Surgery was scheduled for June 5th. Shields had already checked in the hospital and was about to be prepped when doctors called it off. "My heart started acting up," he told Growing Bolder. "And oh, yes. I'm very frustrated."

If you knew him, you'd understand why. He suffers from a back condition that leaves him hunched over. He can barely walk. But he realized his posture might be perfect for riding a bike. It was. Now, the 90 year old is a masters champion and world record holding cyclist.

Even at his age, he was looking forward to the operation so he could get back on the bike and go faster and farther than ever before. "Doctors tell me I might have to wait several weeks," he said. "All I want to do is to get on with this and get back on my bike."

He told Growing Bolder that even though it's a setback, it's something he's ready to face head on.

Gordy suffers from spinal stenosis. The procedure he need is a full lumbar spinal stenosis laminectomy. If successful it will greatly reduce his pain and improve his walking ability.

It's not an operation that many 90 year olds go through. It's a testament to his physical condition and his mental toughness. All he wants to do is get back on his bike.

"This will put me out of circuclation for at least three months. Prognosis for full recovery is good acoording to my physician."

Don't bet against him coming back stronger than ever. Shields has been defying the odds for decades. It all began when he first decided to start riding a bike at the age of 50.

"I got into bicycling late,'' said Shields. "I really wasn't much of an athlete of any kind back in high school. In fact I was a nerd."

Hard to believe that today. But it wasn't until the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Shields turned 67 that he decided to get serious about racing competitively.

"I joined the San Diego Cyclo-Vets, which is the largest masters bicycle club in the United States," he said. It wasn't long until he was off and rolling!

But 15 years ago, Shields developed a spinal problem. His fourth or fifth lumbar began deteriorating.

"I've had to limit my walking to about a quarter of a mile at one time, but it hasn't affected any of my abilities to ride a bike until recently," said Shields.

If that's the case, he's the only one who could tell. Shields already owns a number of Senior Olympic and national time trials record, he's toured Europe and Canada and he has solo-cycled from Oregon to San Diegorecently. And just recently, he achieved one of the biggest milestones in his competitive career. In April 2008, while racing in California, Sheilds shattered the American record in the 20-kilometer time trial for cyclists 90 and older. The old record of 57 minutes, 6.89 seconds was set by the late Jack Pardee in 2003. Gordy's time was 44:53.98.

Another big moment came in 2004, when the City of San Diego named a bridge in his honor for his 40 years of volunteering on behalf of bicycle racing in California.

Please feel free to leave a comment at the end of this article to send Gordy your well wishes. Our hopes and prayers are with him for a speedy and complete recovery. Gordy, your Growing Bolder family is behind you 100 percent!

To hear Gordy tell his story in his own words, click here to listen to his appearance on the Growing Bolder Radio Show.