healthy.’”

By November 2023, her doctors considered her cancer “managed,” which means it is being controlled and kept from growing or spreading. Two years later, that remains the case. Baele has started doing some preventative chemotherapy and continues the Ponatinib but still lives a healthy life, cycling everywhere she goes.

“My whole cancer experience has been so wild,” said Baele. “And there's always been bikes.”

Turning a second chance into a ride for research

So, when she heard about LOWVELO, Hollings' annual bike ride fundraiser for cancer research, it felt like a no-brainer.

“I felt like I had to be a part of it,” said Baele. “I felt like it was kind of not even a choice. Why not raise funds for the institution that saved my life? If I had had ALL 10 years ago, I would 100% be dead right now, without a doubt. There weren't treatments for people with my Philadelphia chromosome and ALL, and it's because of cancer research that I am here. And so that really motivates me to ride. It motivates me to get people on bikes, to get them to LOWVELO and to do LOWVELO myself.”

"If I had had ALL 10 years ago, I would 100% be dead right now, without a doubt. There weren't treatments for people with my Philadelphia chromosome and ALL, and it's because of cancer research that I am here."

Sylvie Baele

In addition to feeling grateful for the treatment she has received at Hollings, LOWVELO has given Baele a sense of community. She looks forward to riding alongside new friends, talking about why they are riding and getting to know each other along the route.

“It’s emotional,” she said. “A lot of times during cancer treatment you feel really alone, really lonely. But when you’re in a group like that, you’re like, ‘Wow, all these people really care, and they sacrificed their Saturday, and they woke up early to be here to do this because they care.’ It’s a nice reminder that no matter what you’ve been through, you do have that community.”

On Nov. 1, Baele will clip in and ride the 50-mile route in LOWVELO25. This time, with a new perspective. She appreciates the little things more, especially those she couldn’t do during treatment. She has also vowed to travel more and to take her bike wherever she goes.

“You really don’t know, when you have cancer, if it’s going to come back. And so, you want to live life to the fullest. For me, that means just riding my bike in every place that I can. I ride in LOWVELO because there are so many lives, not just mine, that have been affected by cancer – and those lives really matter.”