In a project that married his passion for stroke care with his other life passion of cycling, Joseph partnered with local athletic institution Bike World to develop a fundraiser called Spokes for Strokes. The event is now a decade and a half old and is one of the most successful fundraising events in the community. Joseph never expected that, in his early 40s, he would need that same community to support him. But then, Dr. Ashburn was suddenly sitting on the other side of the doctor’s desk, receiving some of the same kind of life-changing health care news that he’d given to his patients. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. All of a sudden, his friends and neigh- bors were showing up for him, praying for him and his family, sending gifts to THE COMMUNITY TIDE SHIFT his hospital, and shipping a mini refriger- ator to hold his Dr. Peppers. "I don't think you get that with other communities,” Dr. Ashburn says. “This was not like, ‘Hey, I'm praying for you alone.’” “It was ‘I'm praying for you, and what do you need? We're gonna get it down there,’” he says. INTHEVUE.COM | NOVEMBER 2026 105 Joseph knows about endurance. Years of long-distance cycling has taught him a thing or two about pushing his body when things get tough, how a clear mindset and determination can overcome fatigue, and the feeling of success when the ride is over. He turned that knowledge into the roadmap for beating cancer. Fortunate- ly, Dr. Ashburn had the opportunity to participate in a brand-new clinical trial. His doctors explained that traditional chemotherapy was like a tank, destroying everything in its path, but they had a new treatment that could attack his particular type of cancer like a sniper. He paired the two therapies in a targeted attack. And he used cycling throughout as a way to focus his mind and keep his body active and healthy throughout. “The nursing staff actually put an THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE exercise bike in my room, and I would pedal on the exercise bike while under- going chemo,” he says. “In the month of February that year, I was able to ride 100 miles and raise several thousand dollars for heart and stroke research and funding.” So, Dr. Ashburn finished chemo and got back to his life, and his work, and coaching the McCracken County Mountain Biking Team. But then something else unex- pected happened to Joseph and his wife, Heather. The family had developed a close relationship with Martha Emmons and Hutch Smith, the founders and owners of Paducah-staple Bike World. When Martha and Hutch decided to retire and sell the business, they approached the Ashburns with the opportunity. “If it involves being active in our community, Bike World probably has their name on it,” he says. “They really wanted somebody who would continue that legacy and keep that strong.” “I think being from here and also knowing that I loved cycling as much as I did, they thought that me and my wife would be a candidate for that. I don’t know that we deserve that great honor, but over the next year we sat down and ran numbers and made sure that they were taken care of and we were taken care of, and it just all fell into place.” Joseph Ashburn with his wife, Heather