Local man to ride 1,000 miles in support of cancer research
The Keystone State Riders will be biking in September from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to raise cancer research funds for Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center.
The Keystone State Ride is a six-day bike journey that will average 75 miles a day. The KSR event is being organized by Dave Wellborn of Lewes, a three-time cancer survivor.
Talking about his connection to the ride, Wellborn said, “I was never a serious cyclist. Most of my rides were less than 30 miles a day and always involved a lunch stop, most often a brewery stop. This year I’ll be riding 1,000 miles to raise money for cancer research.”
His first event will be the Empire State Ride July 20-27, which covers 550 miles from New York City to Niagara Falls. The second is the Keystone State Ride Sept. 9-14, covering 450 miles from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
Wellborn said he and his cousin, Allen Duncan, will be riding together because cancer has significantly impacted both their families and friends.
The Empire State Ride has raised more than $10 million in the last 10 years for the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y. This is the first year for the Keystone State Ride.
Wellborn said, “The ESR asked each rider to answer the question, ‘Why do you ride?’ The response I saw that has stuck with me was, ‘I ride so someone else doesn’t have to tell their kids they have cancer.’”
He was first diagnosed with lymphoma stage four in 2013. In his efforts to shield others, he said, he usually pushed his feelings down and didn’t talk much about what he was going through.
“I ignored the symptoms and eventually went to a doctor. And I guess like most people, It was a gut punch when I got diagnosed,” Wellborn said. “For the first couple days, I certainly had my moments of breaking down, but I soon realized that I needed to focus on the treatment and not my feelings. I tried to do everything the doctor said. I tried to keep my strength up, but I didn’t share what was going on with my family and friends. I continually told everybody that things were going great.”
Subsequent lymphoma diagnoses in 2021 and 2022 brought new and different treatment challenges, and a lot of learning opportunities – some that were pretty unpleasant, he said.
“But I’d really like to jump ahead and talk about some significant things that happened in the last year,” said Wellborn.
“First, a friend of mine told me that his sisters were really worried about me, and he couldn’t understand why I wasn’t sharing information. I have learned that this is pretty common; it’s easier to focus on the treatment than it is to talk about it.
“The other thing that happened recently was my sister-in-law asked me if I would talk to one of her friends who was just diagnosed with stage four lymphoma. I called this person and found out later that our discussion was extremely helpful, and provided a lot of assurance that things were going to be OK. The result of this conversation made me realize that by not talking about my situation, I’m not helping my friends,” he said.
“The third thing that happened was my cousin asked me to join him on the ESR bicycle ride to raise money for cancer research. Since this ride was benefiting a cancer center in New York, I started to think that I wished I was helping the cancer center in Philadelphia where I was treated. I wished that Penn Med had a similar ride, and so I started thinking about if it was possible for me to organize a similar ride. Hence, the KSR was born.”
All participant-raised funds from that ride will go directly to support investigators at Penn Medicine seeking the next advances in cancer treatments. The Keystone State Ride is associated with the Breakthrough Challenge, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Summing up, Wellborn said, “I’ve been cancer free since August 2022. You might think that cancer has changed my life, but it’s really what happened this last year that has significantly changed my life. I’m so thankful that I have found a way to give back.”
To learn more and get involved, go to KeystoneStateRide.com.
