2015 Ride to Conquer Cancer participant profile: Marisa Tran of Toronto

It’s not just the gears and the legwork that get a participant through the 200-km Ride to Conquer Cancer. In many cases, perhaps most, it’s the inspiration—and that inspiration is often deeply, notably personal.

And in some cases, as with Toronto’s Marisa Tran, that inspiration is where it all starts.

“My dad was a major inspiration in joining the Ride to Conquer Cancer,” said Tran, a veteran of the 2014 event. “He was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer, an aggressive and terminal form of cancer, in the summer of 2012. During the nearly two years of living with cancer, my father focused on leaving us meaningful and lasting gifts.”

Her bike, she specifies—a Giant Avail 3—was one of them, and it went to good use.

In the spring of 2013, Tran selected the bike with her father at the Toronto International Bike Show. The months that followed, she said, were as if she was a 16-year-old with her first driver’s licence, testing the bike’s gears and wheels and power on every kind of terrain that availed itself , through every kind of joyride it could manage. Eventually, with her father’s encouragement, Tran regstered for the Ride to Conquer Cancer and embarked upon a rigorous training regimen, preparing herself for the meaningful two-wheeled mission in every way possible. Despite his condition, her father was stridently in her corner.

“He cheered me on every long training ride I went on, we high fived every donation raised,” she said, “and I am happy to say that donating to my Ride to Conquer Cancer was one of the last things he did before he passed in 2014.” Sadly, her father wouldn’t be there to see her finish the ride, two days and 200 km of Ontario countryside later. “However, knowing the struggle he went through made things like 1 Side Road and the mountain in Hamilton so much easier,” she said, referring to two of the biggest challenges of the Ontario ride, “not to mention the riders that pass by with a yellow flag indicating they are living with cancer or have already conquered their own cancer battle.”

The 2014 ride, she said, was her first major cycling adventure. “I really had no cycling experience before 2013,” Tran said. “I started cycling in spring 2013 when I started commuting by bike. I then started weekend bike adventures with my friends, cycling to new places around Toronto and the GTA on the weekends, and I did my first triathlon relay at the end of the summer of 2013, placing 13th.”

For this year’s ride, Tran admits that her training regimen has been a bit more difficult. “I was backpacking for the winter,” she said, “but still rented a bike and cycled when I could.” Rides through Cambodia, she said, were especially memorable. “While in Toronto, I try to do a 40-70 km ride ever Saturday and Sunday and I commute to and from work daily, adding up to at least 20 km per day.”

Marisa Tran certainly isn’t alone in having been emboldened by the challenges of those she loves. “Make no mistake, this is not just a bike ride,” said Ramona Ross, director of the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. “It means so much more than that. Strength in numbers is personified at the ride.” A powerful event that brings together thousands of like-minded people, the ride is an opportunity to do something significant in support of loved ones, friends, and even themselves, all in support of cancer research. “There is a tangible emotional comaraderie shared by the riders and volunteers who are involved in the ride.”

So who is Tran riding for? “This year,” she said, “I am riding in memory of my dad and in support of my friend Avril, who just began her journey against cancer.”

“More important,” she emphasized, “we all ride for the dream of a cancer-free world.”

The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation runs from June 13 to 14. Those interested in cheering on this year’s riders can meet at Humber College’s Lakeshore campus at 3199 Lake Shore Blvd. W.