Greetings! My name is Cindi Hart, and I am participating in the Pan Ohio Hope Ride this coming August.



I just celebrated my 3rd year of survival post breast cancer on May 19th. I am 44 years old (and not ashamed to share it, as I feel that every year I add on to my age is a year I have stolen back from cancer). I had ductal carcinoma, a double mastectomy and chemo.



I have a wonderful husband (Ken) and a 12.5 year old daughter (Madison) and bikes are a BIG DEAL around our house. You see, Ken and I met because of bike racing. It is a part of who we are.



When I was diagnosed with cancer, it was the bike that I turned to for my therapy. It was the bike that took the brunt of all my tears and anger, and it is the bike that I celebrate being alive on.



I am very much looking forward to sharing the road with you, my fellow warriors of hope in this event to provide a fortress, to house those in their fight. We ride together in accumulating strenth, and celebration of life, but ultimately to support those in need in their battles.

LANCE IN INDY

Memorial Day is always a big thing in Indianapolis

With the 500 drawing half a million people, and the parade drawing 300,000, we have always tried to get out of town for Memorial Day. We were considering going to Salt Lake City for a US Speedskating coaching seminar. We were aware of the Race 2 Replace, and also aware that Lance would be in town driving the pace car, but still had heard of no other “Lance Events”.

Working on the medical campus, we slowly started to hear little bits and pieces of other “Lance” events that weekend. We heard that Lance would be in the parade, and that he would be attending the ‘Snake Pit Ball”. (The “Snake Pit” is a nickname for a very rowdy section of the infield of the 500 speedway). About 3 weeks before, we heard about the IU Cancer Center Dinner. With a fundraising goal of $10000 per table, we did not expect to be going.

That changed when we found out some of the details of the dinner. The fundraiser was going to have a Tour de France cycling theme, and a small group of about 150 local cyclists had been selected to act as spectators. As guests arrived, they would walk down a red carpet, painted to look like a road on a mountain stage. The cyclists would ring bells, wave flags, and do the usually crazy things that you see on TV, as they cheered on the guests of the events. Lance, too, would walk the carpet when he arrived.

There were some details, such as “no touching”, “no autographs”, but we were happy to be on the list and participate, and to have the opportunity to see Lance.





Saturday Morning

The local bike club, CIBA (Central Indiana Bike Association) puts on bike rides scattered all over central Indiana. Because they are so scattered, we usually need to drive 30 - 45 minutes to do a weekend ride. Today, however, the ride was in our part of town, on or local roads, and started at our daughter’s school. We really did not want to miss this one, and we didn’t. We were off to the local bike ride, got in a quick 25 miles, the headed off to the parade.

We had a good spot in the front row, and had our CCC clothes and LIVESTRONG banner from Paris. Lance was certainly going to know that we were there!


The parade started, we saw Rupert, Madison’s favorite TV survivor, Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, Gene Simmons, and all the local celebrities.

Then in the distance we saw the pace car coming up the parade route.


At first we though Lance was inside, driving the pace car. Then we saw behind the pace car, another car with Lance. He was fairly quiet, talking with the other person with him. As he drew closer, he saw us with our CCC duds and gave us a small wave.




Once the parade ended, it was time to zip home, and get ready for the dinner.




Saturday Evening, The Fans

We had signed up to be in the ‘red carpet treatment’ but gave that up when we received our invitations to the dinner. Our daughter was still on the list, and our friend, Gary came by and took her to the event, while we put on our evening wear.

Since we never got an invitation, we were unsure when to arrive. The ‘red carpet cyclists’ were supposed to be there from 5:00 - 7:00 pm, so we planned to arrive around 6pm.

When we arrived at 6:00, we found out that we were one of the first participants to arrive. The cyclists had already been there an hour, and things were still pretty quiet.
It was great for us though. We knew most of the cyclists and got to chat will all of our cycling friends and acquaintances.


Cindi, Tom, Jeannie, Sue, Ken

The event was supposed to start at 7:30, with the arrival of Lance. As the 4th hottest May 27th in Indiana progressed, guests slowly trickled in, with the cyclists giving a great roar as they crossed the red carpet.





Walking the Red Carpet!
Tom De Braun’s Disco hat can be seen in the near, left row.

As the 4th hottest May 27th in Indiana progressed, guests slowly trickled in, with the cyclists giving a great roar as they crossed the red carpet. The event was supposed to start at 7:30, with the arrival of Lance.




Dr and Mrs. Shapiro make their entrance as Madison, Gary, and Sue cheer them on.


Jeannie, Tom, Sue’s head (on Toms shoulder), Gary, and Madison

Inside we go, for the talk

Thee were several other cyclist in attendance

Charlie Scott and Frank LaRondie from the Indiana Masters team wrote up their story here:
http://www.indianamasters.com/

Mike Callahan was there, who works with Cindi at Regenstrief, and the Revard family was present, too. The Revard Family owns ‘Bike Line’, a Trek bicycle shop in town, and they created and donated all the bike decorations
The Stage, with helmets on the floor, and seats for the ‘1 to 1” between Lance and DR Einhorn. On the right is a promo for the IU cancer Center which states “ Lance 7, Cancer 0’. Trek Bikes are from Bike Line.


Dr Einhorn started the evening’s events by welcoming everyone, reminding everyone that this was a fundraiser, and to please notice the envelopes on the tables for donations. He talked about the Cancer center, and how the George family had donated funds to the cancer center, and thanked the Colts for donating the facility for the evenings events.

He then talked about the history of testicular cancer and platinum. He introduced John Cleland, the first patient to use platinum in a clinical trial. He talked about clinical trial, and research, and transitioned to Lance, and his coming to the IU cancer center.

Lance came out, and talked about spending the day practicing in the pace car. He made some jokes about the fact that Morgan Freeman had gotten a pace car up to 150 mph, but he could only get the car up to 130 mph. And tease Tony George about the changing technology.

He talked about Major Taylor, as he segued from racing, to Indiana, and then to the IU Cancer Center. The Speech was similar to the one he gave at Conseco several years ago, talking about the great breakthroughs in cancer research by Dr. Einhorn and the IU cancer center. He talked about his treatment being out of the ordinary, and talked about clinical trials, and followed up by asking that more money is needed for research.

After the talk, there was a helmet exchange between Lance, Tony George, and Steve Saturday from the Colts.

Dr. Einhorn then did a question and answer with Lance. This was quite good, as it was unrehearsed. Lance talked about the difficulties of being Lance, traveling to promote cancer research.

The final event of the evening was a video about the IU cancer center, Dr. Lehrer, his work on treating colon cancer, and one of his patients, Buddy Mc Atee. This transitioned into the presentation of the torchbearer award was presented to Buddy Mc Atee, a stage 4 colon cancer patient that has been fighting his cancer for over 18 months.


Tuesday
National Cancer Survivors Day was held at IU. Cindi and Sue manned the LAF / Race 2 Replace booth.

An Anniversary to remember!
On May 19th, I received a phone call on my cell phone. It was from a woman who identified herself as Kathy Sellers, from the United States Olympic Committee.In February, I had been named "Volunteer coach of the year" by US Speed Skating, and they then submitted my nomination, along with all the other "coaches of the year" from the other Olympic sports to the Olympic committee for the overall coach of the year.On April 22nd, (the day of the Indianapolis "Race for the Cure") I received a letter from the US Olympic Committee informing me that my name was in the top 5 candidates for the coach of the year award. I was very honored just to have been named coach of the year for speed skating... and to be named top 5 was a huge honor in itself.So when Kathy Sellers identified herself, I was expecting to hear that I was a runner up.... but she congratulated me, and I was still ready to hear the words that someone else had been named. She congratulated me, as I had been named "US Olympic Committee Volunteer Coach of the year". I had to sit down. My hands where pale and trembling.After our phone conversation, I was floating, no, bouncing through the hallway at work. I told my Paul (my boss) and Mary (HR) that I was worthless for the rest of the day and I was going home. I told them why and they said "no problem".It took all the strength and restraint I could muster, not to call my Husband Ken and blurt the news out to him. When I saw him for lunch I ran straight to him and jumped into his arms and hugged him as tight as I could. His response was "Good news?"I told him and I cried and laughed and jumped up and down. What an awesome day.I did not return to work, but went on a bike ride. (of course)upon returning from the ride, there was a message on my home answering machine. I listened as the woman on the machine identified herself as being from the IU Cancer Center. There had been a drawing of cancer patient's names. 50 names drawn for 2 tickets to the Indianapolis 500 race, and 5 tickets drawn for 2 tickets each for a black tie dinner / fundraiser with Lance Armstrong as featured speaker.The voice on the machine informed me that I needed to call her. Of course I returned the call as soon as I could and the news was that my name had been the first name drawn for the black tie dinner. FANTASTIC!!! And on top of that, it was to be held on May 27th. Our 16th Wedding Anniversary!What a way to celebrate.I called my Mother and shared with her my day. She told me I should buy a lottery ticket (which I didn't... should have!) and that I should circle this date on the calendar and remember this date as a lucky day!When I did look at the calendar, it suddenly struck me that this date was already circled. Not only was it my sister-in-laws birthday, but it was exactly 2 years ago to the day that I received another phone call. This call was from my friend and physician telling me that I had cancer. 2 years ago on this date I was asking “Lord, what did I do wrong to deserve this?”. Now I am asking “Lord, what did I do right?”

We had originally signed up to be part of the “Welcoming committee”. IU Cancer Center had invited the cyclists of the community to come and line the red carpet to enthusiastically welcome the guests as they arrived. Since we were now “guests” we asked our daughter if she wanted to continue on the “welcoming committee”. She did. Having not received the official information when to be there… we knew that the cyclists were to be there from 5pm till 7pm. So a friend came and picked Madison up and took her to the event while we dressed. We arrived at 6pm, which was evidently early. But that was not a problem, as this gave us more time to interact with the cyclists, of whom we knew nearly ½, or they knew us.

Walking up the red carpet, dressed in formal evening attire, flanked on both sides by enthusiastic cheering friends was almost like it was 16 years ago when Ken and I marched down the isle as husband and wife for the first time. We stopped and talked and hugged people. Our daughter was one of the first to greet us. Followed by Sue Nuyeda and our good buddy Gary Shmitt, who told us about the event in the first place.

They day was very hot. The sun very bright, even in the later evening hours you could feel the heat, but this did not deter the cyclists from enthusiastically greeting each and every guest as they promenaded down the gauntlet of red carpet. Some were very modest and appeared uncomfortable, eyes cast down, and others were “high five” ing as they went through the colorful display of jerseys and flags. You could feel the excitement as the cyclists awaited the arrival of Lance Armstrong. The featured speaker for the evening.

But as time passed, (7:45pm) Lance had not arrived on the red carpet. There was understandable disappointment visible on the now weary members of the welcoming crew, as they had been standing nearly 3 hours in the hot sun cheering and waiting. The reception was now moved indoors, and the cyclists were invited to come inside, as Lance was already in the building. He had opted not to be welcomed on the red carpet. The cyclists stood at the back of the dinning hall and listened to the speeches. Hopefully they found this reward enough for the time they had spent in anticipation of his arrival.

We had already been seated when we saw the cyclists file in. Seeing our daughter in their number, I immediately rose to go to the back of the room and take her by the hand and lead her to our table, where she sat on her father’s lap to listen to the speech.

Dr Einhorn started the evening’s events by welcoming everyone, reminding everyone that this was a fundraiser, and to please notice the envelopes on the tables for donations. He talked about the Cancer center, and how the George family had donated funds to the cancer center, and thanked the Colts for donating the facility for the evenings events.

He then talked about the history of testicular cancer and platinum. He introduced John Cleland, the first patient to use platinum in a clinical trial. He talked about clinical trial, and research, and transitioned to Lance, and his coming to the IU cancer center.

Lance came out, and talked about spending the day practicing in the pace car. He made some jokes about the fact that Morgan Freeman had gotten a pace car up to 150 mph, but he could only get the car up to 130 mph. And tease Tony George about the changing technology.

He talked about Major Taylor, as he segued from racing, to Indiana, and then to the IU Cancer Center. The Speech was similar to the one he gave at Conseco several years ago, talking about the great breakthroughs in cancer research by Dr. Einhorn and the IU cancer center. He talked about his treatment being out of the ordinary, and talked about clinical trials, and followed up by asking that more money is needed for research.

After the talk, there was a helmet exchange between Lance, Tony George, and Steve Saturday from the Colts.

Dr. Einhorn then did a question and answer with Lance. This was quite good, as it was unrehearsed. Lance talked about the difficulties of being Lance, traveling to promote cancer research.

The final event of the evening was a video about the IU cancer center, Dr. Lehrer, his work on treating colon cancer, and one of his patients, Buddy Mc Atee. This transitioned into the presentation of the torchbearer award was presented to Buddy Mc Atee, a stage 4 colon cancer patient that has been fighting his cancer for over 18 months.

Dinner had been delayed by all the speeches, to accommodate Lance’s busy schedule while in town for the 500, but the dinner was well worth the wait. They did a fantastic job on the food and the decorations. We were seated with the 5 other survivors and their guests who had received tickets via the drawing. I was very fortunate to have already met the couple seated next to us and knew in advance that we would very much enjoy their company. Listening to the stories of treatment and triumph of the survivors at the table was just another testimony to the fact that life is worth living, and worth living with the right people.

I feel very blessed to have the people in my life to share in my experiences.