When Nicholas Coronel visited a sporting goods store last August with his girlfriend, he was just hoping to get a decent bicycle that would let him take rides with her to get back in shape.

A year later, the Laurel resident was riding 100 miles to do a whole lot more than get in shape: He was riding to fight cancer.

Coronel was one of 6,500 riders to take part in the Philadelphia segment of the Livestrong Challenge -- a fundraiser for cancer research -- on Aug. 23. In all, the ride raised $3.2 million, including $5,200 raised just by Coronel.

"It was fun, it was for a good cause and it was inspiring," he said. "I will definitely do that ride again next year."

And that's no surprise. After all, Coronel knows more than most how important it is to find a cure for cancer since his mother, Jo Ann Coronel, was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year.

Coronel said he had been considering getting into bicycling for a long time, when he discovered a bicycling blog online called fatcyclist.com. The blog had been founded by Utah native Eldon Nelson who had started bicycling as a means of losing weight and wanted to document that weight loss.

Between fatcyclist.com and a summer of watching the Tour de France, the tracks had been laid for Coronel's growing interest.

"I biked a lot as a kid and it was always in the back of my mind," he said. "Then my girlfriend wanted to get a bike. I went with her and I came out with a bike of my own."

Then, a month later, Coronel and his family received the devastating news that Jo Ann Coronel had breast cancer.

"Sept. 3," she said. "You never forget the date after you hear it."

It was particularly painful because the family had already lost Nicholas Coronel's paternal grandfather to lung cancer years before.

"Your brain just turns to jelly when you get that news," said Don Coronel, Nicholas' father. "You don't hear anything because you don't want to hear it."

The news hit Nicholas Coronel hard, but it also drove him to want to do something. So he turned to fatcyclist.com.

Along with blogging about his cycling ventures, Nelson also used his blog as a means to discuss his own wife's breast cancer treatments. More recently, he had used the blog to form "Team Fatty" for all four of the LiveStrong Challenge events.

"I realized that it would be a really good way to help and this would be a great team to ride for," Nicholas Coronel said.

He added that he particularly wanted to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation because it had played such a significant role in aiding his mother's recovery.

Initially, his parents met his plan with some polite skepticism.

"We were focused on the treatments, so when he said, 'I'm going to ride 100 miles,' I thought, 'OK, good luck with that,' " Jo Ann Coronel said. "At the time, he was just riding around the neighborhood, so how was he going to do 100 miles? Then I realized he was serious and I jumped on board."

Don Coronel was also skeptical at first before supporting his son wholeheartedly.

"My first question was how many days would a 100-mile race take," he said. "But he was dedicated, so I jumped behind him."

Nicholas Coronel starting seeking donations in December when his mother started chemotherapy, but was only able to do fundraising sporadically. The bulk of his time was spent with family.

In spring, as Jo Ann Coronel finished up her radiation treatment, the family starting fundraising as much as possible. Despite the late start, all three Coronels were surprised to see how much success they had in raising money.

"We'd ask someone for a donation and they'd ask someone and they'd ask someone," Don Coronel said. "We got donations from people we hadn't seen since college. We even got a $200 donation from someone we didn't know."

Jo Ann Coronel said she quickly found that many were motivated by their own personal experiences.

"It seemed like everybody knew somebody that had cancer," she said.

By the time the race arrived on Aug. 23, the Coronels had raised $5,200. But they weren't done being amazed. As the race played out, they found communities along the route, which ran out from Philadelphia into Pennsylvania Dutch country and then back, providing support wherever possible.

"One family had set up a table in their backyard giving out water to participants," Jo Ann Coronel said. "They weren't part of the race, they just wanted to help."

"It's nice to see the community come together like that," Don Coronel said. "You see that and you come away feeling like you could have done even more to help."

The family is now hoping for good news when Jo Ann Coronel returns to the doctor on Sept. 14 for a final checkup.

In the mean time, Nicholas Coronel said he's definitely planning to take part in the race next year and hopes to race $10,000 this time around.

"It's an amazing organization that's doing tremendous good," Jo Ann Coronel said. "Maybe by the time (Nicholas') kids come along, there will be a cure for cancer."

---

user comments (1)

user stonimal says...

Congrats Nick! Great Job! We're very proud of you. I love this family portrait too. :) Love ya, Bo

Posted 10:43 PM, 09.08.09 | Permalink