By Steve Sears

It’s become such a very big thing. A national event which now has extended overseas. 

And perhaps these facts are most important. Close to $315 million raised to fight rare cancers, in some cases drugs being developed and cures being found, the result lives of loved ones and friends being extended.

On May 6, 2023, a rain or shine “Celebration of Life” Cycle for Survival event will be held at the Eisenhower Corporate Center adjacent to the Livingston Circle. About 150 bikes will be set up for stationery riders to ride and raise funds for the battle against rare cancers, with every dollar going to the research laboratories at Memorial Sloan Kettering, now the owner and operator of Cycle for Survival. Vaccinations are required in order to cheerlead or to register to participate.

Over 100,000,000 people have participated in the yearly event since its 2007 inception, with 17 market cities all over the nation, and ancillary events taking place beyond our United States shorelines.

Due to the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 pandemic, only virtual events were held, except for a two-day event in May of 2021 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. “For two days, people rode, and people came actually from all over the country to ride on those bikes. It was very exciting. For the people who could not come, a virtual ride was set up where you could go on the internet, and you could ride with instructors and so forth,” says Len Goodman, dad of Jennifer Goodman Linn, who died at age 40 of a rare cancer called Sarcoma in 2011. Jennifer in 2007 founded Cycle 4 Survival (then known as Spin4Survival) with her husband, David Linn. Equinox, which held the first event at Equinox Columbus Circle in New York City, is a founding partner. 

“She was feisty,” Sandy Goodman says of her late daughter. “She was proactive, and believed that one person could make a difference. And she just did not let the naysayers hold her back. If she believed something was important, she just went for it.”

As most charities are starting to head back inside, Cycle for Survival is still embracing the great outdoors. Sandy adds, “One of the reasons these events right now with our current culture have to be outdoors is because a number of our participants are survivors. And a number of our participants are hospital staffers – doctors, nurses, technicians – who are especially vulnerable. A hospital has to be a model of following the science and being healthy, so we’re probably going to be the last to go completely indoors.”

According to the Goodmans, many don’t understand what a rare cancer is. “There are four cancers that are not rare,” states Sandy. “Everything else is a rare cancer. There are four to 600 subtypes, and they are all rare cancers. And now our protocols are extending to even benefit the fight against the four major cancers as well.”

Among the rare cancers that Cycle for Survival battles and is showing progress against are Metastatic Melanoma (a seven-month survival rate now can be five years); the spread of cancer, known as Metastasis, which causes up to 90% of deaths from cancer, which scientists are now discovering the causes of; and the previously mentioned Sarcoma, which has now six new drugs before the Food and Drug Administration.

The above being said, cancer still reigns, and therefore the need for Cycle for Survival. “The death rate from cancer in the United States has continued to decline from 1991 to 2018,” says Sandy. “The cancer death rate has fallen to 31%. However, as much as we are making progress, progress is still slow because from 2020 to this year, there’ll be an estimated 1.9 million new cancer cases. Unfortunately, 609,000 people will probably die from cancer this year. We are making progress. It’s steady, it’s deliberate, and it’s definitely with very positive, revolutionary success in the laboratories, but it’s still not fast enough for so many patients. In fact, more people this year died from cancer than they did from COVID in our country.”

So, Cycle for Survival continues the fight – just like its founder. “She was a very positive person and was always philanthropic for a long time before she became ill,” Len says of Jennifer Goodman Linn. “This was just a part of her life. With Cycle for Survival and the excitement of it, she would get on a bike and she would ride and she would say that buying the bike was what helped keep her alive, and it was cathartic. You feel it all over with Cycle for Survival, pure excitement.”

“JOIN THE BATTLE” is the Cycle for Survival battle cry, and to learn more about the event, visit www.cycleforsurvival.org. To donate to the Goodman team, when on the website, click “Search for a participant” and type in either “Sandy Goodman” or “Len Goodman,” click on either name, and then click “Donate.” If you wish to send a donation, make a check out to MSK, CFS (Memorial Sloan Kettering) and mail it to: Memorial Sloan Kettering, Cycle for Survival PO BOX 27432 NY, NY  10087 – 7432. Also, if any groups would like the Goodmans to speak at their event regarding Cycle for Survival, email them at sandylen@comcast.net.