Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer 2025 - Let's Really Tell Cancer to F*ck OFF!

[iman29]

Hey All,

I couldn't find the best place to post this, so decided to start my own blog about this event. The timing of this is not lost on me due to the passing of Frank, and I hope this is not viewed as being opportunistic since coincidentally, today is the day the official fundraising for this event starts. If anyone is opposed to me posting this here, I will respectfully remove it. I hope to use this blog as a place to share my progress, updates, thoughts, challenges, emotions, and of course news from the event in "real time" (even if this is not a MTB event) ;-). And of course my ride is in memory of all we have lost, and in honor of those who are lucky to be cancer survivors.

As you may have seen elsewhere on this forum, I have the privilege and honor to ride in a very special employee only event the company I currently work for (Bristol Myers Squibb) sponsors called Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer (C2C4C) 2025. This is the 12th year they are sponsoring this event and I was fortunate enough to get selected after a very detailed application process. The event includes a bike to train on (pictured below), indoor trainer, a professional coach for 5 months via TrainingPeaks, full riding kits for the event, full SAG support and all expenses included traveling to and from the ride event.

The event has 9 teams/segments of 3 days each covering around 250 miles per segment. I will be riding Segment 4 with team "Mountains of Hope" from Salt Lake City, UT to Denver CO. Although I am an experienced (mostly road) cyclist for the last 15 years, I have never done an event quite like this before.

The theme of this event is "Why I Ride". Like many people, my personal life has been profoundly impacted by cancer from a young age (14), when my Mom was diagnosed and battled for 3 years before losing her fight. Since then, too many family and close friends have also lost their battles with cancer and it fills me with sadness to see that keep happening. This includes my Dad, Uncle, Father in Law, Cousins, and more recently last year my close cycling friend Lee, of course we can't forget Marty and sadly the list goes on.

This event raises funds for cancer research through the Jimmy V Foundation, so we can continue to fight it and share more stories about survivors. Every dollar donated goes directly to fundraising with no additional fees. Bristol Myers Squibb will match every donation, dollar for dollar, up to $500,000. You can also submit a request for your company's Matching donation program which would further increase your donation amount towards my ride.

I would be forever grateful and humbled by your decision to donate to my ride event so we can help more people become survivors. I would also be honored to ride with the name of someone special in your life that has been affected by cancer on the back of my riding jersey for the duration of the event, regardless if you chose to donate or not.

Thanks for your support.
ian

I'm supporting The V Foundation!

Thank you for visiting my fundraiser! I am excited to be a part of the 2025 Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer Ride and to support @theVFoundation, an organization committed to declaring Victory Over Cancer®. The research the V Foundation funds is critical. By making a donation, you will be supporting...

c2c4c.donordrive.com

#bms_employee
#c2c4c

 

[iman29]

Just a quick check in and a favor to ask:

Can you please share my fundraiser on your personal social media channels?

Here's the main link:

I'm supporting The V Foundation!

Thank you for visiting my fundraiser! I am excited to be a part of the 2025 Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer Ride and to support @theVFoundation, an organization committed to declaring Victory Over Cancer®. The research the V Foundation funds is critical. By making a donation, you will be supporting...

c2c4c.donordrive.com

I am not a big FB person therefore I dont have any connections, but I have a FB Fundraiser page that can be found here:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

If we are already connected on LinkedIn, I made a post this morning which is getting a lot of steam, but every share helps the cause further:

#c2c4c #bms_employee | Ian Laudor

Hello LinkedIn Network, While I don't post much on LinkedIn, I wanted to share something very important with you and hopefully you can share it further with your network. As many of you know I have been an avid cyclist for many years. I always try to find ways to use my cycling experience for...

www.linkedin.com

If you have any trouble with the links DM me so I can make sure I did everything correctly - much appreciated of course!

 

[Patrick]

Done.

 

[iman29]

Done.

 

[Hair Face]

What an amazing event. Glad to support. When (roughly?) will your ride be starting?

 

[asm]

Donated.

 

[iman29]

What an amazing event. Glad to support. When (roughly?) will your ride be starting?

Thanks so much !!

My teams segment is Sept 14, 15 & 16 so i will be training all summer for this.

 

[iman29]

Donated.

Thank you very much !!

 

[iman29]

Just a random thought today about my training and sacrifices as it relates to cancer diagnosis.

Today I had a structured workout scheduled that I very much wanted to blow off and ride outside since it’s so nice out. But instead I forced myself to follow the plan because tomorrow is another day and I can always ride outdoors.

Seems minor and insignificant compared to what people have to give up when getting diagnosed. That includes family, caregivers and every one around who gets impacted. I remember being young and not really understand why we couldn’t go to a big family reunion when my mom was pretty sick.

Today would have been my parents 61 year wedding anniversary to today I did my training ride for them.

 

[Mtbdog]

In!

 

[iman29]

In!

Thanks so much @Mtbdog !!

 

[THATmanMANNY]

@iman29 is an A+ man. I’ve never met him in person but always asking and thinking of our son. I appreciate you man! So happy for you that you get to do this ride and the cool perks! Pretty much every day I look at our son and say damn we are blessed and sorry about your personal experiences with cancer. Thank you for your support and I will contribute what I can!

 

[iman29]

@iman29 is an A+ man. I’ve never met him in person but always asking and thinking of our son. I appreciate you man! So happy for you that you get to do this ride and the cool perks! Pretty much every day I look at our son and say damn we are blessed and sorry about your personal experiences with cancer. Thank you for your support and I will contribute what I can!

Humbled by your kind words and support. !!

I can’t imagine all that you and the family went through but you guys are real hero’s to me. For me pediatric cancer is the most cruel because I can’t imagine having to watch your kid go through that.

I have a very close personal friend I met in college 35 years ago. His son got diagnosed at 5 years old with a very rare bone cancer on his ribs. they only found on his X-ray because he had gotten pneumonia and saw something they weren’t expecting.

He’s now currently finishing his freshman year of college and has been cancer free for over 13 years. !! My friend is pretty much like family to me and so is his son.

It sucks when it doesn’t end well but these survivor stories are close for me and keep the hope alive!

 

[Mitch]

Good luck! Keep hope alive.....

 

[iman29]

Good luck! Keep hope alive.....

Thank you @Mitch appreciate your support very much!

 

[iman29]

Just came to say THANKS for all the support so far - this community is the absolute best!

Thanks to some of you and others, I am almost at 50% of my fundraising goal in just a week!

Please share an post on your social media channels when you can - very much appreciated!!!

 

[iman29]

someone reminded me I haven’t posted here since my original so here’s some updates.

Fundraising:
Thanks to many of you and others If you didn’t check I am at $3930 out of $5000 right now. Most if that was just in about 2.5 weeks since fundraising started. Thank you seems trivial but i continue to thank everyone and anyone who donated no matter the amount.

Training:
I’m on a schedule that has some flexibility but only if I tell my coach in advance. Father’s Day weekend I was supposed to ride both days but due to family stuff and other things I could not so we moved it to last weekend. However I had to ride a 3 hour endurance ride and I proactively chose to ride in the rain because cancer don’t GAF if it’s raining so it’s the least I could do. And for the event in September we ride rain or shine so I got it done.

Every month we have to ride 2 rides back to back at a certain distance. This month was 40-45 miler and the next day 30-35. I asked coach for some extra credit and he granted me no more than 4 hours but not less than 2.5 but he said keep the effort lower (z2 ish) which gave me plenty of leeway. I decided to ride 50 both days and did Saturday with a friend. My legs and body felt like shit that day glad I had company. When I did Sunday I did it solo and I felt like I could ride all day I even added unplanned climbs. Got back just before the Tstorms and skies opened up so that was a bonus.

After a day of rest coach bumped up my FTP efforts by 15 to stress the system. I got an A+ but of course that means next one’s gonna be harder.

As you may have seen todays my bday and I told him in advance I was going to go for a double age mileage day (108) so he adjusted my plan accordingly. Even tho I had to cut short due to the heat I’m glad I tried it it was a good test of self awareness to not be a hero and end up in the ER with heat stroke. I headed back early enough to pedal home and not get sick. I hate not reaching a goal I set for myself but tomorrow is another day (but not to try again LOL).

motivation.
My motivation is high and even tho some days are a slog I really want to do well for the event in September. The last few weeks have been rough this time of year. April was 36 years since my mom is gone and June was 31 years for my Dad. This whole cancer event really has brought things forward even tho it’s so long ago. All the beautiful commentary about Frank are just amazing I’m just disappointed in myself i never got to meet him in person. I’m sure we all have someone like Frank in our lives that gave 100% of him or herself with nothing expected in return.

Around the time Frank was getting treated my good friend Lee who I met thru cycling was also diagnosed with stage IV Lung cancer. Never smoked a day in his life they think it was from the radiation for when he had prostate cancer. He fought hard and made it to his daughters wedding but passed last year just 2 months after that. We shared a lot of long talks and dreams he had for his family but he knew he wasn’t going to be around for it. Even then he was generous and caring about others. I miss him a lot and since he gifted me a lot of his cycling gear I wear it or use it often and say “thanks” quietly that I got to meet and know him and be his friend for 10+ years.

Instead of my self indulgent ride pics here’s me and Lee at his daughters wedding. Outside I was smiling but inside I was crying because he probably used the last bit of his mojo to be at that wedding.

Ok I’ve got something in my eye now so until next time/ride we know the saying. F*CK CANCER !!

 

[iman29]

Well i have been terrible at updating this if this was supposed to be a blog but here it goes.

Fundraising - Thanks to many of you and my extended Strava, LinkedIn network plus family and friends, I have reached my minimum fundraising goal of $5000 in just over 5 weeks! THANK YOU again to all from here that donated and if you didn't donate yet, don't worry because you still can. And because cancer sucks and doesnt quit, later today I m going to push for more donations for this great cause and raise my target to $7500. Please repost my donation link on all your social media channels so we can continue the fight.

I'm supporting The V Foundation!

Thank you for visiting my fundraiser! I am excited to be a part of the 2025 Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer Ride and to support @theVFoundation, an organization committed to declaring Victory Over Cancer®. The research the V Foundation funds is critical. By making a donation, you will be supporting...

c2c4c.donordrive.com

Training
Training has been hard because of all the extra time I am putting in based on the required daily schedule. I don't have much time for any non bike activities since I am riding nearly every day, other than my tried and true dynamic mobility stretching and foam roller; both essential parts of my recovery.
2 weeks ago we had our 2nd mandatory evaluation clinic where all the participants from different teams come to one of the NJ sites, and we ride together as a team and work on more group ride skills and they check overall cycling capability. Many of my team are from other places in the US so we only get to meet in person twice before the actual event other than Video calls. Due to the segment we have, there are many strong and experienced riders on the team and it was reflected in our double paceline ride for sure. We are quite the spectacle riding around the local area and the community is very supportive with friendly beeps and waves as we ride around town.

Each month we have to meet certain "mileage markers/riding hours" of consecutive days in a row. Based on my fitness and experience, he wanted me to ride 2 - 3 hour rides and 1 - four hour ride in whatever order. Last weekend I did 3, 3 and 4 for just over 10 hours and around 176 miles. Im no @Steve Vai but the most challenging part was probably the mental side of getting ready and getting back on the bike each day. Once I got rolling I was fine even if riding 3 days in a row solo was pretty lonely. Oh and coach has me staying in Endurance zones for all these rides so no PR attempts and I nailed the required "avg HR" zone for all 3 rides.

I get a lot of questions on " hows the training going?" I would say that over the last 3+ months while I have not lost a ton of weight (3-4 lbs maybe?) I can 100% feel the difference in terms of my strength and effort especially on climbs. I feel like I can sustain longer periods of riding with less effort than before, which for me is reflected in my HR staying low while I am riding a bit faster, or when I go up a climb it stays lower. Maybe the best indicator is that at the end of each ride I felt like I could have kept going and I was no where near being too fatigued, which is clearly the point of the training.

Motivation
I know its probably heightened sensitivity, but again in the last few weeks a close riding friend of mine told us his Dad lost his battle with cancer at age 72. His final wishes were not to have a long drawn out wake and traditional funeral but to have a celebration of life. I went and was pretty overwhelmed not just at the amount of people with laughs and smiling faces despite the grief, but the very notion of celebrating what a great life he led rather than spending hours crying and grieving in a quiet room. Although I am Jewish by religion, I have attended my fair share of other religious funerals and there's something to be said for this approach to someone's final memorial.

So what's next?
There's about 7ish weeks to go before I fly out to Salt Lake City. While I feel like I am ready, you just never know what the altitude change will bring so I am hyper focused on sticking to the plan and trying to still lose a few more lbs to make the climbs a little easier. Next month I will have to ride 3 days in a row consisting of 5 hours, 4 hours and 3 hours. I hope I don't have to ride those solo but I will have to do it a little earlier in August since my youngest leaves for college on the 31st.

Please - share my link and spread the word for donations and support. If you already donated THANK YOU again and please DM me if you would like to have the first name of your loved one on the back of one of my riding Jerseys as a tribute to them!

Ride on!

 

[iman29]

hey there peeps. Been a minute and a lot going on over here with training, fundraising and such.

First is that I raised my fundraising goal to $7500 and as I write this I just passed $7000 in donations thanks to all of you and all the other people in my Strava and LinkedIn feeds. Please share and spread the word as I want to continue raising funds for this important cause. My real goal is to raise at least 10K, but I will see how close I can get to that.

As mentioned in my prior updates each month we have to ride consecutive days and August is 5 hours, 4 hours and 4 hours. I was planning this for a few weeks and actually moved it up a week to this past weekend to take advantage of the free time at home/work, and the weather - even if the forecast was potentially going to be somewhat hot its better than riding in the rain. I was much smarter about planning the rides and was able to recruit some of my good riding crew to join me for each day.

Friday due to the weather I decided a flat gravel ride was better. Did a pre-work ride from home out and back on the Columbia Trail with 2 loops of the WMG trail thrown in. turned out to be a nice morning before it really got hot so that was the right call. Pacing and pedaling nice and steady at a decent pace. My HRM was acting up so the effort was a little off kilter because if I had 240 HR i am pretty sure I would be ded.

Saturday was the big one - I planned an 87 mile loop from Flanders to Frenchtown and back by modifying a route from someone I knew. Based on our pacing it worked out to be just a little past 5 hours moving time, but because of my numbers OCD I rounded it up to 90 miles. I could have easily ridden another 30-40 minutes to make it 100 miles but I didnt because #1 - coach would give me a fail because I did too much and #2 I needed to save whatever my legs had left for the next day. I will redo this loop in the fall to make it 100 because the scenery with the fall colors where we went will be brilliant and many many roads had very few cars out west. We got 100% lucky with the weather since even tho it was 1000% humidity, it stayed cloudy nearly the whole day until after we got done. If it was blazing sun this ride would have been a whole different story. I still consumed 5 bottles on this ride, 2 of them in the last 25 miles of the ride alone.

For Sunday with the forecasted heat it meant another day of riding at 6AM. I picked a familiar flat out and back loop so I could also pedal nice and steady and not really have to worry about where I am going since I have it memorized. The three of us pedaled along again at a nice steady pace and they helped me keep my efforts down but I still felt pretty strong considering the past 2 days of riding. I would say that my a$$ hurt more than my legs most of the day 😛. We got lucky again with the weather it was cloudy the whole time until I decided I wanted to round up to 75+ miles from 68.95 when we passed my house. I was surprised I could have easily went another 25 miles but it would have sucked worse than the prior 4.5 hours because the sun came out full force.

The more I am riding with friends and telling the story about my training, the more motivated I get. It's certainly pretty epic from a cycling standpoint especially when I will get to ride in UT and CO. But the reality of how many people are affected by cancer, of how many people I know, and hearing from my donors, friends, family and even people I don't know directly really hits home. I started out cycling more regularly back in the day by doing a lot of charity events, so this continues to be a theme for me so I can give something back to a greater cause with my riding abilities.

This is probably my all time most distance/miles I have done in one week in a very long time, maybe of all time I have been riding.

While there are still a few more weeks to go before my ride segment, I am feeling as ready as ever to kick cancer's a$$ on this ride. Even if you didn't donate, if you want to send me a name for the back of my jersey for someone I can ride for, please don't hesitate to DM me.

Thanks all and F*ck Cancer (not allowed to use that as part of my ride event so I use it here ;-)

 

[iman29]

I love to take pics on all my rides to capture the day - these are some of my faves from the collection:

totally caught the bird by coincidence on this one!

the next day thise red tailed hawk was literally flying along side us out along the PA border for at least 1/4 mile.