Markeshia Ricks Photo
Volunteer Beth Frayne on cheer duty.
As riders cleared the last few feet of the sixth “Closer to Free Ride” to fight cancer, Beth Frayne was one of the first faces to greet them. She made sure her turquoise pom-pom and small cowbell were at the ready.
Whether they rode 10 miles or 100 miles, she was there to yell: “Congratulations! You made it.”
“I take my job seriously,” she said while standing in the finish line shoot at Yale Bowl Saturday after waving in another bike rider.
This was Frayne’s fourth year volunteering with the annual bike ride, which benefits patient care and research at Smilow Cancer Hospital and the Yale Cancer Center. “I can’t ride, but I can do this.”
She leaves the riding to her 26-year-old son, Stephen, who is pursuing a PhD in chemistry at Weslyan University. This was his fourth year riding the 100-mile route of the ride. “There is a bumper sticker on the car that says ‘400 miles closer to free,”’ she said proudly.
Frayne gives it all she’s got.
Frayne knows well the importance of the fundraising efforts. She is a 20-year survivor of Hodgkins lymphoma. She recently lost relatives to bone and pancreatic cancer.
“Cancer is one of those awful things that never truly leave you,” she said. “But I’m grateful because when I was diagnosed, he was in kindergarten and I never thought that I would see him graduate high school. Now, he’s in graduate school.”
Most everyone with some kind of connection to the ride has a similar story, including ride founder and Yale-New Haven Hospital Vice President of Development Kevin Walsh.
Ride founder Kevin Walsh.
Since the ride’s inception, Walsh has often been on the 62.5‑mile route. This year one of his best friends and ride buddies couldn’t handle the route. He’s battling throat cancer.
“He’s dropped from 200 pounds to 135 and could not make it,” he said. “So we dropped back to the 25, and he did great.”
The Ansonia Cheer Squad give it all they’ve got.
Walsh said the ride has seen tremendous growth since he came up with the idea for a fundraiser as an alternative to throwing the gala that his boss suggested as a signature fundraiser. The first ride started with 251 riders; this year’s ride drew 1,450. More than 500 people offered their time as volunteers and fundraisers. The event raised close to $3 million this year, according to Walsh.
A rider enters the home stretch.
“One hundred percent of what riders and volunteers raise goes to clinical care and research,” he said.
Laurie Van Wilgen, a right, with team members.
And people like Laurie Van Wilgen of Branford are grateful. Her husband, Bill, is a two-time survivor of cancer. Her daughter’s best friend Erin Labery is a survivor of breast cancer at just 32. She and friends of Labery’s team, Wishes Come True, braved the sweltering heat Saturday to cheer on the riders.
“This is a meaningful day,” she said with tears in her voice even as she smiled. “Smilow is very close to my heart — to his heart. To all of our hearts.”
