Three Old Greenwich residents are pedaling toward Santa Clara, California, on a 1,200-mile charity bike ride to raise $75,000 for pediatric cancer research.
Alec Fraser, Mike Brock and Jamie Meehan left Seattle on Oct. 8 and are now 11 days into the 16-day route, according to Patch. They plan to arrive Friday, Oct. 23. The ride takes them through Washington, Oregon and down the California coast, averaging 63 miles a day with 51,000 feet of total elevation gain.
Each rider carries a personal reason to be on the road.
Fraser's son Julian, a 2012 Greenwich High School graduate who captained the swim and water polo teams, died of osteosarcoma on Feb. 21, 2017, at age 20. Julian had been a sophomore at Santa Clara University when he was diagnosed.
Brock lost his wife, Shân, to colon cancer in 2023 after a nine-year fight. She was 59. Meehan rides for his youngest sister, Janel. All three also ride in memory of George Hannigan, a friend and cycling partner.
Fraser and his wife, Cristy, founded TeamJF in 2017 to honor Julian's life and fund childhood cancer research. The organization has raised $3.04 million for cancer research, according to Patch. Funds go to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy through Swim Across America.
"We will conquer 1,200 miles in 16 days," Fraser said, according to Patch. "We have one powerful purpose – that every mile ridden and every dollar raised will help fuel progress in the fight against pediatric cancer."
This ride marks the fifth anniversary of the trio's original cross-country cycling journey. On that earlier trip, Fraser and Meehan started by dipping their bike tires into Long Island Sound and finished by dipping them into the Santa Clara University pool where Julian had played water polo.
In September 2024, the three were part of a 12-member group that cycled nearly 1,000 miles across the United Kingdom, from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End. That ride honored both Julian and Shân.
The current ride includes donation-matching milestones: dollar-for-dollar matches in Washington, a $20,000 bonus if 100 new donors give any amount during the Oregon leg, and 3-to-1 matches in California.
Cristy Fraser is also planning to run the New York City Marathon to raise additional funds for pediatric cancer research. It will be her first marathon, according to Patch. In 2024, she walked 642 miles across Italy to Rome in Julian's memory.
According to TeamJF's website, only 4 cents of every federal dollar for cancer research goes to fund rare cancer research. About 1 in 285 children in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20.
Donations to the Cycle to Cure Cancer ride can be made at swimacrossamerica.org/cycle.
