My first CT Challenge took place barely a year after I had completed my treatment for breast cancer. Officially declared a survivor, the first thing I did was to go out and buy a road bike and my early morning rides became the highpoint in my day. The CT Challenge was to be the first fundraising event I had ever taken part in, and my goal was to get fit enough to ride further than I had ever done before – but the day was mean...

Almost 3 years ago, I was a young mother of two children ages 3 and 5. I had just moved to a new house and my husband and I decided to take our children for a bike ride in our neighborhood. This excursion saved my husbands life, and embarked my family in to a world that I never chose to enter. Cancer chose my family. My husband, after a leisurely bike ride, was very winded and decided to undergo a physical. He knew he wa...

Our story began on December 17th, 2002, when Luke, our eldest son, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He had just turned 5 years old. After 18 months of chemotherapy, he relapsed and it was clear he needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life. Luke’s little sister Grace, our ‘gift from God’, was a perfect match and the transplant was carried out on my father’s birthday, February 1st, 2005, at Memorial...

Riding in CTC 2005 was an incredibly enriching experience! I hadn't ridden a bike in years, but when Jeff Keith invited me to ride, there was only one answer. I bought a bike and registered for the 25-mile ride. I dedicated my ride to a friend recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and I contacted my sponsors. Weekend training increased my self-confidence, Jeff's incredible energy and spirit drove my determination, and I stepped ...

For me, the most wonderful aspect of the CT Challenge was the sense of community I felt that day.  One of the most moving moments was at the beginning of the ride when all the cancer survivors that were participating in the ride were asked to ride around the green we were starting from.  There was not a dry eye among us.  We were all riding for the same cause, and we were all participating in a fun yet challenging ride.  Ev...

I ride because I can; to show myself and everyone that I can. On July 11th, 2008, I joined what I've come to refer to as a "club"; that club is made up of Cancer Survivors. On that day, I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - Burkitt's lymphoma. After finishing up treatments and having those 30+ days of hospitalization behind me I've changed my goal from personally beating cancer to helpi...

On July 28th, 2007 I rode in my first CT Challenge and it was a day I shall never forget. Just seven weeks prior, I had completed my treatment for Stage IV Thymoma (cancer of the Thymus gland). Riding 50 miles that day with family and friends was a triumph against the disease and the experience was an enormous boost to my survivorship and what survivorship means to my family, my friends and me. Having cancer opened many new do...

As a cancer survivor, I have experienced firsthand the difficulties and uncertainties that arise after you're told the cancer is gone and you try to get back to who you were before your diagnosis. I can still recall a survivor friend telling me that I might not have the luxury of returning to who I once was because that person never had cancer. I soon realized that survivorship was very complex and that I would need considerabl...

I first heard about the CT Challenge when I was recovering from a double mastectomy. As an 18-year survivor of childhood non-Hodgekins lymphoma, a one-year survivor of thyroid cancer, and a one-month survivor of bi-lateral breast cancer, I felt moved to sign up. But my participation seemed highly unlikely as the ride was just months away and I was in the midst of the most physically and mentally challenging time of my life. ...

My motivation to ride in the Connecticut Challenge has come from many places, but most importantly, from the m any other cancer survivors I have met along my own survivorship journey who have shown me that the need for support and education continues long after the treatments end. I hope my ride inspires other cancer survivors to "LIVESTRONG" and fight the fight, by participating in events like these, educa ting themselves on h...