Cyclists for CT Challenge in Fairfield offer inspiration, hope

Event held under picture-perfect skies Saturday

A sea of cyclists at opening ceremonies Saturday morning at Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport. These dedicated men and women, who pedaled anywhere from 10 to 180 miles to raise funds for cancer survivors, are my heroes. The 180-mile ride was held over two days.

 

Here's another view of these super athletic cyclists before they took off Saturday.

WESTPORT - Yes, I know this isn't a View from the Valley as the name of this blog would suggest..but since I live in the Valley I thought I'd take some liberties today.

And of course there are way too many Valley residents living with cancer and in the midst of undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and other forms of treatment to fight the disease. 

I wrote a story about CT Challenge earlier this month. 

My husband Ralph and I volunteered Saturday at this event; he is working on a YouTube slideshow using our photos. I'll embed that in a future blog post, I guess! He's better at some of this technology than I.

We got involved as volunteers through my participation in a weekly exercise class for breast cancer survivors at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby. The class is led by cancer certified exercise trainer extraordinaire Dan Root, who works at CT Challenge.

Since the class is free for those of us in Griffin Hospital's survivorship program, volunteering at this wonderful event is one small way for me to give back. And it was truly a great day.

Former major league baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine, athletic director at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, speaks to fellow cyclists at the opening ceremonies. He was introduced by CT Challenge co-founder and President Jeff Keith of Fairfield, who survived cancer when he was 12.