Cycle for Survival 2014 Raises $20 Million

Equinox cycling instructor Justin Rubin motivates riders in Los Angeles. Equinox is the founding partner of Cycle for Survival and its instructors lead every ride. This year, Equinox employees also led more than 100 teams from coast to coast.

Survivor winner and rare-cancer survivor Ethan Zohn (center) rides next to Miguel Perales (right) in San Francisco. Dr. Perales is Deputy Chief of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering and treated Mr. Zohn, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2009.

Riders in Boston take a photo on the battle bike. Participants sign the wall behind the battle bike to declare their commitment to beating rare cancers.

Cycle for Survival co-founder David Linn speaks at the event in his hometown of Chicago. David and his wife, Jennifer Goodman Linn, founded the event in 2007 after Jen was diagnosed with sarcoma. Cycle for Survival became an official Memorial Sloan Kettering event in 2009.

Participants from “Team Jill” pass around a Cycle for Survival beach ball before their ride starts in Summit, New Jersey.

Thirteen-year-old Perry Zimmerman speaks at the event in Washington, D.C. Perry is a three-time rare-cancer survivor and the inspiration for “Team Perry.” The team rode in seven cities in 2014 and collectively raised more than $500,000 for rare-cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

A participant posts a message about why she rides on the event’s tribute wall in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Riders and supporters from Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Urgent Care Center cheer on participants in New York City. Memorial Sloan Kettering nurse Courtney Elms led the 20-person “Urgent Care Cyclists” team.

Late Night host and longtime Cycle for Survival supporter Seth Meyers with Memorial Sloan Kettering and Equinox leadership (from left): Scott Rosen, Equinox Chief Operating Officer; Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Equinox President; Harvey Spevak, Equinox CEO; Craig Thompson, MSK President and CEO; Mr. Meyers; José Baselga, MSK Physician-in-Chief; and Joan Massagué, Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute.

Last weekend marked the final 2014 rides of Cycle for Survival, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s indoor team cycling fund-raiser. This national movement raises money exclusively for research on rare cancers, and 100 percent of funds go directly to our investigators within six months of the events.

Nearly 17,000 participants, including more than 850 Memorial Sloan Kettering employees, pedaled in major Cycle for Survival events in 13 cities: Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Greenwich, Connecticut; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City; Palo Alto; Roslyn, New York; San Francisco; Seattle; Summit, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C.

Dozens of smaller satellite events were held across the country and beyond, including rides in Hong Kong and Kenya.

This season, $20 million has been raised to support rare cancer research. Cycle for Survival has raised an overall total of more than $51 million since the event began.

Cycle for Survival was started in 2007 by Memorial Sloan Kettering patient Jennifer Goodman Linn and her husband, David, as a one-day event in New York City. In 2009, it became an official Memorial Sloan Kettering event, and Equinox became the founding partner.

To learn more about Cycle for Survival and how you can take action against rare cancers, go to www.cycleforsurvival.org. Join the Battle.