Tour de Pink: California
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October was breast cancer awareness
month. According to Web MD, one in eight women will be diagnosed
with breast cancer in her lifetime. One young woman is diagnosed
every 45 minutes. Although women over 40 are more likely to be
affected, an alarming number of young women are facing the disease,
and often battle the more aggressive forms of breast cancer. They
also have overall lower survival rates. (ysctourdepink.org)
In 1998, three young survivors of
breast cancer decided to start an organization that would increase
awareness and provide support for other women who were facing the
same unique challenges of being a young woman battling not only
cancer, but all the surrounding challenges that come with being a
twenty or thirty year-old going through treatment. The Young
Survival Coalition, or YSC, was born.
In 2004, Lisa Frank and Matt Purdue had
the idea of putting something together in order to raise money and
awareness for the organization. What they came up with centered on a
passion they both shared, cycling. Lisa was herself a cancer
survivor, and Matt's wife had been involved with YSC before she lost
the hard fought battle. Not only was she Matt's wife, but also the
mother to their 5 year old daughter.
Picture of the first tour. Matt Purdue is the one holding the check for $17,000. Photo from youngsurvival.org
Lisa Frank tells her story.
The first "tour" had all of 5
participants. In the near decade since, however, the Tour de Pink
has grown so much that in 2012 it spread to four different locations
around the country, had over 1,400 participants (200 of them breast
cancer survivors), and raised over $1.2 million for the YSC.
I had never heard of the YSC or Tour de
Pink until a co-worker of mine told me late last spring that his
sister, a young breast cancer survivor, had been given a free, carbon
road bike by Giant for registering for a 200 plus mile bike ride in
California. Soon after, I met his sister and we began training
together. On our third ride, I decided to sign up myself. She had
already coerced her best friend to sign up. Another co-worker of
mine, also a survivor, ended up joining us to form our team of four.
We appropriately called ourselves Team Guacamole Nachos. Over the
course of the 5 day journey from Texas to California and back,
Stephanie, Shawna, Janet and I made some unforgettable memories.
The training plan that began at the
beginning of the summer went like this: ride as much as possible.
How do amateur road cyclists prepare to
ride 205 miles in three days? While holding down jobs and
households? We did our best to train, and then decided that if we
could just make it to the start line in California, the spirit of
the event would carry us through. Either that or we would make quick
acquaintances with the SAG wagon. (We were also working to raise
$10,000 as a team for the YSC, which we accomplished thanks to
generous friends and family members.)
One of our training rides on the Cottonbelt trail in North Richland Hills, Tx.
I wish I could put into words how
awesome the trip was. We began in Thousand Oaks and ended in
Foothills Ranch. In between, we cruised the breathtaking Pacific
Coast Highway, taking in such sites as Malibu Beach, Santa Monica
Pier, and Laguna Beach. The entire ride ended up being 205 miles,
including 8,000 feet of elevation accrued over the 3 days. I also
remember rolling by artichoke and bell-pepper crops, through a few
downtowns, and across Canyon highways.
The biking part of the trip was
phenomenal, but in reality what made the trip once in a lifetime was
the time I spent with my teammates, my sister-in-law and nephew who
were there cheering, and the rest of the West Coast participants.
Riding beside cancer survivors and hearing their stories, knowing
some of them had just finished treatment, and then hearing my very
own teammates' stories of survival, there was never a shortage of
inspiration on the Tour de Pink. And we even made it to the finish
without having to flag down the SAG wagon!
*If
you would like to find out more about the YSC and Tour de Pink, check
out ysctourdepink.org
Team Guacamole Nachos, Left to Right: Brenda, Stephanie, Janet, Shawna
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