Susan Rancourt

2015 Ride Round Rhody

July 23, 2015
, Events

Dani and Jacob Brier before the start of the ride.

We had the pleasure this past weekend to host Ride ‘Round Rhody with Jacob and Danny Brier.

Ride ‘Round Roady is an annual bike ride that raises money for cancer treatment and clinical research at local Rhode Island hospitals. This year’s event started and finished near URI and had 3 different ride distances to encourage cyclists of all levels – 25 mi, 50 mi, and 75 mi. The course was truly a nice ride ’round Rhody as it followed some beautiful back roads such as Shannock Falls but also went through downtown Westerly, Watch Hill, and Misquamicut Beach before finishing under the Coast Guard House and the Narragansett bike path. It had some gorgeous spots to it.

You can still see the skin burns caused by the radiation on my
husband’s face and neck. His hair was just starting to come back.

This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart as my own husband is Stage IV survivor and I lost a dear friend to cancer recently. As I was out marking the course in Westerly, it was meaningful as I was riding past all the locations that reminded me of what it was like those few weeks after my husband was diagnosed. We were living in Westerly at the time, we had just gotten married and found out I was pregnant with our first. We were still reeling from all this when we were hit with the diagnosis. We were 27 y/o, 5 mos pregnant and it was Christmas Eve. I really didn’t understand what the doctor said until he spoke the word “carcinoma….”Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Stage IV. Aggressive treatment should start this week. I’ll spare you the horrible treatment story as we all have them or know of them. But we all have sliding doors in our lives and that was one for us. We took a different path than the one I had expected.

We moved from Westerly to the East Bay shortly after our son was born and my husband had finished his treatments and rarely came back. So Westerly has a very emotional attachment for me. I drive down the streets and the timeline from newlyweds to cancer patient to new parent all come reeling back. The fact that I am marking these same roads for others who are affected by this disease and who are making a positive impact is not lost on me. It was incredible. Very rewarding.

It was an unbearably hot day but the riders completed their rides all with big smiles and happy faces. This event is a bit out of our wheelhouse as we tend to focus on LARGE, endurance running races but it was nice to break out of our comfort level. Much more relaxing! http://www.rideroundrhody.com/

It was truly a heartwarming event to see all these dedicated riders raise nearly $45,000 for the fight against cancer. Individuals such as these helped save my husband due to his experimental treatment.

While it didn’t save my friend, Angie – I am hoping efforts such as this will save another life.

Until there is a cure for everybody, we all must continue to fight! – LIFEcycle

Susan Rancourt

2015 Ride Round Rhody

Until there is a cure for everybody, we all must continue to fight! – LIFEcycle

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