Closer to Free Ride fuels research for nd care at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center.
Springtime is right around the corner and that means pretty soon thousands of bikers will get out on the roads and begin training for the Closer to Free Ride.
“We’re hoping and praying that this is the year we come back live,” said Steve Jakab, vice president of development at Yale New Haven Hospital.
The bells and cheers of ride day may once again ring loud at the Yale Bowl on Sept. 10. The 12th season of Closer to Free will kick off Thursday night in a virtual event. Some hope it’s the only virtual event the pandemic is forcing them to do.
“I’m hoping that I can actually ride this year because I got a new bike,” said Renee Moye.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
She’s been a volunteer for Closer to Free for eight years. When it went virtual in 2020, she became a first-time rider.
“Even when I’m riding virtual, I’m thinking about the ones I’ve lost, the ones who are fighting and myself to be here and thank the Lord for that,” Moye said.
She’s thankful because the oncology nurse practitioner at Smilow Cancer Hospital plans to cross the finish line in September just shy of a major milestone.
Local
“I had a lumpectomy, then I had treatment, then I had radiation, and now it will be 25 years in October that I’ve been cancer-free.”
For nearly 30 years she’s guided patients through a challenging time, so she can see how the money raised through Closer to Free makes a difference for those in need.
“I know what it’s like to sit in those chairs. I know the fear they have of ‘How am I going to pay for this?’”
She’s on team Smilow ONCtourage with 75 staff from Trumbull, Fairfield and Bridgeport. The money raised through Closer to Free funds support programs, research and treatment. And when registration opens Thursday riders can sign up for the virtual or in-person ride in 2022.
“If there’s any silver lining around the pandemic it’s that people want to come together around great causes,” Jakab said.
He said that’s held true throughout the pandemic with riders all over the country and internationally riding virtually in 2020 and 2021, continuing to support those battling cancer.
“We’re now nationwide and international and it feels great,” he said.
Jakab said the support from sponsors, volunteers and riders has been enormous and he’s grateful Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital have been able to continue their mission.
And now he’s looking forward to a great year ahead with the virtual ride that’s been a helpful addition and hopefully, a return to normal with the in-person ride.
Moye can't wait to multitask on ride day just as she does every day with her patients.
"I can go early in the morning like I have at like 5 o’clock and greet the riders as they come in, and give them food and coffee and tea," Moye said. "And when the ride starts I can get on the bike and ride!"
“We certainly have every hope and expectation that on Sept. 10 we will start the day at the Yale Bowl,” Jakab added. “We want to keep expanding, keep introducing this ride to new people and sky’s the limit.”
